Order recalculation

When the order changes, Payloot recalculates. Nothing breaks.

Substitutions, weight changes and stockouts adjust the promotion automatically, without stopping fulfillment.

Book a demo See how it recalculates

Order #8821Paid · in fulfillment Example

2× Whole milk, half gallon$8.003-for-2 applied at checkout
1× Whole milk, half gallon—Out of stock at pick time

What did the picker substitute?

1× Lactose-free milk, half gallon$0.00Meets the 3-for-2 rule

OutcomeKeep

The 3-for-2 stays and the total doesn't change: $8.00.

What your customer sees on their receiptWe swapped your whole milk for lactose-free. Your 3-for-2 still applies.

Recalculated automaticallyOrder still in fulfillment

The moment a promotion breaks.

It doesn't happen in the cart. It happens after payment, during fulfillment, once the promotion has been calculated and nobody looks at it again.

A customer builds their cart
They add three half gallons of milk and qualify for a 3-for-2.
They pay
The order goes to fulfillment with the promotion applied.
An item is out of stock
The picker substitutes a different brand, size, flavor or weight.
The promotion stops applying
The order changed. Technically, the 3-for-2 no longer applies.

From there, every option is a bad one.

Without an engine that re-evaluates the order, every substitution ends in one of these. None of them leaves anyone happy.

Drop the discount

The customer loses a deal over a change they didn't make.

CostFrustration the moment they read the receipt.

Fix it by hand

Pickers do the math, or IT issues a refund after the fact.

CostOperations time and internal tickets.

Don't substitute

To avoid recalculating, the order ships incomplete.

CostA lost sale and a customer who didn't get what they ordered.

In grocery, this isn't an edge case.

It happens every day.

It's not your platform's fault.

It's an architecture problem: the promotion is calculated once, before the order is done changing.

See why it happens

Three outcomes. Zero manual work.

Payloot detects the change, re-checks eligibility and applies the right benefit, with no one stepping in and without stopping fulfillment.

What happens when an order changes

Automatic, order by order

Order changes
Change detected
Eligibility re-checked
Outcome decided
Order updated

Keep

If the substitute meets your rules, the discount stays.

Remove

If the rule no longer holds, only the affected part of the benefit comes off. The order keeps moving.

Replace

For major substitutions, Payloot applies an alternate benefit or issues a code for next time.

One order, three endings.

The milk 3-for-2 under each outcome. You can try all three in the example order at the top of this page.

Outcome	What changed at pick time	What Payloot does	What your customer sees
Keep	Whole milk swapped for lactose-free, same size	The substitute meets the rule, so the 3-for-2 stays	Their full order with the deal intact
Remove	Whole milk swapped for almond milk	The substitute doesn't qualify, so only the 3-for-2 comes off	A clear note on which promotion came off and why
Replace	Whole milk swapped for powdered milk	A major change, so it applies an alternate benefit	A code for their next order

Illustrative example. Amounts in each scenario depend on your prices and rules.

Where substitutions are part of every day.

Recalculation matters most for retailers that fulfill online orders from inventory that shifts between purchase and delivery.

Grocery

Substitutions at pick time and volume deals, like a 3-for-2, that shift with any edit to the order.

Pharmacy

Swaps for an equivalent brand or a different pack size.

Wine & spirits

Vintage, label or format changes in bundles and gifts with purchase.

For your engineering team

What to know before you integrate.

Recalculation connects through our REST API to the system that manages your orders. Here's where it applies.

Payment method. Recalculation typically applies to card payments. Other payment methods and special flows are scoped with our professional services team.
Substitute pricing. When a substitute costs more or less, the difference can be handled several ways. We define the approach with you during implementation.
Installment plans and card BINs. Neither takes part in recalculation, because neither is handled as a promotion on the platform.

Explore the architecture and API

POST /v1/recalculo

{
  "order_id": "8821",
  "picker_substitute": true,
  "items": [ ... ]
}
> 200 OK - recalculated

Illustrative call. Your team gets the full reference when the integration starts.

Versus fixing it after the fact.

Most retailers handle substitutions with whatever they already have: their ecommerce platform's built-in promotions, or the judgment of whoever picks the order.

Criteria	Built-in ecommerce promotions	Manual fixes	Payloot
Re-evaluates the promotion when the order changes	Checkout only	Up to the picker	Every change
Works without anyone correcting the order	No	No	Yes
Customers keep the deal they earned	Lose the discount	Varies by order	Yes
No IT tickets or after-the-fact refunds	No	No	Yes

This comparison describes common approaches. Individual tools may vary.

Questions about recalculation.

What operations and ecommerce teams ask us most.

See all FAQs

What happens if an item is substituted after payment?

Payloot recalculates the order and keeps, removes or replaces the promotion based on your business rules.

Does someone have to review every order?

No. The system detects the change and applies the right benefit with no one stepping in and without pausing fulfillment.

Does it work with any payment method?

Typically with card payments. Other payment methods and special flows are scoped with our professional services team.

What if the substitute costs more or less?

The price difference can be handled several ways. We define the approach with you during implementation, based on how you operate.

Are installment plans or bank offers recalculated?

No. Interest-free installment plans, common in Mexico as meses sin intereses, are a payment method. And for security, card BINs aren't used inside the platform. Neither takes part in recalculation.

Works with

Automatic. No IT ticket. No manual fix.

We'll show you how your current promotions hold up when an order changes at pick time.

Book a demo See how it works