E-commerce
March 25, 2025
In Shopify admin, draft orders (often called “purchase orders” in French) let you sell outside the standard checkout flow: phone, trade show, chat, B2B quotes, or negotiated pricing. This guide is based on the Shopify Help Center page Creating draft orders, the article Sending invoices for draft orders, the documentation on inventory states, and the DraftOrder resource in the Admin API (shopify.dev). You will find tables, an operational checklist, and links to our articles on products, inventory management, and loyalty programs.
The goal is simple: create an order on behalf of a customer, then either send an invoice with a secure payment link, collect payment directly from the admin, or save a draft to finish later. Once payment is accepted, the draft order becomes a regular order: it appears in Orders and follows your normal processing workflow.
Summary
Terminology: purchase order and provisional order
In the Shopify interface, the official label is draft order. The menu is located under Orders > Drafts, with a button such as Create order. In the documentation, the term “draft order” is consistent with how it works: as long as payment is not finalized, it is an editable draft. French-speaking sales teams often use “purchase order” to refer to the same flow: keep an internal convention (tag names, reference prefixes) to find these records in saved views.
What a draft order can contain
According to the Help Center, a draft order can include several information blocks: products, discounts, shipping costs, taxes, customer, tags, and where applicable a market for international pricing. The following table summarizes the role of each block and why it deserves attention before sending the invoice.
Block | Operational role | Point of attention |
|---|---|---|
Products or bundles | Align the cart with the actual catalog | Check available stock and selected variant |
Discounts | Codes, automatic discounts, or manual amounts | Consistency with your commercial policy |
Shipping | Predefined, custom, local delivery, or pickup rate | Customer address required for location-based rates |
Taxes | Estimate based on addresses and store settings | Switch to tax charging if needed |
Customer | Billing, history, loyalty | Correct email before sending invoice |
Tags | Filter and save order views | 40 characters max per tag (Shopify documentation) |
Market | Local currency and international pricing | Rate locked at creation; review if the draft is modified later |
Use cases and merchant profiles
Draft orders are used when the public checkout is not enough: assisted sales, negotiation, services, order replacement, manual takeover from a channel, or wholesale sales with specific terms. The table below presents common scenarios and the settings to plan in advance.
Scenario | What you configure as a priority | Useful internal link |
|---|---|---|
Phone or trade show sales | Associated customer, shipping, invoice | |
Negotiated price or line-item discount | Line-item or cart discounts, price locking | |
Item outside the catalog (service, fee) | Custom item, while understanding the limits | |
B2B order with terms | Payment terms, market, taxes | |
Support: recreate an order | Duplication of an existing or draft order |
Create an order: desktop and mobile journey
Draft orders are used when the public checkout is not enough: assisted sales, negotiation, services, order replacement, manual channel takeover, or wholesale sales with special terms. The table below presents common scenarios and the settings to plan in advance.
Scenario | What you configure first | Useful internal link |
|---|---|---|
Phone or trade show sale | Associated customer, shipping, invoice | |
Negotiated price or line-item discount | Line-item or cart discounts, price locking | |
Item outside the catalog (service, fee) | Custom item, while knowing the limits | |
B2B order with terms | Payment terms, market, taxes | |
Support: recreate an order | Duplication of an existing or draft order |
Create an order: desktop and mobile flow
Creation starts from Orders > Drafts in the admin, or directly from the Drafts page (Shopify admin). A new draft does not prefill anything: you manually add line items. On mobile, the Shopify app (device detection) offers an equivalent flow through the Orders menu, then draft orders.
Open Orders > Drafts, then Create order.
Add products (search, browse collections, or add bundles).
Customize: customer, discounts, taxes, tags, notes, market.
Choose the final action: send an invoice by email, accept payment, set deferred payment terms, or save as draft to return later.
Shopify help specifies that you can also start from an existing customer profile to prefill information. For teams that receive many calls, this step reduces email errors and speeds up location-based shipping rates.
Duplicate an existing order or draft
To avoid re-entering everything, you can duplicate an existing order or an already open draft order. The duplicate notably includes products (with the most up-to-date catalog information), custom items, customer information, addresses, notes and attributes, market, and tags. However, discounts and shipping rates are not copied: you must adjust them on the new draft. This is useful for repeat customers or for correcting an order by starting from a similar base.
Personalized items: when to use them
A custom item represents a product, service, or fee that does not exist as a standard product in your catalog. Shopify reminds you: whenever possible, create products in the admin rather than using custom items, because cataloged products help calculate shipping rates and assign locations.
“Whenever possible, create products in your admin interface instead of using custom items. Products created in your admin interface help Shopify calculate shipping rates and assign orders to locations.”
Shopify Help Center, section on custom items (free translation and quote)
Documented consequences when you use custom items: no image or clickable product title, no link to a product page, no inventory tracking, no inclusion in product sales reports, and incompatibility with some automated shipping workflows or shipping apps. For one-off services, a custom item remains practical, but for anything recurring, a cataloged product or service simplifies what comes next.
Reserve inventory and avoid duplicate sales
Without a reservation, quantities remain available to other buyers. If stock drops to zero while a draft is still open, a warning appears in the provisional order. To block units, use Reserve stock: the units become unavailable to other customers. The documentation states that you must choose an expiration date and time for the reservation. Inventory tracking must be enabled for the relevant product; quantity statuses are detailed on the inventory statuses page.
Situation | Behavior | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
Unreserved stock | Other customers can still buy | Reserve if the invoice is sent with a delay |
Out of stock during draft | Warning in the provisional order | Adjust stock or the line item |
Overselling allowed on the product | You can add despite zero stock | Check the customer-facing message at checkout |
Lock or unlock pricing
By default, prices in a provisional order are unlocked until you enable locking. Locking ensures that line item prices do not change if you later modify the price in the catalog. Locked products display a padlock icon next to the price. You can unlock at any time; the order is then updated with catalog prices or B2B catalog prices if you use catalogs.
Important point for sending invoices: when you send an invoice or share a payment link, pricing is locked by default, unless you manually unlock it before sending. This aligns the amount seen by the customer with what you approved.
Discounts, shipping, and taxes
Discounts on a draft order can include eligible codes, automatic discounts, as well as custom order-level or line-item discounts. For shipping, you can choose a rate from your settings, a local delivery method, in-store pickup, or a custom rate (name and cost). Delivery customization rules active at checkout apply by default to draft order payments, but they are not displayed the same way in the admin when composing the draft.
For taxes, by default, estimates follow your store settings and the shipping address; without a shipping address, taxes may rely on the billing address. You can enable or disable the Charge taxes checkbox after opening the estimated tax section.
Customer, addresses and shipping rates
Adding a customer is mandatory if you want shipping rates based on location. You can link an existing customer or create a new one from the draft order. Billing and shipping addresses can be edited via the customer block menu. Email errors are a common cause of invoices not being received: check the spelling and the domain before sending.
Deferred payment terms (Plus: deposits)
Payment terms allow you to define a due date when payment is not immediate. After setup, you can send an invoice or collect payment in the admin. The following table summarizes the types described in the French documentation.
Term | Description |
|---|---|
Payment due on receipt | Payment is due on the invoice sending date. |
Payment due on fulfillment | Payment is due when you process all items. |
Net term | Due within a number of days (net 7, 15, 30, 45, 60, or 90). |
Fixed term | Due on a specific date. |
Shopify Help indicates that the Require a deposit percentage option is reserved for the Shopify Plus plan. If you are not on Plus, plan deposits another way (e.g., partial invoice or internal process) while maintaining traceability in notes.
International markets and local currencies
With international tools, currency and pricing depend on the market associated with the order. Adding the customer updates pricing and displays the local currency. The exchange rate is calculated when the draft order is created and remains fixed on the invoice; if you save a draft and then modify it later, pricing may be recalculated using the exchange rate at the time of modification. The documentation also lists side effects when you change markets (taxes included or not, customs duties, MSRP). If in doubt about a cross-border case, cross-check with your pricing policy and applicable tax rules.
Send an invoice or collect payment in the admin
Two main paths:
Send an invoice: the customer receives an email with a link to a payment page where they enter their information and confirm. Shipping details are covered in the article Sending invoices for draft orders.
Accept payment: you collect payment from the admin (card, other method depending on your setup), which turns the draft order into a confirmed order.
You can also leave the draft open to finalize a negotiation or wait for customer feedback.
API, apps and automation
The developer documentation (shopify.dev) describes the DraftOrder resource as the tool for creating orders on behalf of customers, sending invoices with a secure link, using custom items, manually recreating orders, selling with discounts or wholesale pricing, or managing preorders. Historical REST endpoints are complemented by GraphQL mutations draftOrderCreate, draftOrderInvoiceSend, draftOrderComplete, etc. Public apps must follow the migration to GraphQL for new developments.
Documented point of attention: the DraftOrder resource does not expose stock reservation information via the API; operationally, continue checking reservations in the admin interface.
Delete a draft and retention
You can delete an open or completed draft order. Deleting a completed draft order does not delete the final order already created. For performance, Shopify indicates that draft orders created on April 1, 2025 or later are automatically deleted after one year of inactivity, with any modification resetting the period. If you keep drafts for legal or business reasons, document them elsewhere or convert them into an order.
Best practices and common mistakes
Frequent error | Consequence | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Incorrect customer email | Invoice not received | Double profile validation before sending |
No stock reservation | Gap between shipment and payment | Reserve with an expiration date |
Overuse of custom items | Shipping and reporting less reliable | Create catalog products when it is recurring |
Forgetting the market on an international sale | Currency or tax discrepancy | Check the Market block before invoicing |
Draft left without follow-up | Automatic deletion after 12 months (2025+ rule) | Sales pipeline or follow-up |
Checklist before sending the invoice
Lines and quantities match the quote.
Customer and addresses are consistent with the delivery method.
Discounts and taxes aligned with your policy.
Price locking or clear intent to let Shopify lock at sending.
Stock reservation if the payment window is long.
Tags to find the file (e.g.
telephone,salon-2025).
Complete with a chatbot
An AI chatbot like Qstomy can answer questions about availability, lead times, or return conditions before an advisor creates the provisional order. It reduces back-and-forth on product references and prepares customers with the right level of information. For complex orders or negotiated pricing, humans remain at the center: the bot qualifies, the team drafts the outline. Learn more: e-commerce chatbot, AI recommendations, Shopify integration.
Summary
Draft orders (purchase orders) centralize assisted selling in Shopify: catalog, discounts, shipping, taxes, customer, market, and tags. Use inventory reservation to secure quantities, price locking to freeze an offer, and payment terms for due dates. Duplicate existing orders to save time, but recalculate discounts and shipping fees. For advanced automation, the DraftOrder API and GraphQL mutations are the references, while keeping operational validation in the admin. Finally, take into account the one-year retention period for drafts created from April 2025 onward so you don’t lose commercial history.
FAQ
What is the difference from a standard checkout?
A standard checkout is initiated by the customer on the store. The draft order is assembled by the merchant in the admin, then paid via invoice or manual payment.
Is stock always reserved?
No. Reservation is an optional action. Without it, stock remains available for other orders.
Are prices locked automatically?
By default, prices are not locked until you enable locking. Sending an invoice locks pricing by default, unless manually unlocked.
Do custom items affect stock?
No. They are not tracked in inventory and do not affect levels.
Does deleting a draft erase the paid order?
No. Deleting a completed draft order does not delete the order created from it.
What happens if I leave a draft inactive?
For drafts created on April 1, 2025 or later, Shopify automatically deletes them after one year of inactivity; any modification resets the period.
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March 25, 2025
