Introduction
TabRabbit is an all-in-one restaurant management and e-commerce platform that streamlines dining operations, improves staff efficiency, and expands revenue opportunities. From reservations and in-house orders to online storefronts powered by Shopify, TabRabbit enables restaurants to unify their operations and customer engagement under a single, modern solution.
With real-time dashboards, integrated payments, and scalable cloud infrastructure, TabRabbit empowers restaurants to handle both the front-of-house experience and back-of-house workflows, while also reaching customers online through delivery, takeout, or branded merchandise sales.
Key Features
- Digital Ordering System: Unified ordering workflows for in-house dining, delivery, and takeout with real-time updates.
- Reservation & Table Management: Smart scheduling and table allocation with waitlist features to optimize restaurant seating.
- E-Commerce & Online Storefront: Powered by Shopify, restaurants can sell menu items, packaged foods, or branded merchandise online with integrated product catalogs and inventory management.
- Integrated Payments: Stripe API powers secure, multi-channel transactions for both in-restaurant orders and online purchases.
- Customer Engagement: Real-time notifications, SMS/voice updates, and loyalty program support through Twilio and Firebase.
- Staff Dashboard & Analytics: A centralized view for staff task management, kitchen order tracking, and analytics on sales, peak hours, and customer behavior.
Technical Insights
- Frontend: Built with React, Next.js, and TypeScript, delivering a fast, responsive interface optimized for mobile and desktop. TailwindCSS provides a clean and customizable design system for dynamic dashboards and customer views.
- Backend & APIs: A Node.js + Express backend supports core functionality, with GraphQL APIs delivering flexible data access for orders, reservations, and storefront information.
- Database & Persistence: PostgreSQL stores structured business data such as menus, reservations, and transaction records, while Redis powers real-time session management and order synchronization.
- Realtime Communication: Firebase and WebSockets enable real-time order updates, staff notifications, and seamless communication between the kitchen and front-of-house.
- E-Commerce Integration: Shopify APIs manage product catalogs, online storefronts, and inventory synchronization. This allows restaurants to extend beyond in-house dining to online orders and merchandise sales.
- Payments & Communication: Stripe API powers secure payment flows across in-person and online channels. Twilio API integrates SMS and voice updates for reservations, delivery notifications, and promotions.
- Cloud Infrastructure: Deployed on AWS, with Dockerized microservices orchestrated through Kubernetes for scalability, resilience, and high availability.
Challenges and Solutions
- Real-Time Order Synchronization: Managing active orders across in-house dining, takeout, and delivery required sub-second updates. This was solved with Redis pub/sub and Firebase real-time sync.
- Omnichannel E-Commerce Integration: Balancing in-person dining with online sales of food and merchandise required unification. By integrating Shopify APIs, TabRabbit provides a single source of truth for inventory, catalog, and storefront management.
- Scalability During Peak Hours: Lunch and dinner rushes created performance bottlenecks. Kubernetes auto-scaling and CDN caching ensured smooth service during traffic spikes.
- Payment Security & Compliance: Handling sensitive transactions demanded strict compliance. With Stripe’s PCI-DSS compliance and fraud protection, payment flows remained secure and reliable.
- User Adoption Across Staff Roles: Restaurant staff required simple, intuitive workflows. TabRabbit introduced role-specific dashboards and guided onboarding to minimize training time and maximize adoption.
