Menu Management: Synchronize or Maintain Menus Separately

You can choose the menu-management approach that suits your restaurant. Two questions matter: where will you maintain the menu, and how will your POS recognize the ordered items? Agree both with your POS provider before activation.

MERGEPORT supports menu synchronization for Lieferando through JET Connect, Wolt, Uber Eats and foodora. This requires a compatible POS connection, synchronization to be enabled, and the necessary platform-side setup. Earlier Lieferando connections have different capabilities.

The three options at a glance

Approach	Where is the menu maintained?	When does it fit?
Synchronize from the POS	The POS sends items and menus to the platforms through MERGEPORT.	When your POS provides complete menu content suitable for guests and you want to maintain it centrally.
Maintain menus separately on the platforms	You edit each menu on its platform.	When you want to keep existing platform menus or maintain content separately for each platform.
Map items in the MERGEPORT Controller	You link platform items to the corresponding POS items.	When you want MERGEPORT to handle item mapping. The menu can still be maintained on the platform.

Controller mapping is a way to match items. You still need to decide where names, prices, images and other menu content will be maintained.

1. Synchronize the menu from your POS

The POS is the source of truth for synchronized menu data. Items and menus are sent through MERGEPORT to the platforms enabled for synchronization.

Prepare your POS data for the online menu: clear names, descriptions, prices, images, allergens, options and variants, as required for your offering and the respective platform. Complete POS data alone does not guarantee that every field will be transferred to every platform. Check the supported scope and platform requirements in the related menu-requirements article.

This approach fits when the POS contains content suitable for guests and your POS provider supports menu transfer. Agree who will maintain changes and when the first upload will take place.

2. Maintain menus separately on the platforms

You keep the menus on the platforms and maintain their content there. Your POS still needs to process incoming items using the agreed mapping approach.

Items can be matched through POS item numbers or PLU codes entered on the platform. Some POS systems support their own mapping instead, for example a dialog for unknown items. The available and required approach depends on your POS and the respective platform.

Agree operation without menu synchronization with your POS provider and the platform. For JET Connect, JET must enable this mode; disabling synchronization alone does not activate it.

The related article “Item Mapping for Online Orders” explains the specific item-ID fields in Wolt, Uber Eats and foodora, and how to handle unknown items.

3. Map items in the MERGEPORT Controller

In the MERGEPORT Controller, you can link platform items to POS items. In Menu Management, check that the platform items and corresponding POS items are loaded and that you have selected the correct platform or brand.

The Auto Mapper helps with mapping by comparing imported platform items with POS items. Automatic mapping is experimental: review every result, especially options, variants and items with the same name. Unclear matches must be mapped manually.

The related article “Item Mapping for Online Orders” contains the complete Auto Mapper instructions.

Check before going live

1. Agree where the menu will be maintained and how items will be mapped for each platform.
2. Check that your POS, platform approval and MERGEPORT configuration support the chosen approach.
3. For synchronization, review the visible menu after the first upload, including prices, images and options. Check required allergen information separately on the platform.
4. Use a test order to verify that main items, options and variants reach the POS and are processed correctly.
5. Review item mapping after later menu changes as well.

For help choosing the right approach, contact your POS provider or support@mergeport.com.