Expand Your Reach With Retail

Last updated: Apr 8, 2026, 10:20 AM

Learn how you can explore new revenue streams by selling retail items at your restaurant.

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Expand Your Reach With Retail

Curious about exploring a new revenue stream through retail products at your restaurant? Not sure where to start? 

 

Reach your guests beyond your dining room by selling take-home products, merchandise, and other branded goods. Learn how to determine which items could be transformed into retail products, and how to start tracking them in Toast Web. Then, when you're ready to level up, Toast Retail is here to help you connect your restaurant and retail operation in one convenient place.

 

In this video, learn how to determine which items could be transformed into retail products, and how to start tracking them in Toast Web.

 

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Identify Items to Transform Into Retail Products

When determining which products could be strong retail opportunities, start by reviewing your most popular menu items. Your best-sellers are often great candidates for retail, and are super easy to find in your Product Mix report in Toast Web. Navigate to Reports > Menus > Product mix and review your top items to identify fan favorites that you can transform into retail products. Learn more about the PMIX report here: Product Mix (PMIX) Report Overview.

 

Confirm with your guests - collect feedback on what type of products your regulars would love to take home. Consider items that can be bottled or stored easily and require simple packaging. Sauces, marinades, and spice blends are great options.

 

Note: If you plan to package and sell food products, check your local, state, and federal guidelines to ensure compliance with food safety and labeling regulations, and other applicable laws and regulations.

 

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Configure & Track Retail Items in Toast Web

Now that you’ve chosen some retail items to start selling to-go, it’s time to configure them in Toast Web so you can track their performance within your sales reports, and set your staff up for success when ringing up your guests. To do this, you’ll want to start with a new sales category and menu for your new retail offerings.

 

  1. First, create a new sales category in Toast Web for this revenue stream:
    • Navigate to Menus > Settings > Sales categories.
    • Select + Add.
    • Name your new sales category "Retail" and select Save.
    • For more guidance, see Configure Sales Categories.
  2. Then, create a new menu to organize your retail items.
    • Navigate to Menus > Menu management > Edit menus.
    • Select + Add at the bottom of the page.
    • Enter the name of your new retail menu, select Save, and then open the menu details page to edit all of the important menu settings: 
      • Select Retail as the Sales Category for this menu.
      • Assign tax rates and prep stations as needed. Remember: when no prep stations are selected, these items will print to all prep stations.
  3. Now you can start building your retail menu groups and adding items to your retail menu. For more menu guidance, see Get Started With Menus


Make sure you’re checking your sales reports periodically to track the success of your new revenue stream, and of course listen to your guest feedback. Promote your new products with marketing tactics like free samples, social media posts, and the tools in Toast’s Marketing Suite to let your customers know about your new offerings.

 

By taking these steps, your restaurant can make informed decisions about which products to offer to-go and build a retail strategy that complements your core business.

 

Once you're selling a few dozen SKUs, need to generate unique barcodes, or want to integrate with Shopify to start shipping your products – you're ready to upgrade to Toast Retail. Visit Toast Shop to learn more about how Toast Retail can connect your restaurant and retail operation in one convenient place.

 

Already have Toast Retail? Visit our Retail Resource Center to get started with setup.

 

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