The drawer of lay-by cards
In October, a customer chooses a diamond pendant for his wife and asks to pay for it over the next two months. You write a card with his name, the pendant, the total, and his first payment. The pendant goes into a bag in the safe with the card.
Over the next weeks, he pays in instalments at the till, sometimes when a different assistant is on. Some payments are written on the card. One is not. In December, he comes to pay the balance and the card says he owes more than he thinks.
Meanwhile another lay-by customer has stopped paying altogether, and nobody has noticed because the card is at the back of the drawer.
Why lay-by gets messy
Lay-by is a stock item held for a customer against a series of payments, and most tills are not designed for it. Instalments are rung through as general payments or deposits, and the link to the held piece is a handwritten card.
Pieces held on lay-by are still in your stock system as available, unless someone remembers to mark them. In a busy week, a held piece can be taken out and shown to another customer, or worse, sold online.
Customers who stop paying are hard to notice without a list of plans and dates. What your terms say should happen next is your decision, but it depends on noticing first.
What informal lay-by costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Payments recorded on cards | Balances in dispute at collection |
| Held pieces still shown as available | Pieces sold or shown to other customers |
| No reminders | Customers miss instalments and fall behind |
| Lapsed plans unnoticed | Stock tied up for months with no payments |
| Payments hard to match in the accounts | Month end queries for your bookkeeper |
Lay-by can bring in customers who would not otherwise buy a higher value piece, especially before Christmas. Run badly, it creates the kind of dispute that loses them.
Christmas makes lay-by busiest exactly when the shop is busiest. Several lay-bys start in October and November, each with its own payment dates, and they all come to collection in the same few weeks before Christmas. A counter serving queues of gift buyers is also adding up lay-by cards by hand, and that is when a missed payment or a mistaken balance is most likely to slip through.
How we run lay-by properly
- A lay-by is created against the specific piece, the customer and a payment plan, following your own terms, and the customer signs to agree them.
- The piece is marked held in stock and online straight away, with a tag or tray note so staff do not show it.
- Each instalment is recorded against the lay-by at the till or by payment link, with a receipt showing the balance remaining.
- Reminders go out before each instalment is due, and a friendly note if one is missed.
- A list shows every active lay-by with its balance, next due date and any missed payments, so the owner can see what is on track and what is not.
- When the plan is complete, the piece is marked sold, the customer is invited to collect, and the payments are passed to your accounts software as your accountant specifies.
What happens when a lay-by lapses, including any refund or cancellation charge, depends on your terms and the law. We build the system to follow whatever you and your adviser set.
Collection without the argument
When the customer comes to pay the balance, the counter sees every payment he made, and so does he. The pendant has been held safely for two months without anyone showing it to another customer.
- Every lay-by linked to its piece and customer
- Held pieces off sale in the shop and online
- Instalments recorded with balances visible to both sides
- Reminders that help customers keep on track
Is lay-by like this in your shop?
- Lay-by plans are on handwritten cards.
- Instalments are rung through the till with no link to the plan.
- Held pieces have been shown or sold by mistake.
- You have disagreed with a customer about their balance.
- Lapsed lay-bys are only found at stocktake.