Reservations and takeaway, one list
Hosts, cashier and manager answer the same number, each with their own login.
- Own login for each staff member
- Auto-assign in turn
- Away messages after closing
Real screen · demo workspace with example data
For restaurants, cafés and caterers · South Africa
Stop missing orders during the rush.Answer every reservation and takeaway from one inbox.EliteTeQ Inbox for restaurants, cafés, caterers and takeaways in South Africa
It’s 7pm, the floor is full, and the restaurant phone is buzzing with table requests and takeaway orders. Nobody can look at it until 10pm.
EliteTeQ Inbox lets your manager, hosts and takeaway desk answer reservations, orders and menu questions from WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook in one shared inbox. Event and catering enquiries are tracked to a deposit. Staff in Johannesburg and Cape Town or anywhere else answer from one +27 business number, with office hours on Johannesburg time (SAST).
No credit card required · Plans from $29/month
WhatsApp or call +1 214 423 5355 · a person replies, usually in under 10 minutes
- Table reservations
- Takeaway and delivery orders
- Menu and price questions
- Events and catering
Already using it? Sign in
- The ad this customer tapped
- Lead stage, one tap
- Internal comment, never sent
- Time left to reply
Real screen · demo workspace with example data
Sound familiar? What restaurants teams in South Africa tell us
During service nobody can check the phone, and orders sit unanswered.
EliteTeQ Inbox
Anyone on shift answers from their own login. Waiting chats rise to the top and show how long the guest has waited.
Catering and party enquiries get a price and then nothing.
EliteTeQ Inbox
Event enquiries sit on a pipeline from enquiry to deposit, flagged hot when they are waiting for you.
People ask “are you open?” at midnight and we answer at noon.
EliteTeQ Inbox
Office hours per number send an away message the moment you are closed.
Every enquiry is a customer deciding where to spend. Don’t let yours wait.
One shared inbox for restaurants, cafés, caterers and takeaways in South Africa.
EliteTeQ Inbox is a customer conversation and CRM platform. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs and comments land in one workspace your whole team answers from.
Customers in South Africa write in English, Afrikaans and isiZulu, and your team replies in the same chat. Every enquiry below gets an owner, a stage and a follow-up:
Less switching between phones. More enquiries turned into customers.
Start Your Free TrialWith EliteTeQ Inbox, you can
- Table reservations
- Takeaway and delivery orders
- Menu and price questions
- Events and catering
What is a WhatsApp CRM for restaurants?
A WhatsApp CRM for restaurants is a shared inbox and lead pipeline for the messages restaurants, cafés, caterers and takeaways in South Africa get every day. EliteTeQ Inbox connects your WhatsApp Business number, Facebook Page and Instagram account, lets several staff answer from their own logins, puts every customer on a pipeline (for example Enquiry, Menu or quote sent, Booked), and shows the owner who answered and how fast.
- One business number, many staff, each with their own login
- Every chat assigned to one person, with internal notes
- A pipeline named after your own steps
- Reports on reply speed, leads per day and ad sources
EliteTeQ Inbox at a glance
| Product | EliteTeQ Inbox, by EliteTeQ Softwares Limited (Nairobi, Kenya) |
|---|---|
| What it is | A WhatsApp team inbox and CRM |
| Channels | WhatsApp Business (official Cloud API, works alongside the WhatsApp Business app), Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, Facebook and Instagram comments |
| Works on | Any browser; installs on Android and iPhone |
| Price | From $29 a month; $59 Growth; $99 Business with unlimited people; a year costs 10 months |
| Free trial | 7 days, every feature open |
| WhatsApp numbers | 1 to 3 included by plan; up to 20 per business (Meta’s limit once the business is verified with Meta) |
| In South Africa | +27 WhatsApp Business numbers, office hours on Johannesburg time (SAST) |
| Languages | Customers write in English, Afrikaans and isiZulu |
| Setup | About 40 minutes, or done with you on WhatsApp |
| Last reviewed | 2026-11-01 |
How restaurants teams use EliteTeQ Inbox
Real screens from our demo workspace, with example data.
Events and catering tracked
Track private dining, parties and catering from enquiry to deposit.
- Stages you name yourself
- Hot leads flagged
- Filter by teammate
Real screen · demo workspace with example data
Comments that ask for the menu
Instagram and Facebook comments next to your chats, with automatic replies for “menu” or “price”.
- Comments with the post
- Keyword auto-replies
- Public or private reply
Real screen · demo workspace with example data
A pipeline for restaurants
An example you can set up in Settings → Pipeline stages and rename any time.
- Enquiry
- Menu or quote sent
- Booked
- Deposit paid
- Done
- Lost
Try It With My Team
No credit card required · Plans from $29/month
Get your team answering in a day
No installation and no long training.
Create your account
Register with your email. The 7-day trial opens every feature, no card needed.
Connect your channels
Link your Facebook Page and Instagram. We connect your +27 WhatsApp Business number with you on WhatsApp, on Johannesburg time (SAST), in about 40 minutes.
Invite your team
Add staff with their own logins as Owner, Admin or Agent, whether they work in Johannesburg and Cape Town or from home.
Set up your pipeline
Name the stages after how you work, for example: Enquiry → Menu or quote sent → Booked → Deposit paid.
Start answering
Assign chats, follow up hot leads and watch the reports.
Create Your Free Account
No credit card required · Plans from $29/month
More than a shared inbox. A better way to manage your customer relationships.
A shared inbox helps your team see messages. EliteTeQ goes further, connecting every conversation to lead management, team coordination and sales visibility.
- Designed for teams
- Employees work with their own logins, roles and responsibilities.
- Conversations connected to customers
- Every message sits with the customer’s history and their stage on your pipeline, not as an isolated chat.
- Visibility for management
- See how your team handles enquiries, how fast they reply and where follow-ups are needed.
- Grows with your business
- Start with a small team, then add people, numbers and a bigger plan as you grow.
- Easy to get started
- Register online, explore every feature on the free trial, and set up your workspace without waiting for a salesperson.
Simple pricing. No complicated contracts.
The same plans for every industry in South Africa, in US dollars: Starter $29, Growth $59, Business $99 a month. Paying yearly costs 10 months. 7-day free trial, no credit card. Meta’s WhatsApp charges, where they apply, are separate.
Try Growth free for 7 daysNo card needed · you choose the plan when you pay
Phones and personal chats vs EliteTeQ Inbox
The difference is that every enquiry has an owner and nothing depends on one phone, whether your team is in Johannesburg and Cape Town or at home.
| Phones and personal chats | EliteTeQ Inbox |
|---|---|
| Whoever holds the phone answers | Every staff member answers from their own login |
| Two people reply to the same customer | Each chat is assigned to one person |
| Quotes and follow-ups forgotten | Waiting chats and hot leads are flagged |
| Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp on different devices | Every channel in the same list |
| No idea how fast customers get an answer | Reply speed and leads per person in reports |
EliteTeQ Inbox in South Africa
EliteTeQ Inbox works for restaurants, cafés, caterers and takeaways in South Africa on your existing +27 WhatsApp Business number. Customers see your business name as they do today, and your team answers from Johannesburg and Cape Town or anywhere else.
South African customers expect a business to answer on WhatsApp the way they message friends. When enquiries come into a branch phone and a manager’s phone, nobody knows who already replied. One shared inbox gives every chat a clear owner.
Customers write in English, Afrikaans, isiZulu and other languages. Your team replies in the customer’s language inside the 24-hour window; template messages are created in English.
Office hours are set day by day for each number. A common setup in Johannesburg or Cape Town: weekdays open, Saturday mornings open, Sunday closed. Anyone who writes while you are closed gets your away message, at most once every 12 hours, and the chat waits at the top of the list for the morning.
Selling on WhatsApp in South Africa
Customers in South Africa pay with cards, contactless, EFT, and popular local payment methods, so when a sale closes on WhatsApp the customer may confirm payment in the chat, and your team needs to see that message quickly.
Mbombela (Nelspruit)
Mpumalanga Province · a regional centre and gateway to the Kruger National Park
Mbombela's trade combines a regional retail and agricultural service role with tourism traffic heading to the Kruger National Park and across the Mozambican border, which raises the share of foreign-currency and card transactions in hospitality. Seasonal visitor peaks sit on top of a steady local base, rewarding systems that scale between quiet and busy periods. Kruger-bound tourism and Mozambican border traffic layer foreign-currency and card spending on top of a steady regional retail base. Booking requests from Mbombela (Nelspruit) reach whoever is on shift, with an away message when you are closed.
Pietermaritzburg
KwaZulu-Natal Province · the provincial capital of KwaZulu-Natal
Pietermaritzburg is an administrative, education and light-manufacturing centre inland from Durban, with steadier year-round demand than the coast and a substantial student population producing term-time swings. Card payment is standard and grid interruptions apply as nationally. Administration, education and light manufacturing give steadier year-round trade than the coast, with a student population driving term-time swings. Booking requests from Pietermaritzburg reach whoever is on shift, with an away message when you are closed.
Johannesburg
Gauteng Province · South Africa's largest city and economic centre
Sandton, the CBD, Rosebank and the southern suburbs behave like separate retail markets spread across a metro too large to service centrally. Booking requests from Johannesburg reach whoever is on shift, with an away message when you are closed.
Cape Town
Western Cape Province · a major tourism, services and technology centre
Cape Town's retail and hospitality trade has a pronounced summer peak driven by international visitors, which means high card and foreign-currency volumes and staffing that expands and contracts with the season. Restaurants and bars need fast table billing and tab splitting to a degree that inland cities do not. The summer season fills the V&A, the city bowl and the Atlantic seaboard with international visitors, then empties them; staffing doubles and halves with it. Booking requests from Cape Town reach whoever is on shift, with an away message when you are closed.
EliteTeQ Inbox in every city of South Africa
- JohannesburgGauteng Province · South Africa's largest city and economic centre
- Cape TownWestern Cape Province · a major tourism, services and technology centre
- DurbanKwaZulu-Natal Province · the busiest port in sub-Saharan Africa
- PretoriaGauteng Province · South Africa's administrative capital
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)Eastern Cape Province · a port city and centre of vehicle manufacturing
- BloemfonteinFree State Province · South Africa's judicial capital and a regional service centre
- East LondonEastern Cape Province · a coastal port and manufacturing city
- PolokwaneLimpopo Province · the commercial centre of Limpopo
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)Mpumalanga Province · a regional centre and gateway to the Kruger National Park
- PietermaritzburgKwaZulu-Natal Province · the provincial capital of KwaZulu-Natal
Reviewed by the EliteTeQ team ·
Questions businesses ask us
Not answered here? A person from our team replies on WhatsApp.
Ask a humanIs there a WhatsApp CRM for restaurants in South Africa?
Yes. Restaurants teams in South Africa use EliteTeQ Inbox with their own +27 WhatsApp Business number. Staff in Johannesburg, Cape Town or anywhere else answer from their own logins, customers write in English, Afrikaans and isiZulu, and office hours run on Johannesburg time (SAST). Plans start at $29 a month with a 7-day free trial.
Does it send orders to the kitchen?
No. EliteTeQ Inbox handles the conversation; orders go to the kitchen the way they do today. EliteTeQ POS has a kitchen display if you need one.
Can it take payment for orders?
No. Share your usual payment details in the chat and mark the order as paid on the pipeline.
Can we answer from a tablet at the host stand?
Yes. It runs in any browser and installs on Android and iPhone.
Can several staff use the same WhatsApp number?
Yes. Everyone signs in with their own login, on a computer or phone, and each chat is assigned to one person. The WhatsApp Business app on your phone can stay connected.
How much does it cost?
Starter is $29 a month for 1 WhatsApp number and 3 people, Growth $59 for 2 numbers and 6 people, and Business $99 for 3 numbers and unlimited people. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
WhatsApp rules on this page, from Meta:WhatsApp Business Platform pricing (Meta)Messaging limits (Meta)Message templates (Meta)Business phone numbers and limits (Meta)About the WhatsApp Business Platform (Meta)
Every restaurants enquiry is an opportunity. Don’t let yours get lost in South Africa.
Bring your channels, your team and every customer conversation into one organised workspace.
No credit card required · Plans from $29/month
Or WhatsApp us on +1 214 423 5355