Sell it before it arrives
Take paid reservations on stock you don’t have yet. Collect a deposit, hold the customer, and walk into your supplier order knowing exactly how many units are already sold.
The order you place is a guess. It doesn’t have to be.
Every shop that waits on a shipment makes the same bet twice: order too few and you turn away customers who were ready to pay, order too many and your cash is sitting on a shelf months later. Meanwhile the reservations you did take live in a notebook, a WhatsApp thread, and someone’s memory — so when the boxes finally land, nobody is sure who paid what, or who was promised which colour.
- Know the real demand before you commit to a supplier order.
- Every deposit recorded against a named customer, with the balance tracked.
- The money the customer already paid follows them to the till, automatically.
How it works
Six steps, from an item that doesn’t exist yet to a finished sale.
01List what’s coming
Build a catalog of items you expect to receive — model, colour, storage, price — before a single unit exists in your inventory. Type them in or import the list from CSV or Excel. Each one can carry your cost, the supplier you’re sourcing it from, and a minimum deposit as a fixed amount or a percentage.
02Take the reservation
Look the customer up by phone and Sahel pulls their history and warns you if they’ve already reserved the same thing. Build a basket of one item or several, collect the deposit — the minimum you set is enforced, not just suggested — and the balance is tracked from that moment.
03Give them proof
Print an A4 preorder slip, or send the details on WhatsApp or email in one tap. Every slip printed and every message sent is written into that preorder’s activity history, so there is never a question about what the customer was told.
04Promise a date honestly
Not every shipment has a confirmed date, so you can give a fixed date, an estimate, a range, or say plainly it isn’t confirmed yet. Your preorder list then surfaces what’s coming due inside the reminder window you choose, so you reach people before they start calling you.
05Stock arrived
When the shipment lands, receive it against the preorder. Sahel matches the item to your inventory by SKU — creating the product and its variation if it never existed — adds the stock, links it to the order, and moves it to Ready.
06Convert to a sale
Open the order in the POS and the basket is already there. The deposit comes in as prepaid credit, the customer pays only the balance, and the finished sale is linked back to the preorder it came from.
What you get
Deposits are a liability, not revenue
Money taken for goods you haven’t delivered isn’t income yet, and Sahel books it that way — against customer deposits, not sales. Your profit figures stay honest, and end-of-day cash counts never ask a cashier to account for money that arrived three weeks ago.
Minimums you can actually enforce
Set a minimum deposit per item — a fixed amount or a percentage of the price — and it holds at the counter, checked on the server rather than trusted to whoever is on shift.
Due-soon alerts
Your preorder list flags what’s coming due inside your reminder window, so nothing quietly ages past the date you promised.
One order, several items
A customer reserving three things gets one order, one deposit and one balance — not three separate tickets to reconcile.
The deposit follows the customer
No manual adjustment at the till, no discount typed in by hand, no argument about what was already paid.
Supplier reference & tracking
Keep the supplier’s order reference and a tracking link on the preorder, so answering “where is it?” takes a moment instead of a phone call.
Who it’s for
Phone & electronics shops
A new model is announced and your customers want one on day one. Take deposits the day it’s announced, and order against real numbers instead of a hunch.
Clothing & fashion
Reserve pieces from the next drop or season before the shipment lands, and know what’s already sold before it hits the floor.
Any shop that special-orders
Anything a customer asks you to bring in specially — take the deposit, promise the date, and stop tracking it in a notebook.
Common questions
Do I have to add the product to my inventory first?
No — that’s the whole point. The preorder catalog is separate from your stock, so you can list and sell an item that does not exist in your inventory yet. When the shipment arrives, Sahel matches it to a product by SKU, or creates the product and variation for you, and links it to the order.
Can I require a deposit?
Yes. Set a minimum per item, either a fixed amount or a percentage of the price. It is enforced when the order is created — on the server, not just in the screen — so it holds no matter who is at the counter.
What if I don’t know the arrival date yet?
Say so. A preorder can carry a fixed date, an estimate, a date range, or “not confirmed yet”. Your list then flags orders coming due inside the reminder window you set, so you can reach people before they chase you.
How does the deposit reach the final sale?
Convert the preorder from the POS and the basket loads with the deposit already applied as prepaid credit. The customer pays the balance and nothing else — no manual discount, no adjustment typed in by hand.
Does the deposit count as income straight away?
No, and it shouldn’t. Money taken for goods you have not handed over is a liability until you deliver, and Sahel books it against customer deposits rather than sales. It also stays out of the cashier’s end-of-day count, so nobody is asked to find cash that came in weeks earlier.
Can a customer reserve more than one item?
Yes. One order can hold several items with one deposit and one running balance, and you can record further payments against it over time.
Do I need anything special to use it?
Preorders is included in your plan — switch it on in Settings and it appears in the sidebar. Start the 14-day free trial and it is on with everything else, or contact us and we will set it up with you.
Start taking deposits this week
Free for 14 days, no card needed. We’ll help you load your first list.