Manual Orders

Last updated 12 Aug 2026

Record orders that happen outside your storefront, like phone calls, walk-ins, and WhatsApp or Instagram sales. Pick a customer, add products, set delivery, and take payment.

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Manual Orders

Not every sale happens on your storefront. A customer calls. Someone messages you on WhatsApp. A person walks into your shop and asks to buy. Those sales are real money, and they belong in your records.

A manual order is how you record a sale that happened outside your store. You build the order yourself: pick the customer, add the products, set the delivery, and record the payment. From there it behaves exactly like a storefront order, so your numbers stay complete.

When to Use a Manual Order

Use one any time a sale didn’t go through your storefront checkout:

  • A customer orders over the phone
  • A customer sends an order on WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook
  • A customer walks into your shop and buys
  • You sell at a market or event

If you don’t record these, your orders page, revenue, and customer history are missing real sales. Manual orders keep everything in one place.

How to Create a Manual Order

Go to Orders → New Order in your dashboard. The form has a few parts: customer, order details, products, delivery, and payment.

Step 1: Pick the customer

Start with Create or Select Customer. Search for an existing customer by name or phone. If they’ve bought before, they’ll come up.

No customer found? Click Create new customer to add one on the spot, then select them. See Customer Management for how customer records work.

Step 2: Set the order details

  • Order Channel - Where the sale came from: Walk-in, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Phone Call. This tags the order so you know which channel brings in sales.
  • Order Date - Defaults to today. If you’re recording a sale from a few days ago, pick the actual date so your records are honest.

Step 3: Choose how the customer gets the order

  • Delivery - You ship it to them. You’ll set the delivery fee and address.
  • Pick up at store - The customer collects it.
  • Manual / Handled Externally - You’re handling it outside the system (a courier you deal with separately, for example).

Next, pick the Fulfillment Status. The options depend on the delivery method:

  • Delivery: Pending, Processing, Out for Delivery, Fulfilled
  • Pickup: Pending, Processing, Ready for Pickup, Fulfilled
  • Manual: Pending, Processing, Fulfilled

If you’re creating the order as it happens, leave it Pending and move it forward as you process it, just like any other order.

Step 4: Add the products

Search for products and add them to the order. For each product you can set the quantity with the plus and minus buttons.

If a product has variants (like sizes or colors), you pick the specific variant. The price comes from the variant.

The order shows a running subtotal as you add items.

Step 5: Delivery and extras

If you chose Delivery, set the delivery fee:

  • Pick one of your existing delivery zones, and the fee comes from that zone.
  • Or choose Custom Amount and type a fee yourself, for a one-off delivery price.

You can also add a delivery address (street, city, state) so the order has the customer’s details on record.

Then optionally:

  • Discount Amount - Knock a fixed amount off, for a customer discount or goodwill gesture.
  • Internal Notes - A note for yourself, not shown to the customer. Use it for things like “called to confirm address” or “collect payment on delivery”.

Step 6: Take payment

The summary sidebar asks Did the customer pay now?

  • Yes - Enter the amount paid (leave as the full total, or type a smaller amount for a deposit), and pick the payment method: Cash, Bank Transfer, or POS Terminal.
  • No - This creates an unpaid invoice. You’ll pick which bank account goes on the invoice so the customer knows where to send money (see below).

For unpaid orders, choose the Invoice Bank Account:

  • Paystack Account - Your default, using the bank details from your payment settings.
  • Direct Transfer Account - If you have separate bank details set up.
  • Custom Account - Type a bank name, account number, and account name yourself.

The button at the bottom reflects your choice: it says Create Order & Receipt when paid, or Create Invoice when not.

After You Create the Order

The order is created and you’re taken to its page. From here it’s a normal order:

  • Move it through fulfillment (Confirm, Dispatch or Mark Ready, Deliver).
  • Record payments later if you chose not to take one now.
  • The customer gets a receipt (for paid orders) or an invoice with your bank details (for unpaid ones).

See Managing Orders for everything you can do with an order once it exists.

Tips

  • Record sales the same day they happen. It’s easy to forget details a week later, and your records get messy.
  • Use the channel tags. Over time they tell you whether WhatsApp or walk-ins bring in more, which is worth knowing.
  • Use a deposit for big orders. If a customer pays part now, enter the partial amount. The order shows as Owing with the balance visible.
  • Don’t skip the customer. A manual order without a customer can’t exist, and recording the customer is what builds your customer history.