Special orders let you sell out-of-stock items, meaning you won’t miss a sale if a customer wants to purchase something that isn’t in stock. Retail POS gives you the tools to order more stock from suppliers or different locations, and manage contacting your customers to pick up their purchases.

You must have an open sale to create a special order, or you can make a special order during a regular sale.

Creating a special order

To access special orders on iPad, navigate to the Manager tab from the Profile page and follow the same steps below.

1. Navigate to Sales > Special Order.

   

2. Add a customer to the sale.
3. Add the items for special order. Once the items are added, the special order is confirmed. If the customer doesn’t need to add a deposit, you can navigate away from the page or start a new sale.

   

4. If the customer wants to add a deposit:
   1. Click Payment.
   2. Click Deposit.

      

   3. Add an amount to the Deposit amount field. If you use Lightspeed Payments, you can also accept a remote payment via payment link.

      

   4. Click Next and complete the sale.

Canceling the sale will not cancel the special order. You must remove special order items from the sale before canceling by clicking the trash icon beside the item, or cancel special orders manually.

Creating a special order during a sale

To access special orders on iPad, navigate to the Manager tab from the Profile page and follow the same steps below.

If you've already added items to a sale and want to put them on special order:

1. Add a customer to the sale.
2. If you want to add all items in the sale to the special order, click Special Order All. This will confirm the special order. If your customer doesn’t need to add a deposit, you can navigate away from the page or start a new sale.

   

3. If you want to add only some items to the special order:
   1. Click the item name.
   2. Choose Special Order from the Move To dropdown.

      

   3. Click Save. This will move the special order item to the Special order tab on the register and confirm the special order. If your customer doesn’t need to add a deposit, you can navigate away from the page or start a new sale.
4. If the customer wants to add a deposit:
   1. Click Payment.
   2. Click Deposit.

      

   3. Add an amount to the Deposit amount field. If you use Lightspeed Payments, you can also accept a remote payment via payment link.
   4. Click Next and complete the sale.

      

5. If only some items on the order were moved to the Special order tab, navigate back to the Sale tab to complete the initial sale.

Canceling a sale will not cancel the special order. You must remove special order items from the sale before canceling, or cancel special orders manually.

Managing special orders

On iPad, the Special Orders page can only be accessed from the Manager tab.

To access all open special orders, navigate to Inventory > Special Orders.

The special order page shows each order with a status and a color:

• Not Ordered (red): The out-of-stock item hasn’t been ordered.
• Ordered (yellow): The required items have been ordered but not received yet.
• Ordered, Partially Received (yellow): Some of the units have been received or are in stock, but there are still items or units outstanding.
• Ready, Not Called (green): The item was received, but the customer hasn’t been contacted.
• Ready For Pickup (green): The item was received and the order is ready for customer pickup.

Each order also lists the customer, the items, the quantity required, the quantity that is already reserved, and how many units are ordered and received.

Printing special orders

You can print a record of all your open special orders by clicking the print icon at the top of the page.

You can print receipts for individual special orders by clicking the printer icon beside the special order. Anything entered in the Notes field will be included in the printed receipt.

Ordering special order items

Once the items have been confirmed for special order, any items that are in stock will be reserved for the special order. Any items that are not in stock can be added directly to purchase orders or inventory transfers as necessary. You can also add special orders to purchase orders through the Retail POS API.

If only some units required to fulfill a special order are in stock, they will be reserved and only the remaining required units will be added to the purchase order or transfer. Special orders that only have some of the required inventory reserved for them are marked as Ordered, partially received, even if the purchase order or inventory transfer for the remaining units has not been sent yet.

Adding a deposit to a special order after it’s created

1. Navigate to Inventory > Special Orders.

   

2. Find the customer's special order using the search filters, or by scanning the receipt barcode into the Item field.
3. Click the shopping cart icon to move the order to the register.

   

4. Click Payment
5. Click Deposit.

   

6. Add an amount to the Deposit amount field.

   

7. Click Next and complete the sale.

Adding items to an existing special order

To add new items or update quantities of items in a special order:

1. Navigate to Inventory > Special Orders.

2. Find the customer's special order using the search filters, or by scanning the receipt barcode into the Item field.

3. Click the shopping cart icon to move the order to the register.

   

4. Add new items to the special order or change the quantity in the QTY field. This will update your inventory automatically:
   • If the items haven’t been ordered yet, the suggested amount to order when creating a purchase order or inventory transfer will update automatically.
   • If the items have been ordered, the quantity to hold back for special order will be updated. If the amount on order won’t be enough to fulfill the new amount needed, all available ordered units will be held back for the special order. The remaining number needed will be suggested when you create a new purchase order or transfer.
5. If the customer does not need to add a deposit, you can navigate away from this page or start a new sale.
6. If the customer wants to add a deposit
   1. Click Payment.
   2. Click Deposit.

      

   3. Add an amount to the Deposit amount field. If you have Lightspeed Payments, you can also accept a remote payment via payment link.

      

   4. Click Next and complete the sale.

Completing a special order

When completing a special order, if the items were ordered using the Special orders tab on the purchase order or inventory transfer, the status will update automatically to Ready, not called when the items are received.

If the items were ordered through a regular purchase order or transfer, click Ready to update the order status to Ready, not called. Orders can’t be marked as Ready, not called until all the items needed are in your inventory.

After you have contacted the customer, click the Called checkbox. This will change the status to Ready For Pickup.

When your customer comes to pick up their special order:

1. Navigate to Inventory > Special Orders.
2. Find the customer's special order using the search filters, or by scanning the receipt barcode into the Item field.
3. Click the shopping cart icon to move the order to the register.

   

4. Click Complete next to the items marked Ready For Pickup, or click Complete All to select all items.

   

   If the special order is marked as complete in error, click Not completed to reverse this.
   

5. Click Payment.
6. Take payment from the customer and/or use the account balance if they have made a deposit for the special order, then complete the sale.

   

Canceling a special order

Canceling a sale on the register does not automatically cancel a special order. If you need to cancel a special order:

1. Navigate to Inventory > Special Orders.

   

2. Find the customer's special order using the search filters, or by scanning the receipt barcode into the Item field.
3. Click the trash icon beside the special order and click OK.

   

4. If the customer has paid for the order or has left a deposit, you must process their refund manually:
   1. Navigate to Sales and click View all under Today’s transactions.

      

   2. Find the canceled special order. Canceled special orders will be in the Completed section but will have no currency value attached to them.
   3. Click the shopping cart icon to move the canceled special order to the register.

      

   4. Select the method for the refund from the Refund to dropdown.
   5. Enter the amount to refund in the Refund amount field and click OK.

      

   6. Complete the refund.

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