Create a new menu category

The story

SituationYour Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart launches on Friday, along with two more chilled desserts. They need a home on the menu before you can add them.

ChallengeYour online menu has no Chilled Cakes section yet, and the cold display fridges are only at some of your branches.

MissionCreate the new section tonight, switched on only at the branches that can sell chilled cakes, so the launch items have somewhere to go.

This guide walks you through the one short form that creates a category. A category is a section of your online menu, such as Drinks, Breads or Chilled Cakes; every menu item belongs to one.

Quick answer

Tap the Menu option in the admin portal and select Create New Category. Fill in all category details (name, stores, and optionally an availability setting) and tap the Submit button to create a new category.

Before you start

  • You are signed in to Web Admin as a brand admin. Create New Category is only shown to brand admins; store-level accounts can view categories but cannot create them.

  • You know the name customers should see, up to 40 characters.

  • You know which branches will sell the items in this category.

  • If the category should only appear at certain times, such as a lunch menu or weekend brunch, you can set that up first under Category Availability, or add it later.

Note

If your menu is managed by your POS system, menu editing is locked in Web Admin and Create New Category does not appear in the sidebar. Categories come from the POS instead. Ask your Eats Venture account manager if you are unsure.

Step 1: Open Create New Category

a) Tap on (a) the Menu option in the admin portal sidebar, and under Categories select (b) Create New Category.

The sidebar groups the menu pages into Items (All Items, Create New Item, Item Sequence, Item Inventory Limits), Categories (All Categories, Create New Category, Category Sequence, Category Availability) and Add-ons. You can also click New category at the top of the All Categories page, or the Create new category link on the item form. If your Web Admin shows Daily Limits instead of Item Inventory Limits, as in the screenshot above, it is the same page, and Items also lists Availability.

Step 2: Fill in the category details

b) Fill in all category details on the form, then tap the Submit button to create a new category. The form has three sections.

Category information

Name: the section heading customers see on your online menu, for example Chilled Cakes. The hint under the field reads "Example: Drinks, Chicken, Beef. Max length: 40 characters". The field stops accepting text at 40 characters.

eCommerce savvy tip

Name categories the way customers think, not the way your kitchen does. Chilled Cakes or Father's Day Special tells a shopper what is inside at a glance; an internal code such as CK-02 does not.

Availability

Under Store, tick every branch where this category should appear. Use Select all above the list to tick every branch at once, and Deselect all to clear them. In the example screenshot, the category is switched on at Bukit Tunku, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), KL East Mall, Publika and George Town, and left off at the other branches.

Note

A category with no branch ticked does not appear on your online menu at all, even if it has items in it. Tick at least one store.

Advanced settings

Category availability setting controls the days and hours this category can be ordered. Leave it on Default to keep the category available whenever the store takes orders. To limit it, for example to lunch hours, choose a saved setting from the list.

The hint reads "Select a menu availability setting or" followed by a Create new setting button, which opens the setting form in a new tab. See Category Availability for how settings work.

Ops tip

Only tick the branches that can actually make or stock these items. A branch without a cold display should not show Chilled Cakes, so customers there never order something your team cannot hand over.

Step 3: Submit

Tap Submit. You see New category saved! and return to the All Categories list, where the new category now appears. Tap Cancel instead to leave the form without saving.

A new category is placed at the top of your category order. To move it, use Menu > Category Sequence.

The new section is ready. Now add your items to it: on the item form, pick this category under Category.

What to do next

Marketing tip

Every category has its own link. On the All Categories page, click Copy link next to the category and use it in your Instagram bio or launch post, so customers land straight on the new section. See How to Run Ads That Redirect to a Specific Product Category.

If something goes wrong

  • I cannot see Create New Category in the sidebar: you are signed in with a store-level account, or your menu is managed by your POS. Ask a brand admin to create it.

  • "You are not able to create or update a menu category": the account you are using is not a brand admin.

  • "Menu is read-only (synced from POS)": your brand's menu is locked to your POS. Create the category on the POS instead.

  • The category does not show on the storefront: check that at least one branch is ticked, that the category has at least one item available at that branch, and that its availability setting allows the day and time the customer chose.

Mission accomplished: what you have achieved

  • A home for the launch. The new desserts have their own section, ready for items to be added.
  • Only at the right branches. Branches without the right equipment never show the section.
  • Room to control timing. One setting can later limit the section to the days and hours you choose.

Next season's collection is the same short form: name, branches, Submit.

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Last updated: 27 October 2026

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