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Order Sync

Admin Manager

Use this page to handle orders placed on your WooCommerce website: where they show up in Brother POS and how they become sales.

Quick steps​

  1. Go to Orders. Online orders that haven't become sales yet have a WooCommerce badge. Set Source to WooCommerce to see only those.
  2. Click View to see the items, customer, pickup or delivery choice (with its date and time slot), payment and any customer note.
  3. Prepare the items, then click Complete order and confirm. The sale is created and stock comes off.
  4. If the order won't go ahead, click Void order instead. It's cancelled in WooCommerce too.
info

If Auto-fulfill Orders is ticked in the WooCommerce settings (the default), orders become sales straight away and you won't need steps 3–4.

Common questions​

Orders aren't arriving. Plugin mode: tick Take store live in the WooCommerce settings, then check the plugin's Diagnostics page. Legacy pull: tick Import Orders from WooCommerce; only Processing orders come in.

An order came in with items missing. Those products couldn't be matched. Make sure the SKUs match in WooCommerce and Brother POS. The sale's notes list the missing items.

Is the stock held for an online order? Yes. It's set aside when the order arrives and released when it's completed or voided (or after 7 days).

Which payment options do customers see? Interac e-Transfer (only when an e-Transfer email is filled in) and Pay on Pickup (only for Local Pickup orders).

More detail: how orders arrive (plugin and legacy pull)

When customers order on your WooCommerce store, those orders come into Brother POS so you can fulfill them at your store. This page explains how that works, from online checkout to a completed sale.

Two ways orders arrive
  • Plugin push / pull (recommended): when a customer checks out, the Brother POS plugin sends the order to Brother POS straight away. See Order Push (Plugin Mode).
  • Legacy pull: Brother POS checks your website for new orders on each sync cycle.

Matching, reservations and fulfillment work the same way either way.

How Legacy Pull Works​

In legacy pull mode, Brother POS checks WooCommerce for orders on each sync cycle, at most once per polling interval (default: every 15 minutes), when Import Orders from WooCommerce is ticked.

  1. Brother POS fetches orders with Processing status created since the last order sync (or the last day, the first time).
  2. Orders it has already imported are skipped.
  3. New orders are imported, and their products are matched to your catalog.
  4. Stock is reserved for each matched item.
  5. Depending on your settings, each order is either fulfilled automatically or left for staff to fulfill.

Order Push (Plugin Mode)​

In plugin push / pull mode, the plugin sends each order to Brother POS as soon as it is placed. The plugin only sends orders once your store is live (Take store live in the WooCommerce settings) and connected. The order includes:

  • Line weights. For weight-priced flower, the grams ordered, so stock goes down by the right weight.
  • Line SKU. Brother POS matches on SKU first, so orders still match after a WooCommerce catalog rebuild.
  • Tax as charged by WooCommerce, so your Brother POS revenue matches.
  • Tip, fulfillment choice, and payment method. The customer's tip, their delivery or pickup choice with the scheduled date and time slot, and how they paid.
  • Customer name, contact and address, so the sale is attached to the right customer.

Sending the same order twice is harmless. Brother POS recognizes the order and never creates a second sale. If a later, more complete copy arrives, it fills in a missing tip or delivery details on the sale.

More detail: online payment options

Online Payment Options​

In plugin mode, checkout payment options are set once in Brother POS and applied to your website (see Plugin Sync):

OptionHow it works
Interac e-TransferOffered when Enable Interac e-Transfer payment is ticked and an e-Transfer email is filled in. The customer is told to send an e-Transfer to that address using their order number as the reference.
Pay on PickupPay with cash or debit at pickup. It only appears when the customer chooses Local Pickup, never for delivery or shipped orders. Available when pickup is enabled for your store.
e-Transfer email is deliberate

Brother POS only offers e-Transfer when you have entered an e-Transfer email. It never falls back to your store's general email; without one, the option is hidden so payments can't go to the wrong address.

More detail: product and customer matching, and stock reservations

Order Import Details​

Product Matching​

Brother POS matches each line item to a product:

  1. By SKU first.
  2. By its WooCommerce link if no SKU matches.

An order with some unmatched products is still imported with the products that did match. The sale's notes list the missing items. An order where no products match is skipped.

Customer Matching​

Brother POS finds or creates a customer from the order's billing details:

  • Email is used first. If a customer with that email exists, the order is attached to them.
  • If there is no email, Brother POS matches by name.

Customers created this way are regular customers in your customer list.

Stock Reservations​

When an order is imported, Brother POS reserves the stock for each item so it isn't sold to a walk-in customer before the order is fulfilled.

  • Reservations reduce the stock available to sell.
  • Reservations for WooCommerce orders expire after 7 days.
  • Reservations are released when the order is fulfilled or voided.
More detail: auto vs. manual fulfillment, and label printing

Fulfillment Modes​

Auto-Fulfillment​

When Auto-fulfill Orders is ticked (the default):

  1. The order is imported and turned into a sale right away.
  2. The sale is recorded under a WooCommerce System user.
  3. Stock is deducted and the reservation is released.
  4. The sale shows WooCommerce as its source.
  5. When the sale is completed, the order is marked Completed in WooCommerce. Delivery orders stay Processing in WooCommerce until the delivery is finished.

Manual Fulfillment​

When Auto-fulfill Orders is unticked:

  1. The order is imported and waits on the Orders page.
  2. Staff review the order and prepare the items.
  3. A staff member opens the order and clicks Complete order.
  4. The sale is created and stock is deducted.

Automatic Label Printing​

When Auto-print Labels on Import is ticked and label printing is set up, Brother POS prints product labels as orders come in.

Which products get a label follows the Products to label setting in your label printing settings:

  • All products
  • Weight-based products only
  • Flagged products only
  • Products in specific categories

Weight-based products get a label with the weight ordered and its price. Other products get one label per unit ordered.

More detail: viewing, completing and voiding online orders

Viewing Online Orders​

  1. Go to Orders.
  2. WooCommerce orders that haven't become sales yet show in the list with a WooCommerce badge. Set Source to WooCommerce to narrow the list.
  3. Click View to see the order's items, customer, fulfillment choice (with its scheduled date and time slot), payment and any customer note.

Completing or Voiding an Order​

From a pending order's page:

  • Complete order: creates the sale and deducts stock.
  • Void order: releases the reservation, marks the order cancelled, and cancels it in WooCommerce. Only pending orders can be voided.

Filtering​

  • Status: Completed, Pending, or Voided.
  • Date range: orders from a specific period.
  • Source: WooCommerce.
More detail: order lifecycle and how sales are recorded

Order Lifecycle​

WooCommerce: Order placed
        |
        v
Brother POS: Order imported -> Stock reserved
        |
        v
    [Auto-fulfill on?]
      /           \
    YES            NO
     |              |
     v              v
  Sale created   Order waits on
  Stock deducted the Orders page
  Reservation      |
  released         v
                 Staff clicks Complete order
                    |
                    v
                 Sale created
                 Stock deducted
                 Reservation released

Sales Attribution​

Orders from WooCommerce are recorded like this:

  • User: WooCommerce System (created automatically).
  • Cash drawer session: the currently open session, or a new session with a zero float if none is open.
  • Source: WooCommerce.
  • Notes: the WooCommerce order number, customer name and email, and any discount.
More detail: troubleshooting

Troubleshooting​

ProblemSolution
Orders not importing (legacy pull)Check that Import Orders from WooCommerce is ticked and the order is Processing in WooCommerce.
Orders not arriving (plugin mode)Tick Take store live, then check the ingest URL and shared secret on the plugin's Diagnostics page.
Order skipped or items missingThe products couldn't be matched. Make sure SKUs match between WooCommerce and Brother POS.
Labels not printingMake sure label printing is set up, Auto-print Labels on Import is ticked, and the product fits your Products to label setting.
Duplicate customer recordsA customer used different email addresses. Merge the records in Brother POS.

What's Next?​