Building a custom quote on the iPad with the customer beside you

The customer is sitting on the floor sample with a swatch book on her knees. Leaving to find a price book means interrupting the comparison just as she asks whether the walnut legs change the price. With the quote on the iPad beside her, the associate can select the finish and show the resulting total while the sample is still in view.

An OrderPilot quote in Shopify POS can carry that conversation from the chosen piece to its configuration, source, and way home. The finished result is a quote the customer recognizes, with the important choices settled or clearly marked for review. The tablet should support the conversation, not become the most interesting object in the room.

Start with the right customer and selling team

The Create Quote tile opens the quoting work on the showroom iPad. Choose or add the customer, check the contact details, and confirm Sold by. These details decide who receives the quote and which associate is credited; they are worth settling while the customer can correct them. Ask how the customer wants to continue the conversation if they leave before deciding. Someone who is borrowing a fabric sample needs a different next step from someone ready to sign. Keep that distinction in the record rather than treating every created quote as a completed sale.

If the device or tiles are not ready, use the showroom iPad setup guide first. Staff should practice the normal flow on sample data before doing it beside a customer; the first Saturday rush is an ambitious time to discover an unfamiliar screen.

Find the exact piece and inspect its stock

Search for the product or scan its barcode. The picker shows available stock at the current location and other locations, which helps the associate distinguish a physical piece from a fresh order. Confirm the model and variant rather than relying on a familiar photograph. A floor sample can be sold when the store has made that unit available and the chosen source represents it. If the display should stay, choose a different stocked source or Order New. The Order New guide explains how the showroom can sell a fresh piece while keeping the display available for the next customer.

Check that the stock matches what is being offered. The fact that the store has a sofa does not mean it has this sofa in the chosen upholstery. Discuss any display condition separately and keep the customer’s agreement specific to the piece being sold.

Configure with the sample book still open

The product template presents the available options, including swatch images where configured. Short lists appear as buttons and longer lists can be searched. Required choices must be completed before the configuration can continue. The price changes with the selections, so the customer can compare an upgrade against the actual quoted piece. Read the selected labels back as you go. A fabric collection, fabric code, grade, and color can be different pieces of information. The customer may point to a swatch while the associate selects a similar name; reading the final choice prevents the screen and the sample from quietly disagreeing.

Where a template offers custom dimensions, the value must stay within its allowed range and increment. Record the customer’s requested size in the dimension option, then discuss room fit and delivery access separately. A valid product dimension does not prove that the piece can reach the customer’s room.

If the requested fabric is missing, ask the catalog owner to verify and add the valid option. Do not substitute a nearby fabric and leave a note hoping purchasing will interpret it. The quote should eventually carry the selection the vendor will receive, with its correct price.

Discuss timing alongside the configuration

The chosen fabric can affect the expected lead time. The POS option screen is not a lead-time display, so use the vendor information or have a colleague review the Admin order line before making a timing commitment. Tell the customer what is estimated and what still needs confirmation.

If timing is unresolved, say so in the customer conversation and leave a clear next action on the quote. The iPad can preserve the configuration while someone checks the answer. It is better to finish a useful draft than to invent a delivery promise because the customer is ready to hear one.

Choose where each item comes from

Set the source for each physical item: This location, Other location, or Order New. The choice should reflect the stock the store intends to use. It is separate from the customer’s delivery choice; ordering a fresh piece does not, by itself, say where it will be handed over. One quote can mix the custom sofa with regular Shopify products. The customer might choose a stocked lamp and a chair from another location while ordering the sofa fresh. Keep the source clear on every line so a colleague can continue without reconstructing the showroom conversation.

For Order New, the store needs its made-to-order location setup. If a source is unavailable or unclear, resolve that with the person managing stock before promising the unit. A live stock display helps the decision; it does not replace the store’s responsibility for allocating the right piece.

Set how each piece goes home

The handover choices let the associate distinguish an item taken today, collected later, or delivered. Review those choices by unit when the purchase includes different arrangements. The Due now amount updates as the handover and payment choices change. For an illustrative order, the customer takes a stocked lamp home while the custom sofa waits for delivery. Explain which amount is due now and how the sofa’s payment arrangement works before moving forward. The customer should not mistake the full quote total for the amount currently being requested, or the current payment for the whole purchase.

Ask about the delivery service itself: where the crew will place the sofa, whether assembly is included, and any access information still needed. The handover choice and the delivery charge should describe the same service.

Finish with clear charges and permitted discounts

Add a named fee for the chosen delivery service and review the total. If a line discount is allowed, enter the amount and reason required by the store’s policy. Staff permissions determine who can make price changes; an associate should not work around a restriction by disguising the adjustment elsewhere.

Payment terms belong in this review too. Do not select a term merely to produce the amount the customer expects. It should match the arrangement the store is actually offering. Supplier costs do not appear on the register, so the customer-facing conversation can stay focused on the quoted choices and price.

Read the quote as a purchase: product, configuration, quantity, source, handover, charges, and total. Then read it as a handoff: customer, credited staff, unresolved questions, and next action. Those checks catch different mistakes.

Save unfinished work before leaving it

Use Save as draft when the customer needs to pause. Check that saving succeeds and that the record can be reopened before closing the session or handing the iPad to someone else. An unfinished screen is not the same thing as a saved customer quote.

The POS flow has a discard warning for unsaved work. Treat Discard as a decision to abandon those edits. Save the record and verify it before closing the app, changing devices, or moving away.

Record what is still needed, such as a fabric decision or access measurement. That lets the next associate distinguish a deliberate pause from a quote that was forgotten. It also gives the customer a useful reason for the next conversation.

Send the quote or invite the agreed signature

When the quote is ready for review, send it to the customer. When the choices are settled and signing is the next step, show the signing QR code so the customer can review and sign on their own phone. The showroom QR guide explains that handoff. Stop here if the customer is still deciding. A complete quote is a useful outcome in its own right. For the agreed purchase, continue to the iPad closing sequence. Review the showroom close-rate process around accurate quotes and completed next steps, as well as immediate sales.

Sources

1. OrderPilot product truth, approved Features scope, app feature audit, and product answers — supplied internal product references.
2. OrderPilot POS Create Quote and Create Order source — reviewed for Save as draft and the unsaved-work discard warning; no device-session recovery claim is made.