Click-to-WhatsApp Ads for Restaurants and Caterers
Restaurants and caterers run click-to-WhatsApp ads for festive set menus, private dining and catering packages. AeroChat answers the person who clicks straight away, takes the date and headcount, books the table in Eat App or ResDiary or quotes the catering order, and sends a deposit link. Large groups and special requests go to your team. It all runs inside Meta’s free window.
What happens today
A festive menu ad brings in messages during service, when nobody can look at a phone. Replies go out after closing or the next day.
Catering enquiries take several rounds to get the date, headcount, menu and dietary needs. Some get a quote, many do not, and deposits are chased by hand.
How it runs on WhatsApp
- The ad opens WhatsApp with a prefilled message, such as “Hi, I’d like the festive set menu” (example).
- AeroChat replies straight away with the menu, the price per person and the dates it runs. This reply opens the free window.
- For a table, it asks for the date, time and number of guests, and checks availability in your reservation system.
- For catering, it asks for the date, headcount, delivery area and dietary needs, and works out the total from your menu.
- It books the table, or records the catering order, with the ad as the source.
- It sends a deposit link and confirms when it is paid.
- Large groups, private hire and requests it cannot confirm go to your team.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When someone messages us from a Facebook or Instagram ad, follow these steps.
- Read their first message to see which offer they clicked. “Festive set” means our festive set menu at S$88 per person (example). “Catering” means our buffet catering packages (example).
- For a table, ask for the date, time and number of guests. Check availability in Eat App and offer the nearest times if the one they want is full.
- Book the table and send a S$20 per person deposit link (example) for groups of 6 or more (example).
- For catering, ask for the date, headcount, delivery address and any dietary needs. Work out the total from our catering menu and send it with a 30% deposit link (example).
- Add the catering order to our Google Sheet with the date, headcount, menu, address and deposit status.
- Answer questions about the menu, allergens and halal status from our knowledge base.
- If they ask for more than 20 guests (example), private hire or a custom menu, hand the conversation to our events team.
Keep the first reply short and about the offer in the ad. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the menus, deposits and limits to your own. For ResDiary, name it instead of Eat App and keep the steps.
Connect the systems behind it
- Eat App. AeroChat checks table availability and books the reservation with the ad as the source.
- ResDiary. AeroChat books the table for restaurants running ResDiary.
- Google Sheets. Built in by connecting a Google account. AeroChat logs each catering order for the kitchen.
- Square. AeroChat records orders and payments for restaurants using Square.
- HitPay. AeroChat sends the deposit link and confirms the booking once it is paid.
Airwallex payment links are built in on Growth and up.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What it costs on WhatsApp
When someone messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad in the WhatsApp app on Android or iOS, and you reply within 24 hours, Meta opens a free window of up to 7 days. AeroChat replies within seconds, so the window opens on every ad chat from a phone. A reservation or catering enquiry from an ad takes a few messages: the menu, the details, the booking and the deposit link. Within 7 days of your first reply, all of them are free, including your team’s message about a deposit that has not come in. Meta Business Agent messages are the only ones still charged in the window. After it closes, service replies are free up to 1,000 a month per business phone number and then charged per message, and templates are charged per message. Rates vary by country and are set in Meta’s rate cards. AeroChat passes Meta’s WhatsApp fees through at cost. The full window rules are on the click-to-WhatsApp ads page.
Also on Instagram, Messenger, TikTok and web chat
The same workflow runs on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, TikTok (direct messages and TikTok Shop buyer chat), Telegram, web chat and email, with the same connections. Ads that open an Instagram or Messenger chat follow their own reply windows: see click-to-Instagram ads and click-to-Messenger ads.
More for restaurants and caterers
See every workflow for restaurants and caterers on the Restaurants and Caterers industry page, and how click-to-WhatsApp ads work for every business on the click-to-WhatsApp ads page.
Questions
Can AeroChat take restaurant reservations from a WhatsApp ad?
Yes. It checks availability in your reservation system, books the table and sends a deposit link for larger groups.
Can it quote catering?
Yes. It takes the date, headcount, address and dietary needs, works out the total from your catering menu and sends a deposit link. Custom menus go to your events team.
Are replies to click-to-WhatsApp ad chats free?
Yes, if you reply within 24 hours of the customer’s first message and they messaged from WhatsApp on Android or iOS. That reply opens a free window of up to 7 days, in which service replies and marketing, utility and authentication templates are free. Meta Business Agent messages are still charged.
Book your next festive table from the ad chat
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On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.
Related: click-to-WhatsApp ads for every business and catering quote requests.