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Order Sync

Admin Manager

When customers place orders on your WooCommerce store, those orders reach Brother POS for fulfillment at your physical location. This page explains how the order sync process works, from online purchase to in-store fulfillment.

Two ways orders arrive
  • Plugin push / pull (recommended, default): the moment a customer checks out, the Brother POS plugin pushes the order to Brother POS. There is no polling delay, and no Brother POS request has to reach into your website. See Order Push below.
  • Legacy pull: Brother POS polls your website for new orders on a timer. The import, matching, reservation, and fulfillment behaviour described on this page is the same either way.

How Order Sync Works​

In legacy pull mode, Brother POS periodically polls your WooCommerce store for orders with a "Processing" status, at your configured polling interval (default: every 15 minutes).

The process follows these steps:

  1. Brother POS fetches all orders with processing status from WooCommerce.
  2. Orders already imported (matched by WooCommerce order ID) are skipped.
  3. New orders are imported and products are matched to your local catalog.
  4. Stock reservations are created for each line item.
  5. Depending on your settings, orders are either auto-fulfilled or queued for manual fulfillment.
Bulletproof sync

Brother POS fetches all processing orders on each sync cycle, not just orders since the last sync. Since most stores have a manageable number of processing orders at any given time (typically under 50), this approach ensures no orders are missed due to timing issues.

Order Push (Plugin Mode)​

In plugin push / pull mode, the plugin sends each order to Brother POS as soon as it is placed — no waiting for the next poll. The push carries everything Brother POS needs to record the sale exactly as the customer paid it:

  • Line item weights. For weight-priced flower, the grams are sent as the line quantity so the shared stock pool decrements by weight — the grams are never re-interpreted as "1 item" or misread as ounces.
  • Line SKU. Each line carries its SKU, the stable key Brother POS matches on first. This means order sync survives a WooCommerce catalog rebuild that reassigns product IDs.
  • Line tax. Each line's tax is sent so Brother POS records matching revenue.
  • 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 all come across with the order.
  • Customer and address snapshot, so the pooled order becomes a Sale attached to the right customer.

Duplicate pushes are harmless — Brother POS is idempotent per order, so a retry after a network blip never creates a second sale.

Online Payment Options​

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

OptionHow it works
Interac e-TransferEnabled when you set an e-Transfer email in Brother POS. The customer is told to send an e-Transfer to that address using their order number as the reference; you pack once payment arrives.
Pay on PickupA cash-or-debit-on-pickup option, restricted to the Local Pickup shipping method so it only appears for pickup orders — never for delivery or shipped orders. Tied to pickup being enabled.
e-Transfer email is deliberate

Brother POS only offers e-Transfer when you have entered a dedicated e-Transfer email — it never falls back to your store's general email. If no e-Transfer email is set, the option is hidden rather than risk routing payments to the wrong address.

Order Import Process​

Product Matching​

When an order is imported, Brother POS matches each line item to a local product using batch-loaded lookups:

  1. SKU Match (first priority) -- Matches the SKU from the WooCommerce line item against local product SKUs.
  2. WooCommerce Product/Variation ID (fallback) -- If no SKU match, looks up the product via the WoocommerceProduct mapping table using the WooCommerce product ID (or variation ID for variable products).

Orders with some unmapped products are still imported (partial fulfillment). Only orders where no products can be matched are skipped.

Customer Matching​

Brother POS creates or updates customer records from WooCommerce order data:

  • Email is the primary identifier. If a customer with the same email exists, their record is updated.
  • Customer name, phone number, and full address are synced from the billing information.
  • WooCommerce customer IDs are linked to Brother POS customer records for future orders.
  • If no email is provided, Brother POS falls back to matching by name.
Customer records

Customer records created from WooCommerce orders are the same customers visible in your Brother POS customer list. Their purchase history includes both online and in-store transactions.

Stock Reservations​

When an order is imported, Brother POS creates stock reservations for each product in the order. This ensures that the inventory for online orders is set aside and not sold to walk-in customers before the order is fulfilled.

Key details about stock reservations:

  • Reservations reduce the available stock (current stock minus reserved) shown on the POS.
  • WooCommerce order reservations have a 7-day expiration window.
  • Reservations are automatically released when an order is fulfilled or cancelled.
  • If stock is insufficient, the reservation is still created but a warning is logged.
Negative stock

Brother POS intentionally allows reservations that push stock negative. This tracks discrepancies naturally rather than silently dropping orders. Check the Health Monitor if you see frequent negative stock warnings.

Fulfillment Modes​

Auto-Fulfillment​

When Auto-Fulfill Orders is enabled in your WooCommerce settings:

  1. The order is imported and immediately converted to a completed sale.
  2. A dedicated system account processes the sale automatically.
  3. Inventory is deducted automatically.
  4. Stock reservations are released.
  5. The sale appears in your sales reports with the source marked as woocommerce.

This mode is ideal for stores that want online orders to flow through without manual intervention.

Manual Fulfillment​

When auto-fulfillment is disabled:

  1. The order is imported and appears in the WooCommerce Orders queue.
  2. Staff can review each order, verify stock availability, and prepare the items.
  3. When ready, a staff member manually fulfills the order.
  4. Upon fulfillment, the order is converted to a sale and inventory is deducted.

This mode gives your team control over the fulfillment process.

Automatic Label Printing​

If you have a label printer configured and Auto-Print Labels on Import is enabled, Brother POS automatically prints product labels as orders are imported.

How Label Printing Works​

  1. Each line item in the order is checked against your label printing rules.
  2. Labels are printed based on your Label Products Filter setting:
    • All Products -- Every product gets a label.
    • Weight-Based Only -- Only weight-based products (e.g., flower) get labels.
    • By Category -- Only products in categories with auto-labeling enabled get labels.
    • Per Product -- Only products individually flagged for auto-labeling get labels.

Weight-Based Labels​

For weight-based products (typically cannabis flower), the label includes:

  • The specific weight from the WooCommerce order (extracted from the order details).
  • The calculated price for that weight.
  • Example: 3.5g - $35.00

Unit-Based Labels​

For unit-based products, one label is printed per unit ordered. If a customer orders 3 units of a product, 3 labels are printed.

Order Data Captured​

Each imported WooCommerce order includes:

FieldDescription
Order NumberThe WooCommerce order number for reference
Customer NameBilling name from WooCommerce
Customer EmailBilling email address
Customer PhoneBilling phone number
Billing AddressFull address from billing fields
Payment MethodHow the customer paid online
Line ItemsProducts, quantities, and prices
DiscountsCoupon codes and discount amounts applied
Tax AmountTax calculated by WooCommerce
Order TotalFinal order total
Fulfillment StatusStarts as pending until fulfilled

Viewing Imported Orders​

From the Admin Panel​

  1. Navigate to Admin > WooCommerce > Orders.
  2. You will see a list of imported orders with their fulfillment status.
  3. Click an order to view its full details, including line items, customer information, and the delivery/pickup choice with its scheduled date and time slot.

Completing or Voiding an Order​

From the order detail page you can:

  • Complete / Fulfill the order — converts it to a sale and deducts inventory.
  • Void a pending order — this releases the stock reservation and marks the order cancelled, so the reserved inventory is freed back to your shelf. Only pending orders can be voided; a reason can be recorded.

Filtering Orders​

Filter the order list by:

  • Fulfillment Status: Pending, Fulfilled, Cancelled.
  • Date Range: View orders from a specific time period.
  • Customer: Search by customer name or email.

Order Lifecycle​

WooCommerce: Order placed (Processing)
        |
        v
Brother POS: Order imported -> Stock reserved
        |
        v
    [Auto-fulfill ON?]
      /           \
    YES            NO
     |              |
     v              v
  Sale created   Order queued for
  Stock deducted   manual fulfillment
  Reservations     |
  released         v
                 Staff reviews & fulfills
                    |
                    v
                 Sale created
                 Stock deducted
                 Reservations released

Handling Duplicate Orders​

Brother POS prevents duplicate imports by tracking the WooCommerce order ID. If an order with the same ID has already been imported, it is silently skipped during sync. This means you can safely run manual syncs without worrying about creating duplicate records.

Sales Attribution​

Orders imported from WooCommerce are attributed as follows:

  • User: The system user WooCommerce System (automatically created).
  • Cash Drawer Session: Linked to the current open session, or a new session is created with a zero float.
  • Source: Marked as woocommerce in the sale record.
  • Notes: Include the WooCommerce order number, customer info, and any discount details.

Troubleshooting​

ProblemSolution
Orders not importingVerify orders have "Processing" status in WooCommerce. Completed or pending orders are not imported.
"Missing products" warningSome products in the order could not be matched. Run a product sync first, or manually create the missing products.
Labels not printingEnsure your label printer is configured and the auto-print setting is enabled. Check that the label template exists.
Duplicate customer recordsThis can happen if a customer uses different email addresses. Merge customer records manually in the admin panel.
Stock shows negativeOnline orders may have been placed before in-store stock was updated. Perform a stock reconciliation.

What's Next?​