Quick Answer
A manual order lets you record a walk-in, phone or WhatsApp sale directly in your store dashboard, so counter and online sales share one stock count, one GST invoice and one shipping label. On HOD Media, retail orders deduct inventory and print a 4x6 label just like online orders.
Why manual and retail orders belong in the same dashboard
Most Indian sellers run two lives at once: an online store and a physical counter, a WhatsApp catalogue, or a phone-order book. The problem is that offline sales rarely touch the same system, so stock drifts, GST invoices scatter across notebooks, and you never truly know what sold. A manual order feature fixes this by letting you punch in a walk-in or phone sale on the same screen as your online orders. One inventory pool, one invoice format, one place to look.
On HOD Media, manual and retail (counter/walk-in) orders are a built-in part of the Orders module. When a customer buys at your shop or messages you on WhatsApp, you create the order manually, pick products and variants, set the price, and the system treats it like any other order: it deducts stock, generates a GST-style invoice, and can print a shipping label if you need to dispatch it.
What you can do with a manual order
- Record any channel — counter sale, phone call, WhatsApp enquiry, Instagram DM, or a repeat regular who just wants "the usual".
- Deduct one stock count — the same inventory that powers your online storefront updates when you record an offline sale, so you never oversell.
- Issue a GST invoice — the same GST-style invoice with HSN codes and place-of-supply that your online orders use, so accounting stays consistent.
- Print a 4x6 label — thermal or A4, with manual courier and AWB fill-in when you book the parcel yourself.
- Edit, tag and note — add order notes and tags, edit line items, and do partial fulfilment when part of the order ships later.
Online vs offline: one store, not two systems
Here is how running everything through a single dashboard compares with keeping offline sales in a separate register.
| Task | Separate offline register | Manual orders in HOD Media |
|---|---|---|
| Stock count | Two counts, manual reconciliation, oversell risk | One live count across online + counter |
| GST invoice | Different formats, hand-written bills | Same GST-style invoice, HSN, place-of-supply |
| Shipping label | Written by hand or skipped | 4x6 thermal/A4 with courier + AWB fill-in |
| Reporting | Online and offline never add up | Total sales in one dashboard |
| Customer history | Lost after the sale | Saved to the customer account for reorder |
A typical counter workflow
1. Create the order
Open Orders, start a new manual order, and search your catalogue with fuzzy search. Pick the product and the right variant — each variant carries its own price and weight, so a 500g pack and a 1kg pack bill correctly. Set the quantity and, if you gave a counter discount, adjust the price.
2. Take payment
Counter customers usually pay by UPI, cash or card in person, so you simply record the order as paid. For phone or WhatsApp orders that will ship, you can collect online through your own Razorpay or Cashfree keys (money settles directly to you, with no per-sale cut), or mark it Cash on Delivery. To cut RTO on high-value COD parcels, COD partial-advance lets you collect part of the amount online first.
3. Invoice and dispatch
Generate the GST invoice, then print the 4x6 label. If you are shipping through Shiprocket, Delhivery, Zippyy (HOD Shipping) or ShippingXpress, book the parcel and the tracking flows to your branded order-tracking page. If you are handing it over the counter, the order is simply marked fulfilled.
Why this matters for tier-2 and tier-3 sellers
A shop in a smaller town often does more business over WhatsApp and the front counter than through the website. Keeping those sales inside the same dashboard means your inventory, your GST filing, and your customer list all reflect reality — not just the online slice. Regulars get saved as customer accounts with order history and one-tap reorder, so the relationship you build at the counter follows the customer online too.
Because hodmedia.in plans are rupee-priced with a free three-month trial and no per-sale commission, you are not paying a platform tax on offline sales you record for convenience. The manual order tool exists to unify your books, not to add a fee.
Getting started
If you already run an HOD Media storefront, manual and retail orders are available in the Orders module today — no extra setup. Import your catalogue by CSV (it auto-detects Shopify, Wix or native formats), turn on the track-quantity toggle for items you want to count, and start recording counter sales alongside online ones. One stock, one invoice, one GST trail across every channel you sell on.
What is a manual order in an ecommerce store?
A manual order is a sale you record yourself in the dashboard instead of the customer checking out online. It covers walk-in counter sales, phone orders, and WhatsApp or Instagram enquiries. On HOD Media it deducts the same stock, generates a GST invoice, and can print a shipping label, so offline and online sales live in one system.
Will a manual order reduce my online stock count?
Yes. Manual and retail orders draw from the same inventory pool as your online storefront, so recording a counter sale updates the quantity buyers see online. This prevents overselling when you sell the last piece at your shop. You can use the track-quantity toggle to control which products are counted.
Can I generate a GST invoice for a walk-in customer?
Yes. Manual orders use the same GST-style invoice as online orders, with HSN codes and place-of-supply, plus a charge-GST toggle. This keeps your accounting consistent whether the sale came from the website or the counter. Whether GST registration applies to you depends on your turnover and category, so confirm your specific obligations with a professional.
How do I collect payment for a phone or counter order?
For in-person counter sales, customers typically pay by UPI, cash or card and you mark the order as paid. For phone or WhatsApp orders that ship, you can send an online payment through your own Razorpay or Cashfree keys, or record it as Cash on Delivery. COD partial-advance lets you collect part online to reduce RTO losses.
Can I print a shipping label for a manual order?
Yes. Every manual order can produce a 4x6 label in thermal or A4 format. If you ship through a connected courier like Shiprocket, Delhivery, Zippyy or ShippingXpress, tracking syncs to your branded order-tracking page. If you book the parcel yourself, you can fill in the courier name and AWB number manually on the label.