The best Shopify Apps for draft orders

8 Shopify draft order limitations and the best apps to solve them

Draft orders are a great selling tool - especially in B2B sales - for creating a personalized customer experience and enabling you to create orders on behalf of your customers, tailor special discounts, and manage those oh-so-tempting B2B deals.

Creating a draft order is like penning a thoughtful note—it’s personal. You select the items, you tweak the prices, and just like an artist signing their work, you can add that special note for an exclusive touch.

But let's address the elephant in the room: Shopify aims to solve most problems that most merchants have, so while their draft order functionality is robust, there are still some limitations that merchants should be aware of when scaling or automating. (don’t worry - most of these are solved using third-party apps from the Shopify App Store).

Why the limitations matter

You might wonder, “Why fuss over these limitations?” Well, in the B2B world, where 74% of buyers report that buying from a website is more convenient than buying from a sales representative, these limitations matter. They can be the difference between a seamless customer experience and a logistical nightmare. Here are the limitations you should be aware of when it comes to Shopify draft orders:

1. Discount limitations
   Draft orders allow you to apply discounts, but you can't use automatic discount codes that are typically available at checkout. Discounts on draft orders must be applied manually, which can be time-consuming and less dynamic.

2. Inventory tracking
   When a draft order is created, the inventory is not automatically reserved for that order. This can lead to potential issues with inventory management, especially for products with limited stock.

3. Payment processing
   Draft orders do not support real-time payment processing within the Shopify platform. Instead, you must send an invoice to the customer, who then completes the payment through the link provided or arrange for payment through an alternative method.

4. Customization restrictions
   While draft orders allow for a degree of customization, they have limitations when it comes to editing certain details of an order, particularly for custom products. For instance, once a draft order is converted to an actual order, you can't edit the items in the order without canceling and recreating it.

5. Shipping rates
   Calculating shipping rates for draft orders can be less straightforward, as they don't automatically apply your Shopify store's shipping settings. Shipping costs may need to be added manually based on the order's details.

6. Order editing post-payment
   After a draft order is paid and converted into an official order, it cannot be edited directly. This can be problematic if there are post-payment changes or corrections needed. You would need to either cancel the order and create a new draft or use a third-party app.

7. Complex tax calculations
   If you’re dealing with complex tax situations, draft orders may require you to calculate and apply taxes manually, depending on the customer's location and the nature of the product or service.

8. Bulk order challenges
   For merchants who need to create draft orders in bulk, the process can be cumbersome, as each draft order has to be created individually within the Shopify admin.

The best Shopify Apps for Shopify draft orders

Enter Shopify Apps. They extend the functionality of your Shopify store, giving you the power to automate, scale, and create complex discounts by addressing each limitation of Shopify's draft orders. Here are some Shopify Apps that can help overcome the common limitations:

1. Discount limitations

   • Discount Ninja: This app allows you to create special offers that go beyond Shopify's native discount functionality. It can handle automatic discounts and complex promotional rules that can be applied to draft orders.

2. Inventory tracking

   • Back in Stock - Restock Rocket: It adds a “Notify me” button and signup form to automatically notify customers when products are restocked. While it doesn't reserve inventory, it can help manage customer expectations and bring leads for sending custom draft orders.

   • Orderhive: Automates order management, inventory, and shipping, which can help streamline processes associated with draft orders. A great example of how Orderhive can work with draft orders is through inventory synchronization. Since inventory in Shopify isn’t immediately adjusted when a draft order is created, you can use Orderhive to sync inventory levels across al channels in real-time to ensure that the products allocated in draft orders are accurately reflected in your inventory count to prevent overselling.

3. Invoice processing

   • Invoice Hero: Creates professional and customizable invoices directly from draft orders, offering a seamless payment experience for customers.

   • Sufio Professional Invoices: Similar to Invoice Hero, Sufio creates professional and customizable invoices. It is especially useful for merchants selling in the EU by validating VAT numbers.

4. Customization restrictions

   • Cleverific: Specifically designed to enhance the order editing capabilities of Shopify, this app allows for comprehensive editing of orders post-purchase, including those that were initially draft orders.

5. Shipping rates

   • Advanced Shipping Rules: This app fine-tunes your shipping rates with conditional logic, allowing more complex shipping options that can be useful when setting up draft orders.

   • Better Shipping: Gives you control over how much you charge for shipping at a product and variant level, which can be applied to draft orders.

6. Order editing post-payment

   • Cleverific: I know I mentioned this app before. Its multi-faceted use has features that can modify orders after payment, perfect for correcting any mistakes without canceling the order.

7. Automation and integration

   • Zapier: While not exclusively for Shopify, Zapier has a Shopify App that can connect Shopify to a multitude of other services to automate tasks related to draft orders. An example of a draft order task you could automate would be an automated customer follow-up for an unpaid draft order.

   • Mechanic: This tool does require some technical knowledge, but it allows you to create automated workflows like:

     • Draft order cleanup to periodically review and archive/delete old draft orders.

     • Generate custom reports on draft order activity like frequency of creation, conversion rates, and AOV.

     • Make dynamic pricing adjustments within draft orders based on predefined rules to streamline the process of offering personalized pricing.

8. Complex tax calculations

   • TaxJar: It is not the most highly rated app, but for helping with draft orders, it fills a gap that few Shopify Apps fill. TaxJar automatically calculates the proper sales tax for each order based on the customer’s location, product type, and current tax laws. This is good for draft order limitations where you might need to apply taxes manually.

9. Bulk order challenges

   • Bulk Discounts Now WOD: You can create tiered pricing, discounts in bulk, and quantity breaks which can then be applied to draft orders as needed.

   • Matrixify: With Matrixify, you can manage Shopify data in bulk, including creating and updating draft orders via import and export.

Draft orders, especially when combined with powerful Shopify apps, are your secret ingredient for a tailored, loyalty-building customer experience. These apps can significantly augment Shopify's native features, addressing each limitation more effectively. They empower you to modify, adjust, and perfect each draft order to meet the exact desires of your customers, from personalized discounts to detailed product customizations.

However, merchants should ensure that any third-party app they consider integrates well with their existing setup and truly solves the problem they're facing. It's also a good practice to check the most recent reviews and the app's update log to ensure compatibility with the current version of Shopify.

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