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countermade

Shopify POS payment links: native options vs Pay Link

Updated · 5 min read
By Invenire Studios, makers of Countermade

The short answer

On POS Pro, Send cart emails a payment link from the cart and Shopify credits the sale to your store and staff (with an email sign-in). Texting one means leaving POS: copy a draft’s link in the admin or app, or make a Quick Sale link. Pay Link, from Countermade, makes a price-checked link from the POS cart and shows staff when it’s paid.

The table covers the choices you make at the counter, as of October 2026. For what each link creates in Shopify, where the paid order lands and the full steps, see Shopify payment links explained.

Route Stays in POS? Text or email? Store and staff credit Needs POS Pro? Best for
Send cart Yes, from the cart Email Yes, plus the POS channel; staff need an email sign-in Yes Customers who’ll pay from an email
Draft saved in POS, emailed Yes, from the cart, then Drafts Email Not documented Yes Orders you need to hold first
Draft checkout link, copied No: copied in the Shopify admin or app, by a login that can edit drafts Text, email or any messaging app Not documented Only to save the draft in POS Texting a link now and then
Quick Sale payment link No: the sale is rebuilt in the Shopify app Text, email or any messaging app Not documented No POS plan needed Selling from your phone
Pay Link Yes, from the cart A Shopify checkout link for the POS order — Yes Price-checked links from the POS cart, with paid status

“Not documented” means Shopify’s help pages don’t say, not that the sale goes uncredited. In Countermade’s one-order test, a draft saved in POS and paid through its own link did show the store and staff member in the sales report (what the test found).

How each native route works

Tap ⋯ at the top of the cart, then Send cart, enter the customer’s email and tap Send. Shopify’s help calls the feature Email cart.

Send cart and Create draft order (for an order you need to hold) sit in the same cart ⋯ menu.

Send cart has three limits at the counter:

  • Full payment only. You can’t take part payment at the counter and email a link for the balance.
  • A payment on the cart turns it off. Remove the payment to use Send cart again.
  • Staff credit needs an email sign-in. Shopify can’t credit staff who signed in with a PIN.

Draft saved in POS: hold it, email it later

To save a POS draft, tap ⋯ on the cart, then Create draft order. When you’re ready to send it, tap the Order icon, then Drafts. Next to the draft, tap the menu icon, then Email to customer.

Draft checkout link: copy it and text it

A draft saved in POS also appears in the Shopify admin and app. Copy its checkout link there (in the admin, Orders > Drafts, open the draft, then Share > Copy link) and paste it into a text. At checkout the customer picks a shipping method; if they’re collecting, first add pickup to the draft in the admin (Add shipping or delivery > Pickup in store, your location, Apply).

Sharing needs a Shopify login with the draft orders Create and edit permission, so staff who sign in to POS with only a PIN need a colleague with that access. Don’t mark the draft as paid before the customer pays, or the link stops working. For the full routine on a phone or a computer, including pickup, see how to send a Shopify draft order payment link by text.

Quick Sale is in the Shopify app, not POS, so you add the items again there, and staff need the Quick Sale permission. Tap Collect, then Payment link, and share or copy the link.

Where Shopify’s routes get awkward at the counter

When a customer gives you only a mobile number, Shopify’s own tools take you out of POS: to the admin or app to copy a draft’s link, or to Quick Sale to add every item again. As of October 2026, at least one third-party app makes the link inside POS; you then show its QR code, or copy the link and send it yourself. Pay Link vs Checkout Links vs Shopify Quick Sale compares it, with prices.

A POS draft, emailed or texted, is also reported differently from Send cart. Shopify’s sales reports list sales that began as draft orders under Draft Orders. Send cart starts as a draft too, but Shopify documents it as the exception: its sales count toward the POS channel. Shopify also doesn’t document how a sale is credited if you check out in POS with Mark unpaid and then email an invoice from the admin (open the order, then Collect payment > Send invoice). Mark unpaid isn’t allowed at some EU locations. Trade counters use this route for account customers; see phone orders at a Shopify trade counter.

Send cart doesn’t take a deposit; how furniture stores take deposits on phone orders covers the options.

Pay Link makes the payment link from an order built in POS, for POS Pro stores that take orders by phone. It’s part of Countermade, the Shopify POS apps from Invenire Studios.

  • The customer pays on Shopify’s own secure checkout. Staff never see or type card details.
  • A double tap makes one payment link, not two.
  • Staff see the total before the link goes out, with a note when shipping will be added at checkout.
  • Staff can see whether a link has been paid.
Pay Link shows the cart total and notes that shipping is added at checkout if the customer chooses delivery.

At checkout, Shopify asks a Pay Link customer for a delivery address and may add shipping. Turn on Pickup in store so they can choose pickup instead:

  1. In the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
  2. Click Pickup in store, then your location.
  3. Turn on Let customers pick up orders directly at this location.
  4. Choose an expected pickup date and click Save.

Next step

For the whole phone-order routine, see how to take phone orders on Shopify without asking for card details.

Join early access and we’ll email you when Pay Link is ready for your store.

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Thanks. You’re on the list, and we’ll email you when Pay Link is ready to try.

Common questions

Which payment link should I use at a Shopify POS counter?
Use Send cart on POS Pro for an emailed link: it stays in POS, and Shopify credits the sale to your store and staff (with an email sign-in). To hold an order, save a POS draft. To text, copy a draft’s checkout link in the Shopify admin or app, or make a Quick Sale link in the Shopify app.
Does a texted draft link credit the sale to my store and staff?
Shopify’s help doesn’t say; it reports sales that began as draft orders under the Draft Orders channel. In Countermade’s one-order test (see payment links explained), a draft saved in POS and checked out through its own link showed the store and the staff member in the sales report. Shopify documents that credit for Send cart (staff need an email sign-in).
Is Pay by link in Shopify POS the same as a payment link for phone orders?
Not as Shopify describes it. Pay by link lets customers in your store pay on their own device with a local payment method such as iDEAL or TWINT, where available in your region. For a customer who isn’t there, use Send cart, a draft’s checkout link or a Quick Sale payment link.

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