Differentiating Backend vs. Frontend Purchases in Magento

Question

Is there a way to tell if an order was placed through the frontend of the web site or entered through the administrative panel?

Answer 1

By default, Magento only stores the remote_ip in table sales_flat_order for an order that is place by customer (while admin order is set to null).

So try this:

if(!empty($order->getRemoteIp()){
  //place online
}
else{
  // place by admin
}

See Programmatically differentiate between admin & customer-placed orders

Answer 2

You can check the is_super_mode value (I have only check on the quote : $quote->getIsSuperMode())

Answer 3

Every order has a store_id, when entered through administraction it will either be 0 (for 'admin' store) or null.

if ($order->getStoreId()) {
    // was placed via frontend
}

Don't use getStore() as that won't always return the admin store object reliably.

Does not work with latest versions of Magento. (see comment)