Caterivo quote system demonstration
Follow a complete catering enquiry and quote.
See how Caterivo takes you from initial business setup through customer enquiries, tailored quotes, payments and completed bookings.
Fictional demonstration content
The Demo Cake Studio, its owner, contact details, customers, enquiries, quotes and bookings are completely fictional and have been created solely to demonstrate the Caterivo quote-based system.
Step 1
Provide your business setup details.
After deciding to use Caterivo, you receive a private onboarding form. You begin by providing the public contact information customers should see on your enquiry site.
Your public email address is required. Your phone number and full address are optional, which is useful if you run your food business from home and do not want to publish those details.
Step 2
Choose how your business should look.
You provide your existing brand colours and explain the style you would like for your customer-facing site. You can also ask Caterivo to create a suitable logo and background image if you do not already have them.
In this example, The Demo Cake Studio provides its existing colours and asks Caterivo to create a matching logo and background image. The same process is used to give your enquiry site its own branded appearance.
Step 3
Configure the services customers can enquire about.
You choose the services you want to offer and the information customers must provide. You can create one service or several, depending on how your business works.
You can add a clear service description and choose the questions customers must answer before submitting an enquiry. In this example, The Demo Cake Studio asks for the date, serving size, occasion, design and dietary requirements.
You can also add optional questions for useful extra details and fixed choices for answers that should come from a set list, such as collection or delivery and the preferred cake style.
Step 4
Set your booking and payment rules.
You choose how customers may pay after receiving a quote and control how soon or how far in advance they can request a booking.
In this example, The Demo Cake Studio allows either full payment or a deposit followed by the balance. Balances are due seven days before the event, enquiries require at least 14 days’ notice and customers can request dates up to one year ahead.
Step 5
Add your important customer information.
The final part of the onboarding form collects the wording customers may need to read before submitting an enquiry, accepting a quote or confirming a booking.
Dietary and allergen information
You provide the dietary and allergen wording your customers should see, including any cross-contamination information and guidance for customers with serious allergies.
Terms and privacy
You can paste your current Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy or provide links to the documents you already use.
Cancellations and booking changes
You explain your cancellation, deposit and refund rules, along with any deadlines or restrictions for changing a confirmed booking.
Final requirements and practical conditions
You can set deadlines for final quantities or requirements and explain any delivery, collection, venue-access or other practical booking conditions.
What if you do not have this wording yet?
These details are important, but you can state clearly that you do not currently have them if they still need to be prepared. They can then be added before your Caterivo site is launched or updated later when the wording is ready.
Submit your setup details.
Once the form is complete, you click “Submit setup details”. The information is sent and used to configure your Caterivo site and creates your logo or background image where requested.
Step 6
Review your site and create your owner account.
Caterivo uses the information you provided to build and brand your customer-facing enquiry site, configure your services and add your booking, payment and customer-information settings.
You receive a private preview link so you can check the site and request any changes before it is made available to your customers.
Once you are happy with the site, you receive a private invitation to create your owner account. This gives you secure access to manage The Demo Cake Studio through Caterivo.
Step 7
Access your dashboard and connect payments.
After creating your account, you sign in to your branded Caterivo dashboard.
The dashboard gives you quick access to your enquiries, quotes, customer-facing enquiry page, live link, user guide and support. You will use these controls once your site is fully live and customers begin submitting requests.
Complete Stripe’s secure setup.
Your next step is to select “Set up payments with Stripe”. This opens Stripe’s secure onboarding page, where you provide the business and bank-account details Stripe needs to verify your business and pay customer funds directly into your bank account.
The information entered on Stripe’s page is submitted directly to Stripe. Your banking and verification details are not shared with or entered into Caterivo, and you should never send those private details to Caterivo separately.
Step 8
Complete Stripe’s secure payment verification.
Selecting the payment setup button takes you away from Caterivo and into Stripe’s own secure onboarding process. Stripe collects the information required to verify your business, receive customer payments and send payouts to your bank account.
Your private information stays with Stripe.
Your identity documents, personal information and banking details are entered directly into Stripe. They are not entered or shared with Caterivo, or visible through your Caterivo dashboard.
Start your secure Stripe setup.
Stripe begins by confirming your telephone number and securing access to the payment account connected to your business.
Confirm how your business operates.
You select the business type that applies to you. This may be an individual or sole trader, partnership, limited company or another supported business structure.
Provide your verification details.
Stripe asks for the personal and address information it needs to verify the person responsible for the payment account and meet financial regulations.
Choose where payouts should be sent.
You enter the bank account that should receive your customer payments. These banking details are submitted securely to Stripe and are never provided to Caterivo.
Complete Stripe’s identity check.
Stripe may ask you to verify your identity using an accepted document or its secure mobile verification process. The exact checks depend on the business and information supplied.
Return to Caterivo with payments connected.
After reviewing the supplied information, you select Stripe’s “Agree and submit” button. Once Stripe accepts the setup, you are returned to Caterivo and the dashboard confirms that customer payments and payouts are connected.
Caterivo completes the final payment configuration.
After Stripe approves the account, Caterivo applies your business branding to supported Stripe communications and confirms your preferred payout schedule and payment methods. Most businesses use card payments together with Apple Pay and Google Pay, with payouts arranged daily or weekly according to their preference.
Step 9
Start your 30-day Caterivo free trial.
Once customer payments are connected, you can start your Caterivo subscription. This subscription is separate from the payments your customers make to your business through Stripe.
Subscribe securely through Stripe.
Selecting “Start free trial” opens a secure Stripe checkout page. You enter the payment method that should be used for your Caterivo subscription, agree to the subscription terms and select “Start trial”. Nothing is charged during the 30-day free trial. After the trial, the subscription continues at £49.99 per month.
You can cancel at any time before the trial ends if you decide Caterivo is not right for you. There is no charge and no-quibble cancellation.
Your Caterivo setup is ready to use.
After the subscription details are submitted, you return to Caterivo and see confirmation that your free trial is active. Your setup is now complete, and you can begin using your dashboard to receive enquiries, prepare quotes and manage customer bookings.
Step 10
Open or pause customer enquiries.
Your customer enquiry page can now accept quote requests. You remain in control of whether new enquiries are allowed at any time.
Pause enquiries whenever you need to.
You can pause new enquiries from your dashboard when you are unavailable, fully booked or taking a holiday. Customers will temporarily be prevented from submitting new requests until you select the option to resume enquiries.
Step 11
Share your live enquiry link.
Your dashboard gives you a direct link to your customer-facing enquiry page. Select “Copy live link” to copy it ready for sharing.
Share your enquiry page wherever customers find you.
You can add the link to your Facebook page, Instagram profile, existing website, Google Business Profile, emails and customer messages. You can also include it on leaflets, flyers, menus, business cards or a printed QR code.
Step 12
Your customer-facing enquiry page is ready.
When a customer opens your shared link, they arrive on your branded live page. It displays your business, available services and the important dietary information you supplied during onboarding.
The Demo Cake Studio is used here as the worked example, but your page is built around your own branding, services and customer information. The same system suits caterers, grazing-table businesses, event-food providers and other quote-based food businesses.
Step 13
The customer submits their requirements.
The customer selects the service they need and completes your enquiry form. The questions and choices shown are based on the information you supplied during onboarding.
In this example, the customer provides the required date, number of servings, occasion, design, colours and dietary information. They can also select fixed choices such as collection or delivery and cake style, then add any optional details you requested. Submitting the form sends an enquiry only-it does not confirm a booking or take payment. Once sent, you receive the details on your admin page ( see below ).
Step 14
Review each new customer enquiry.
When a customer submits the form, their request appears in your enquiry-management area with their name, contact details, service and the time it was received.
Select “View enquiry” to open the complete request. New enquiries are clearly marked so you can quickly see which customers still need a response.
The enquiry displays the answers supplied by the customer, including required questions, optional information and fixed choices. Select “Start reviewing” when you are ready to decide whether to decline the request or prepare a quote.
Step 15
Decline the request or prepare a tailored quote.
After reviewing the customer’s requirements, you decide whether the work is suitable and whether you have availability.
When you cannot accept a request, select “Decline enquiry” and enter a clear reason. Caterivo sends the customer a branded email containing your explanation, so they are not left waiting without a response.
To accept the request, select “Create quote”. You enter the total price, choose full payment or a deposit and remaining balance, set any deposit amount, balance due date and quote expiry date, and clearly explain what the price includes.
Step 16
Review the draft and send the quote.
Creating the quote first saves it as a draft. Nothing is sent to the customer until you have checked the details and chosen to send it.
You can review the price, payment schedule, included work and additional notes. Select “Edit draft” to make changes or “Send quote” when everything is correct.
After sending, your dashboard records the quote value, when it was created, when the customer payment request was created and whether the email was sent successfully. The quote remains available for you to open and monitor.
Step 17
The customer receives your branded quote.
Caterivo sends the customer a branded email containing the quote and a secure link to review it and make the required payment.
The email identifies your business, greets the customer by name and clearly displays the quote reference, service, total price, deposit due now, remaining balance and balance due date.
The customer can see exactly what the quote includes, any additional notes and when the offer expires. The secure payment button takes them to their private Caterivo quote page, where they can review the full details and pay the £30 deposit before the expiry date.
Step 18
The customer reviews and responds to the quote.
Selecting the secure button in the email opens the customer’s private quote page. They can review the price, deposit, remaining balance, included work and any additional notes before responding.
The customer can decline the quote or continue to payment. If they decline it, the quote is marked as declined in your dashboard. If they accept it, they select “Pay £30.00 deposit” to continue securely to Stripe.
Step 19
The customer pays securely through Stripe.
Selecting the deposit button opens Stripe’s secure checkout page, branded with your supported business colours and showing the exact amount due.
The customer enters their payment details directly into Stripe. Caterivo does not receive or store their card information. Once the payment succeeds, the money is added to your connected Stripe account and paid out to your bank according to the daily or weekly payout schedule chosen during setup.
Step 20
The customer receives immediate payment confirmation.
After Stripe confirms the payment, the customer returns to your branded Caterivo confirmation page. Their deposit has secured the booking.
The confirmation page displays the quote reference, service and amount paid. It also tells the customer that the business has received the booking and may contact them if any final details need confirming.
The customer also receives a branded confirmation email. It records the £30 deposit, the full £120 quote value, the remaining £90 balance and its due date, giving them a clear written record of the confirmed booking.
Step 21
Your dashboard updates automatically.
The successful payment is also recorded against the quote in your Caterivo dashboard, so you can track the booking without updating it manually.
The quote is marked as partially paid and shows when the deposit was received, the amount still outstanding and the balance due date. The email status also confirms that both the original quote and deposit-confirmation messages were sent successfully.
Step 22
Send the remaining balance when you are ready.
Your dashboard shows the outstanding amount and its due date. When you decide it is time to request payment, open the quote and select “Send balance payment link”.
Caterivo sends the customer a branded balance-request email and records when it was sent. The email contains a secure link allowing them to pay the remaining £90 through Stripe.
You can instead cancel the booking and refund the paid deposit. Caterivo asks you to confirm this irreversible action, invalidates the balance-payment link, updates the dashboard and sends the customer a branded cancellation and refund email. Stripe’s original processing fees are normally not returned.
Step 23
The booking becomes fully paid.
The customer follows the secure link in their balance-request email and pays the outstanding amount through Stripe.
The balance-payment journey uses the same secure Stripe checkout process already shown for the deposit. After paying, the customer sees a confirmation page and receives a branded email confirming that the booking is now fully paid.
Your dashboard records when the balance request was sent and when the £90 payment was received. It also confirms that the quote, deposit confirmation, balance request and final payment confirmation emails were sent. The balance enters your connected Stripe account and is paid to your bank according to your chosen payout schedule.
Step 24
Mark the finished booking as complete.
After the booking has been fully paid and the order has been fulfilled, you can open the quote from your dashboard and select “Mark booking as complete”.
Marking the booking as complete closes the normal cancellation and refund controls. This helps prevent an accidental refund after the customer has received their order and the booking has finished.
The dashboard card is updated from paid to completed while retaining the complete payment and email history. In the unlikely event that a refund is still required, you can manage it directly through your connected Stripe account by selecting “Open Stripe dashboard” from your main Caterivo admin page.
Complete quote journey
From first enquiry to completed booking.
You have now seen how Caterivo takes you from initial business setup through customer enquiries, tailored quotes, secure Stripe payments and a fully completed booking.
The Demo Cake Studio is fictional, but the same journey can be configured around your own branding, services, questions, payment rules and customer information. Caterivo suits caterers, cake makers, grazing-table businesses, event-food providers and other quote-based food businesses.
You remain in control throughout.
Caterivo organises the enquiry, quote, payment and customer-email journey around the way your business already works, while leaving every important booking decision with you.