diff --git a/rattail/batch/custorder.py b/rattail/batch/custorder.py
index a226f68114e100d3e478aed051e0618442b931fc..ab14123361c9dfa2c1db30018988ba36aa3c2cee 100644
--- a/rattail/batch/custorder.py
+++ b/rattail/batch/custorder.py
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@ class CustomerOrderBatchHandler(BatchHandler):
         batch.customer = customer
         batch.person = person
 
+        # cache contact name
+        batch.contact_name = self.get_contact_display(batch)
+
         # update phone/email per new contact
         batch.phone_number = None
         batch.email_address = None
@@ -159,7 +162,12 @@ class CustomerOrderBatchHandler(BatchHandler):
         i.e. customer name.
         """
         contact = self.get_contact(batch)
-        return six.text_type(contact)
+        if contact:
+            return six.text_type(contact)
+
+        pending = batch.pending_customer
+        if pending:
+            return six.text_type(pending)
 
     def get_contact_phones(self, batch):
         """
@@ -245,6 +253,7 @@ class CustomerOrderBatchHandler(BatchHandler):
         """
         batch.customer = None
         batch.person = None
+        batch.contact_name = None
         batch.phone_number = None
         batch.email_address = None
 
diff --git a/rattail/db/alembic/versions/c10adeff4117_add_custorder_contact_name.py b/rattail/db/alembic/versions/c10adeff4117_add_custorder_contact_name.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c01ec4f8638153ff156b2c2cf37ae714d33da8f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rattail/db/alembic/versions/c10adeff4117_add_custorder_contact_name.py
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8; -*-
+"""add custorder.contact_name
+
+Revision ID: c10adeff4117
+Revises: 5a256a77e6d0
+Create Date: 2021-10-07 11:05:10.561894
+
+"""
+
+from __future__ import unicode_literals, absolute_import
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision = 'c10adeff4117'
+down_revision = u'5a256a77e6d0'
+branch_labels = None
+depends_on = None
+
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+import rattail.db.types
+
+
+
+def upgrade():
+
+    # batch_custorder
+    op.add_column('batch_custorder', sa.Column('contact_name', sa.String(length=100), nullable=True))
+
+    # custorder
+    op.add_column('custorder', sa.Column('contact_name', sa.String(length=100), nullable=True))
+
+
+def downgrade():
+    
+    # custorder
+    op.drop_column('custorder', 'contact_name')
+    
+    # batch_custorder
+    op.drop_column('batch_custorder', 'contact_name')
diff --git a/rattail/db/model/custorders.py b/rattail/db/model/custorders.py
index be137cbffbab3d2fbf92a2ed724363e3b1689397..fc9cbb647be446229afdc7a4f4a903c89dd75cec 100644
--- a/rattail/db/model/custorders.py
+++ b/rattail/db/model/custorders.py
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ class CustomerOrderBase(object):
             if applicable.
             """)
 
+    contact_name = sa.Column(sa.String(length=100), nullable=True, doc="""
+    Cached display name for the contact (customer).
+    """)
+
     phone_number = sa.Column(sa.String(length=20), nullable=True, doc="""
     Customer contact phone number for sake of this order.
     """)