Taking orders in person with POS

[Sherrio]

I am vending at an art festival next weekend. I would like to take orders in person  for items that will then be shipped to the customer. I would like the customer to  be able to pay with square  when placing the order. How do I do this with POS? 

[JK_Fiber_Art]

Hi Sherrio,

Without more specifics, this is just a general thought (which has worked for us.)

I'm thinking that what you have in mind may be no different than any other sale using Square's POS app, regardless of where you are.  There are some things you need to have setup ahead of time - for example, your items, prices, sales tax for that specific location, and shipping.  It's also possible to go generic - simply setup your item with a price - note, the total cost should be enough to include any taxes and your shipping costs - bottom line, the customer just sees the price as everything else included.  You also need to tell the buyer that their order will be shipped within 7 days - this is the norm, from your post, you're only taking orders and will ship later which would be similar to an online purchase.

JK

[Sherrio]

Thanks for the suggestion 🙂. 

The problem with entering as a regular sale is that there is nothing to differentiate that from a sale of products I have on hand, both on the customer’s receipt and in my own record of transactions. As a customer, I would want a clear record of the fact that I had yet to receive the product; and as the seller, I don’t want to have to record each order twice, once within Square POS and once in my own list of orders to be shipped.

[JK_Fiber_Art]

Understand - unfortunately the problem with trying to help folks is we don't always have all the details as per the individual issue - you may want to consider having two items - this is something we do. We have a physical shop and and an online shop - both sell the same items however, the online shop has a different name for the same item our physical shop has - for example - an item listed online has a "Z" in front of it's name, i.e., "Z - Fabric Pin" while our physical shop simply shows "Fabric Pin". Same item but, a different way to process on our end. It's works for us and we've been doing this for a while however it's not a one size fits all solution - hey, it's just a thought and you may come up with even a better solution - if you do, please feel free to share.

JK

[Sherrio]

Having separate items for delivery is a good idea. I could add a note to the delivery items saying when they would ship. I think that would show up on the customer receipts.

The Square for Retail POS app allows you to enter orders for shipping. It’s meant for B & M stores with multiple locations, but I think it could still work. I don't know why they left this feature off the standard POS app.