A furniture showroom on Shahrah-e-Faisal or in Lahore's furniture markets shows one bed and sells twenty. A couple chooses the design, changes the polish colour and the fabric, pays an advance, and is promised delivery before the wedding. The workshop in the back lane gets a sketch on paper. Three weeks later, nobody is sure whether the headboard is done, and the delivery van is booked for two homes in opposite corners of the city.
Orders come first
Treat every made-to-order piece as an order with its own record: design, size, wood or board, polish, fabric, photos, price, advance and promised date. Give the workshop a job card from that record, and let them mark progress: frame, polish, upholstery, ready. The showroom then answers 'where is my sofa?' from the screen, not from a phone call to the workshop.
| Sale type | Example | What the software records |
|---|---|---|
| From display or stock | A dining set on the floor, crockery, décor | Normal bill, stock reduced |
| Made to order | Bed in a chosen size and polish | Order, advance, workshop status, delivery date |
| On instalments | Bedroom set paid over months | Schedule, guarantor if any, payments received |
Crockery and home décor
Crockery, glassware, lamps, vases and décor are ordinary stock lines. Dinner sets come as one set but sometimes sell as pieces, so allow a set to be broken into items. Breakage in the store should be written off with a reason, otherwise the count drifts quietly. Wedding season brings gift buying; gift receipts without prices are a small touch customers notice.
Delivery and fitting
Delivery is where furniture shops lose the most goodwill. Plan it in the system: each ready order gets a delivery slot, an area and a vehicle, and the day's list is printed or shared with the driver. Mark fitting jobs separately when a carpenter must assemble wardrobes or beds on site. After delivery, the customer signs, the balance is collected and the order closes.
List what is ready
Pull every order marked ready, with address, area and balance due.
Group by area
Put orders in the same part of the city on the same trip, and note floors and lift access.
Assign van and fitter
Give each trip a vehicle, a driver and, if needed, a fitter.
Confirm with customers
Send each customer the time window on WhatsApp the day before.
Close each order
On delivery, record the signature and balance collected; open a service note if anything was damaged.
Instalments
Some showrooms sell on instalments to salaried customers. Each instalment sale should carry a schedule of dates and amounts, any guarantor, and the payments received. A weekly due list, with a WhatsApp reminder, does most of the recovery work. This is udhaar in a more formal shape; our invoicing software in Pakistan guide covers receivables more broadly. Check with your adviser how instalment sales should be treated in your accounts.
Workshop costs
If you run your own workshop, the next step is costing: wood, board, foam, fabric and labour per order. That moves you towards a small manufacturing system; see manufacturing ERP in Pakistan. If you buy finished pieces from workshops instead, track each supplier's orders and balances like any purchase.
After-sale service
Furniture customers come back: a drawer that sticks, a scratch from delivery, a sofa cushion that sagged. Open a service note against the original order, with photos, and assign it to the workshop or a carpenter. Closing the note with what was done builds a record of which designs and which suppliers cause problems, which is worth more than any sales report when you plan next season's range.
When you do not need this
A small décor shop that sells only from stock, with no workshop and no instalments, does not need order or delivery modules. A good retail POS with stock and payments is enough. Add the order side only when made-to-order work becomes a real part of the business.
Showrooms also buy from other workshops and importers. Record each purchase order with the supplier's promised date, and link it to the customer order it serves, so a late supplier shows up as a late customer delivery before the customer calls.
Keep photos of every finished piece against its order. When a customer later asks for 'the same bed my sister bought', the design, size and polish are one search away, and the workshop can repeat it without guessing.
Operix builds POS systems in Pakistan for retail showrooms, from Old Clifton, Karachi. If you also sell hardware or fittings, see hardware store software. Book a demo and bring one order slip from your workshop.
Questions people ask
Can the workshop update order progress?
Yes. The workshop gets a job card per order and marks each stage, so the showroom sees the status without calling.
Can we schedule deliveries in the software?
Yes. Ready orders get a delivery slot, area, vehicle and fitter, and customers can be told their time window on WhatsApp.
Does it handle instalment sales?
Yes. Each instalment sale has a schedule, payments received and a weekly due list for recovery.
Do you work with showrooms outside Karachi?
Yes, online. Operix has its office in Karachi only; other cities get online setup and training, with visits when the project needs them.
