Taking a deposit at the register on the showroom iPad

“Let's do it.” The customers nod, the swatch book closes, and the associate starts the walk to the back-office desk. By the time everyone reaches it, the fabric book has reopened and someone has remembered a question about the legs.

A showroom iPad can keep the agreed piece, signature, and deposit in the same conversation. With Shopify Plus, OrderPilot's Take Deposit hands the agreed deposit into Shopify POS checkout. On another Shopify plan, finish the quote and signing on the iPad, then use an Admin-created deposit order and payment link.

Choose the payment route before the appointment

Shopify Plus and Shopify POS Pro answer different questions. Plus is the Shopify plan required for OrderPilot's native percentage deposit terms and Take Deposit. POS Pro is a location subscription required for Shopify's own save-and-retrieve draft-cart feature.

OrderPilot doesn't impose a separate POS Pro check in its own quote screens. That does not establish that every Shopify feature a store uses is included at every location. Review the native capabilities your actual selling routine depends on, especially draft-cart handling, rather than treating Plus and Pro as interchangeable names.

The deposit routes by plan should be part of the store's setup discussion. The customer-facing version can stay simple: your associate should know whether the deposit is completed at the register or through a link sent from the desk.

Understand Shopify's native partial-payment route

Shopify POS also has its own multiple and partial payments flow. Its device settings must permit split payments and allow a split payment to be marked partially paid. Staff can then return to the order to collect the balance.

That native workflow has a significant restriction: Shopify says an order being paid in multiple payments cannot receive more payments after an item refund, exchange, or order edit. Read that before choosing the flow for a furniture sale likely to change after the first visit. Availability also varies in some countries.

OrderPilot's Take Deposit is a particular handoff built around its order and payment terms. A generic Shopify partial-payment setting does not remove its Plus requirement. Teach the actual flow the store will use, with a sample order, a completed receipt, and a later balance collection.

Finish the specification while the customer can see the samples

Build the configured quote beside the piece. Read back the upholstery code, size, arm style, leg finish, and quantity. A walnut sample viewed under a warm lamp can become “the dark one” remarkably quickly once it reaches a desk.

Include the other items in the purchase and their ways home. The customer may take a stocked side table today while waiting for the sofa. The quote should show both without implying that paying a deposit means both have been delivered.

OrderPilot's POS screens keep supplier costs off the register. Staff permissions govern payment and discount actions, so the customer can review selling details without the associate exposing purchasing information.

For the wider floor routine, see running a furniture showroom on Shopify POS. The deposit is most comfortable when the choices before it are already settled.

Get the required signature before the payment

Show the customer the complete specification and terms before moving to the card reader. OrderPilot offers a QR code for signing on the customer's phone or Sign on this iPad when the showroom device is the better choice.

If a product or category requires signing, the order's guarded payment flow asks for that step first. A payment receipt cannot replace the signed configuration. If an exception is needed, send it to the authorized Admin process rather than asking an associate to improvise at the register.

This is also a useful pause for the customer's questions. A delivery estimate, a fabric-care concern, or a change in room measurements belongs in the agreement before payment. The complete iPad closing routine follows those decisions together.

Use Due now to explain what this visit pays for

The Pickup or Delivery? view distinguishes Today, Pick up later, and Delivery by unit. That matters on a mixed sale: the amount due at this visit can include the item leaving now as well as the deposit associated with later furniture.

Consider an illustrative sofa-only order totaling $4,800 with a 50% deposit. The deposit is $2,400, with $2,400 remaining under the agreed terms. If a stocked side table is added for immediate pickup, read the screen's actual Due now amount after configuring the mixed order; don't assume the original sofa deposit still describes everything being collected.

The customer's explanation should match the screen: identify what is paid for today and what remains for later. Use the agreed due event for the balance, such as before delivery, rather than leaving the timing to the delivery crew.

Complete Take Deposit in Shopify checkout

On a Plus store with the native deposit terms set, Take Deposit shows the amount being handed to checkout. The associate reviews it, proceeds into Shopify POS, and completes payment through the store's configured tender.

If the customer wants to use different cards, Shopify's native split-tender flow can divide a checkout between payment methods when the required device settings are enabled. Confirm that the complete amount for this checkout is paid. Splitting tender for today's payment is different from leaving part of the furniture order for a later date.

If checkout is interrupted or the customer leaves, return to the payment history before starting another attempt. An open screen is not proof of a failed charge, and a payment request is not proof of a successful one. Use the recorded transaction state to decide the next action.

Give the customer a receipt that explains the rest

The receipt should help the customer remember both the payment and the remaining obligation. OrderPilot's receipt payment section uses the order's payment and refund history, paid total, and remaining amount. It can also reflect the relevant due wording for the order's handover arrangement.

The receipt carries the location's short terms and a QR route to the full terms. Keep that wording consistent with what the customer saw before signing. The receipt confirms the transaction; it should not introduce a stricter cancellation policy after the card has been charged.

Use location settings for receipt terms and QR links to make the printed result deliberate. Test the scan on a sample receipt and read it at actual printed size.

Leave a payment history the next associate can use

Payment History on the register lets staff return to the sale later. Before collecting the balance, review the money already received and any refund or adjustment. The customer should not need to explain the first visit from memory.

If the store uses the any-plan Admin deposit-order route, assign the handoff clearly. The floor associate finishes the quote; the authorized desk colleague sends the deposit request; someone verifies payment before purchasing proceeds. Keep the customer with the same order throughout.

End with a short, clear closing conversation

For the sofa, an associate can say: “Here is the oatmeal fabric, the deeper seat, and the walnut legs we chose. Please review and sign the specification and terms. Your deposit is $2,400, and the remaining $2,400 is due before delivery. I'll complete the payment and give you the receipt.”

Adapt that wording to the actual order and supported payment route. The point is a calm progression through choices the customer already understands.

Practice that conversation beside a sample order. The deposit conversation guide gives your team wording to work from.

Sources

1. Multiple and partial payments on Shopify POS — Shopify Help Center.
2. Managing draft orders on Shopify POS — Shopify Help Center.