What the integration does
The Orders API transmits accepted ezCater orders to Olo Rails on your behalf. The order arrives in Olo automatically the moment your team accepts it in the Partner Portal, and Olo’s existing “Fire to POS” configuration takes over from there.
The integration supports orders from ezCater Marketplace, ezCater Online Ordering, and Meal Program. Off-menu items and direct-entry orders are not transmitted through the API and continue to require manual handling.
The order flow at a glance
The diagram below shows how an order moves from the ezCater customer through your operation.
The key steps:
A customer places an order on ezCater (Marketplace or Online Ordering).
Your team accepts the order in Partner Portal. Your team is notified by email, SMS, or iOS push notification and acknowledges the order with a single click.
The order is transmitted to Olo Rails immediately. As soon as the order is accepted, the Orders API hands it to Olo.
Olo holds the order until Fire to POS. The order sits in a scheduled state and is visible in Olo Rails. Olo fires the order to your POS based on the lead time you’ve configured.
Your POS receives the order the same way it would receive any other Olo order.
Accepting the order in Partner Portal is the commitment to fulfill it. From that point forward, the order is yours to deliver.
Who’s responsible for what
The Olo Rails integration has three platforms involved. Each owns a distinct part of the flow.
Responsibility | Owned by |
Customer experience, order capture, payment processing | ezCater |
Order acceptance and notifications to your team | ezCater (via Partner Portal) |
Order routing to the POS, including Fire to POS timing | Olo |
Order fulfillment and delivery | You (the restaurant partner) |
Driver dispatch when applicable | ezCater |
When something goes wrong, the platform that owns the affected step is usually the right place to start. See Operational Practices for the failure-mode-to-owner mapping.
What the integration supports
Feature | Supported? |
ezCater Marketplace orders | Yes |
ezCater Online Ordering orders | Yes |
Meal Program orders | Yes — transmitted when the meal is finalized; see Meal Program Overview |
Direct-entry orders | No — manual entry required |
Self-delivery details (address, fee, time, instructions, tip) | Yes |
Dispatch delivery details | Yes |
Off-menu items | No — manual entry required |
ezCater Promotions, Preferred Partner Program, Rewards | Not passed through; you receive the value of the order to the guest in Olo |
For the data each order includes and the data it doesn’t, see Order Acceptance & Transmission.