QW Furniture: Streamlining custom orders and growing sales 30% with Downpay

Now with the name QW Furniture, the company replatformed their online store to Shopify in 2017.

Almost three decades in, with sales booming, QW continues its devotion to offering renowned brands and exceptional customer service, both in person and online.

The challenge: Making partial payments seamless

QW Furniture builds custom Amish tables to order. Each piece is handcrafted, each purchase unique. But with lead times of 10–14 weeks, the team needed a better way to handle payments.

They wanted to offer split payments in their Shopify store to reduce friction at checkout and make their high-quality products more affordable—a function Shopify doesn’t provide out of the box. But they also needed a solution that wouldn’t add complexity to their internal workflows.

Partial payment approaches they’d tried were clunky and tedious: 

• Taking deposits over the phone, then sending invoices manually and chasing customers for balances
• Asking for full payment up front, risking hesitation and abandoned carts 

Neither of these worked at scale, for them or their customers.

Why Downpay: Flexible, Shopify-native deposits

QW Furniture found Downpay—a Shopify-native app that lets customers place a deposit at checkout, while the balance is charged automatically later.

Manual invoicing and awkward follow-ups were no longer the only option for collecting balances. And customers didn’t have to leave the Shopify ecosystem.

Setting up Downpay: Clarity for customers

In implementing Downpay, QW followed best practices for keeping customers in the loop, as well as making their own workflows more efficient.

Product page messaging

QW placed Downpay’s deposit option directly on the product pages where buyers could customize their items. They also clearly explained to customers: 

• Expected build times
• What was due today
• What would be charged later—and when
• Shipping, returns, and order terms

Transparent carts

With Downpay, QW could label cart items with deposit purchase options “Deposit only due at checkout” and show a clear breakdown of the amounts due now and later. Customers had to agree to the linked terms and conditions in order to check out.

Seamless checkout

Downpay integrated with QW’s existing checkout flow. No redirects and no new gateways causing confusion. Customers stayed on-site and—after reviewing the cost breakdown and configurable help text—paid through the familiar, high-performing Shopify experience.

Automated balance collection

When production wrapped, QW used Downpay's Shopify Flow integration to charge the remaining 70% using the customer’s saved card, automatically and securely. Merchants can also charge cards manually or invoice customers.

Proactive communication

QW also had the ability to use Downpay with Shopify Flow to automate customer and internal staff notifications. 

This could include authorization or charge successes or failures—for instance, if a customer didn't realize their card would expire before the second charge.

This meant customers could update their card details, view remaining balances, or pay early through Downpay's Shopify customer portal integration. 

The result was fewer support tickets and more peace of mind for customers.

The results: More conversions, less complexity

By 90 days after adding Downpay:

• Online sales had grown 30%, adding predictable cash flow.
• Manual payment tasks were eliminated, reducing the burden on staff and possibility of errors
• Customers stayed informed and in control throughout, increasing trust and loyalty
  

By reducing sticker shock and offering flexible terms through their online store, QW Furniture made it easier for customers to say yes—while simplifying operations.

With Downpay, QW Furniture delivers a partial payment experience as premium and thoughtful as their products.