What is a sales order?
October 30, 2026
A sales order is the record a seller creates when a customer places an order. It lists the products, quantities, prices, delivery address and payment details, and the business uses it to allocate stock, pick, pack, despatch and invoice the order.
Why it matters for online retailers
Every sale starts as a sales order. Accurate sales orders mean the right items go to the right address, stock figures stay correct and invoices match what was sent.
For online sellers, most sales orders arrive automatically from marketplaces and web shops. Orders taken by phone, email or for trade customers are usually entered by hand, a step known as order entry.
What a sales order contains
- Order number and date
- Customer name, delivery and billing addresses
- Products, quantities and prices
- Delivery method and any shipping charge
- Payment status
- The sales channel the order came from
Sales order vs purchase order vs invoice
- Sales order: created by the seller when a customer buys.
- Purchase order: created by a business when it buys stock from a supplier.
- Invoice: the bill for goods supplied, usually raised once the order is despatched.
Common mistakes
- Typing errors in addresses during manual order entry.
- Duplicate orders when the same sale is entered twice.
- Orders allocated stock that has already sold on another channel.
How StoreFeeder handles it
Orders from connected channels arrive in StoreFeeder automatically, so nobody has to retype them. Stock is allocated from one shared pool across every channel, including in-store EPOS sales.
Read more about StoreFeeder order management.
Frequently asked questions
Is a sales order the same as an invoice?
No. The sales order records what the customer wants; the invoice bills them for what was supplied.
What is the difference between a sales order and a purchase order?
A sales order is raised when you sell to a customer. A purchase order is raised when you buy from a supplier.
What is order entry?
Order entry is creating a sales order by hand, for example for a phone or trade order, rather than receiving it automatically from a sales channel.
