Dealing with backorders in point of sale
From Catalyst
Contents
Summary
The following article explains how to deal with customer orders in Point of Sale. There will be times when an item a customer wants is out of stock, or they want a special order item.
More Information
Creating the Order
Go to " Stock Control Point of Sale".
- At "Stock Code" enter the stock code for the item or click <Ctrl+F1> to search for an item.
- Enter the "Quantity" the customer requires and press <Enter>.
- Repeat to add all items being sold or ordered at this time.
- Items unavailable for sale will be highlighted pink and a van will appear under the "Order" column to advise you need to order the item.
- If you find you need to order items click into the "Customer" field at the bottom of the screen.
- Enter the customer's account code if known, else search for their account or create a new customer.
 | Ordering parts under a customer record is preferable to using a generic account as it will make it easier to track the items and who they were ordered for. |
- Click [Checkout].
- This will now display a dialog box with the customer's order details.
- A "Reference" will be generated using their name and phone number or mobile number, if entered. You may overtype this e.g. to enter a specific contact name and number to associate to the item/s being ordered.
- By default, the system will assume you will take a full deposit payment for the item/s. You may amend this if necessary but you are encouraged to take a full deposit for items being ordered.
- Click [Confirm] to proceed to the Payments screen.
- Take the payment in the usual way including payment for items being taken away now.
- The system will print a deposit receipt with the customer, order and payment details along with a slip print receipt for goods bought and paid for now.
Ordering the Item
- See Processing a Purchase Order for details on how to order the item/s from your suppliers.
- Once you have received the item/s from your supplier, the customer reference details will be printed on the goods received note. If in place, a label will be printed with the customer reference on to remind you to set the items aside.
- You can contact the customer and inform them that their item has arrived.
| With the Sales Order Link switched on, you can immediately book the items out of stock and inform the customer by SMS that the item has arrived. |
| If a customer calls to query the progress of their order see this article. |
Retrieving the Backorder
When the customer arrives to collect their order go to " Stock Control Point of Sale".
- Press <Ctrl+F3> to search for their order.
- Enter their "Reference" by typing part of their name or phone number and pressing <Enter>.
- Select the correct reference to see their linked orders.
- If all items are here the order will be green. If all items are not yet here the order will be pink.
| You may view the items within an order by clicking the [Items] button. To load selected orders/items only you should use the [Tag] button to select the items. |
- Once selected click [Accept] if you wish to add more items to the sale or [Invoice] to go directly to the payment screen. Select [Yes] to confirm you have selected the correct items.
 | Retrieving an order/items is irreversible. If you make a mistake you will need to manually add the items to the invoice screen when the customer comes in as their order will no longer exist. You will be able to retrieve and link their deposit by ensuring you enter their customer account in the "Customer" field and selecting [Previously paid deposit] on the [Payment] screen. |
- On the [Payment] screen, the customer deposit will be retrieved and will show in the [Previously paid deposit]"Paid" column.
- Select the correct payment method for any remaining balance.
- Click [Post] to complete the sale.
See also
- Processing a Purchase Order
- Taking a Parts Deposit
- Why can I not Retrieve a Customer Parts Order?
- Selling stock at point of sale
- Selling stock in Invoicing and Customer Orders
- Dealing with Backorders in Invoicing and Customer Orders
- Sales Ordering
- How do I check customer order status?
