Nearest-Outlet Routing for Biryani Chains: One Number, Every Branch

WhatsApp ordering for restaurant chains comes down to one question: when a customer messages the brand's number, which kitchen cooks the order? For a biryani brand with four branches across a city, the answer has to be the branch nearest the customer, decided automatically, every time, without the customer knowing or caring that there are four. That is what nearest-outlet routing does.

This explainer uses a biryani chain to show how it works on Tezzu: why one number beats one number per branch, how the location pin and the delivery zones decide the outlet, how to draw zones so routing does what you want, how outlet-level pricing fits, and what each branch manager and the owner see.

The problem with one number per branch

A chain that grew branch by branch usually has a WhatsApp number per branch, printed on each branch's board and bag. It works until it does not. A customer saves the Jubilee Hills number, moves to Gachibowli, and keeps ordering from the saved contact. The Jubilee Hills kitchen either refuses the order or sends a rider 12 km. A customer who finds the brand on Instagram has to work out which number is theirs. Campaigns go out from four numbers with four different customer lists.

One number for the brand solves all of it, provided something behind the number knows where the customer is. The customer-side simplicity of a single number is covered in one WhatsApp number for multiple branches; this post is about the routing that makes it safe.

How nearest-outlet routing decides

Here is the flow for a delivery order on the brand's number.

1. The customer messages the number. The bot greets them and shows the menu.
2. They add a chicken biryani and a phirni and go to checkout.
3. The bot asks for a location pin, or the customer types an address on the store page.
4. Tezzu checks every outlet's delivery zones for that point. If one outlet covers it, that outlet gets the order. If more than one covers it, the nearest wins.
5. The customer sees that outlet's prices, delivery charge and minimum order before confirming. The confirmation names the branch.
6. The order lands in that outlet's dashboard and staff app. Its kitchen cooks it; its rider delivers it.

If the address is inside no zone at all, the customer is offered pickup from an outlet they choose, so the brand never says a flat "we do not deliver here" without an alternative. For pickup orders the customer picks the branch themselves and gets a collection time. The edge cases, such as a customer who moved house and a zone that covers an address on the far side of a flyover, are worked through in nearest outlet routing: sending each order to the right kitchen.

Drawing zones so routing does what you want

Zones are the routing map. Each outlet draws its own delivery zones around itself, with distance-based charges and a free-delivery threshold per zone, and routing reads those zones directly. There is no separate routing table to maintain, which means the way you draw zones is the way orders will flow.

Three rules follow. Where two outlets' zone 2 rings overlap, the nearer outlet takes the order, which is almost always right. If you want a particular branch to own an area regardless of distance, because it has more riders or a bigger kitchen, shrink the other branch's zone there. And if an area is in nobody's zone, it is a pickup-only area, so draw zones generously enough that your real delivery footprint is covered. Charges and thresholds can differ by outlet, as in the table, because each outlet's rider costs differ.

Test routing from the road, not from the office. Stand at an address inside an overlap, place a real order, and check which branch's staff app rings.

One master menu, outlet-level prices

A chain wants one menu with the same photos and descriptions everywhere, and the freedom to charge ₹30 more at the branch inside the IT park. The master menu holds every item, variant, add-on and bundle once; each outlet sets its own price on any item that differs and can mark an item unavailable locally. An item with no outlet price uses the master price.

So a chicken biryani at a master price of ₹280 can be ₹280 at Kukatpally and ₹310 at Gachibowli, and the customer is quoted the price of the branch their order is routed to. Change the biryani photo at brand level and all four outlets get it; change a price at Gachibowli and only Gachibowli changes. When and why prices should differ by location is argued in master menu vs outlet menu.

What this looks like on Tezzu

The brand has one WhatsApp number, connected once through Meta's embedded signup, and one store page, with a custom domain if you want one. Outlets are added in the dashboard, each with its address, opening hours, delivery zones, pickup points, printer and staff. A store switcher at the top of the dashboard lets the owner pick an outlet, and the orders view, prices, zones, staff list and earnings change to that outlet. The master menu is edited at brand level and shows, per item, each outlet's price and availability.

When an order comes in, routing has already happened. The Gachibowli manager opens the staff app and sees Gachibowli's orders, with the new-order alert and spoken announcement, and nothing from the other three branches. The KOT prints on Gachibowli's printer with the table or delivery details. Status updates to the customer come from the brand's single number, so the customer sees one brand throughout. Each outlet manager has a login scoped to their outlet through roles and permissions; the owner, and anyone with brand-level access, sees all four.

Reports are per outlet, with the owner comparing branches by switching between them. Campaigns go out from the shared number, each outlet to its own customers from its own campaign wallet, and the orders that follow are routed to the nearest branch as usual. Each outlet carries its own plan and the same flat ₹10 per order with no commission. The full setup, from adding outlets to assigning staff, is in managing multiple outlets on one WhatsApp number, and everything the platform does is on the features page.

Moving a chain onto one number

The order of operations matters when branches already have their own numbers. Connect the brand number first and build the master menu and outlets while the old numbers keep taking orders. Test routing from the field. Then change the number on every branch's print, Google Business Profile and Instagram in one go, and put an auto-reply on each old number pointing customers to the new one. Keep the old numbers alive for a few months, because customers will keep messaging saved contacts.

Branch managers lose nothing in the move: they still see their own orders and their own earnings. What the owner gains is one customer list, one set of campaigns, one menu to maintain and one address to print, which is the operating model described in multi-outlet restaurant management. If the brand also wants ordering at its own web address, the domain is set once for the brand and routing works behind it; see custom domain for restaurant chains.

Frequently asked questions

Can a restaurant chain take WhatsApp orders on a single number?

Yes. On Tezzu, every outlet of a brand shares one WhatsApp number and one store page. When the customer shares a location pin or types an address, the order is routed to the nearest outlet whose delivery zone covers it, and only that outlet's staff see it. Customers see one brand and one number; each kitchen runs its own orders.

How does the system know which branch should get the order?

From the customer's location and each outlet's delivery zones. The bot asks for a pin, or the store page takes an address, and Tezzu checks which outlets cover that point. One match goes to that outlet; several matches go to the nearest. An address outside every zone is offered pickup from a branch the customer chooses. Zones are therefore the routing map and should be drawn deliberately.

Can each branch charge different prices for the same biryani?

Yes. The master menu holds the item once, and each outlet sets its own price where it differs, or marks the item unavailable locally. The customer is quoted the price of the branch their order is routed to, and the confirmation names that branch. Items without an outlet price use the master price.

Can a branch manager see other branches' orders and sales?

Only if you give them brand-level access. A manager's login is scoped to their outlet through roles and permissions, so they see their own orders, prices and earnings and nothing else. The owner uses the store switcher in the dashboard to move between outlets and compare them.