Order Processing for Online Store Payments

Managing orders in the Touch Stay Store gives you full control over your inventory and fulfillment. Unlike standard e-commerce, where payments are taken instantly, Touch Stay uses an "Authorize and Capture" workflow to ensure you only take payment for orders you can actually fulfill.

The Order Workflow

When a guest places an order, the funds are not immediately pulled from their account. Instead, the payment is Authorized. This means the bank confirms the funds are available and "holds" them for you.

Reviewing Pending Orders

You must manually review every order from your Store dashboard. You have two primary options:

Accept Order: This "Captures" the payment. The funds are officially charged to the guest's card and processed toward your Stripe payout. Once the payment is captured, Stripe will automatically send a receipt email to the guest, which includes a link to download their PDF invoice.
Decline Order: This "Voids" or releases the payment. The hold on the guest's card is removed. This is useful if an item is out of stock or you cannot fulfill the request.

[!IMPORTANT]

The 48-Hour Rule: Authorized payments expire automatically after 48 hours. If you do not "Accept" the order within this window, the payment is released back to the guest, and the order is marked as Expired.

Understanding Order Statuses

The Order Status tells you where the request stands in your fulfillment pipeline.

Status	Meaning
Pending	A new order has been placed. You need to review it and check the payment status.
Accepted	You have confirmed the order and successfully captured the payment.
Declined	You have cancelled the order, and the payment hold has been released.
Expired	The 48-hour window passed without action; the order is automatically cancelled.

Understanding Payment Statuses

While the Order Status tells you what you did, the Payment Status tells you what is happening with the money via Stripe.

Status	Description
Authorized	The guest's bank has approved the amount and is holding it.
Captured	You have accepted the order and the funds are being moved to your account.
Voided	The payment hold was released (either by Declining or Expiration).
Processing	The payment is currently in transit or being verified by the banking network.
Failed	The transaction could not be completed (e.g., insufficient funds or expired card).