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# Introduction

## What Is the Layaway App?

The Layaway app lets you set aside products for customers who want to pay later or over time. When a customer picks out items, you can create a layaway that:

*   **Reserves the inventory** so the items are held for the customer until a fixed deadline.
*   **Captures a deposit** right away if the customer wants to put money down to pay in multiple deposits until the layaway expiration.
*   **Tracks payments** as the customer pays over time — in-store at POS or in full via invoice
*   **Tracks the timeline** with an expiration date you choose
*   **Sends notifications** before a layaway expires so nothing slips through the cracks

The Layaway app is primarily a **Shopify POS application**. Creating layaways, collecting payments, and managing day-to-day operations all happen on the POS device. The web admin dashboard complements POS by providing store-wide visibility, reporting, and settings — but the core workflow lives at the register.

Think of it as a digital layaway system built right into your Shopify POS — customers can reserve items for later, or put a deposit down and pay over multiple visits.

## Key Concepts

| **Concept** | **What It Means** |
| ---- |
| Layaway | A record that ties together a customer, a set of items, and a time window for them to pay |
| Reservation | When you create a layaway, the app moves inventory from "available" to "reserved" at your location so those items cannot be accidentally sold |
| Deposit | An optional upfront partial payment captured at the time of layaway creation. This creates a Shopify order immediately. |
| Expiration | Every layaway has a deadline. If the customer does not fully pay by then, the layaway expires |
| Order Linking | When a deposit is captured or the customer pays at POS, the resulting Shopify order is automatically connected to the layaway |
| Status | Each layaway moves through a lifecycle -- from Reserved, to In Progress, to Completed (or Expired, Canceled, Restocked) |

## How It Fits Into Shopify POS

The app adds tiles to your POS home screen. Your staff uses these to:

1.  **Create** a new layaway from the current POS cart — with two options:
    *   **Reserve Items** -- reserve items with no payment (customer pays later)
    *   **Collect Deposit** -- create the layaway and proceed to checkout to collect a deposit
2.  **Update** an existing layaway (change items, dates, or notes)
3.  **Browse** a customer's existing layaways
    

Everything else -- tracking payments, fulfillment, expiration, and notifications -- happens automatically in the background through Shopify's order and inventory systems.

You can browse and manage layaways from two places:

*   **On POS**: The **Layaway Orders** tile on the POS home screen lets you browse layaways at your current location and load them into the cart (to edit or pay).
*   **On the web**: The **admin dashboard** (accessible from the Shopify admin) gives you a full view of all layaways across all locations, with stats, filtering, settings, and anything that needs attention.


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/4/d/d/3/4dd3899948d8e000/img0709_1wy6r6j.jpg)

## Before You Start

1.  **Install the app** from the Shopify App Store.
2.  **Configure your settings** -- at minimum, set your default expiration period and notification preferences. See [Settings](../getting-started/settings).
3.  **Make sure the POS tile is visible** on your POS home screen. The app adds it automatically during installation.
4.  **Train your staff** on the basic flows: create a layaway (with or without a deposit), customer makes payments over time at POS, and complete the sale when fully paid.