Off-Floor Order

An off-floor order. You probably hear one every time you try to dance at a wedding, especially when "I Gotta Feeling" comes on.

Another definition has to do with securities trading.

Some exchanges operate only through electronic means. Like, with computers talking to each other. They don’t have a physical floor where people in ugly coats yell at each other.

Meanwhile, other places still have the real-life people in a real-life physical space, trading securities. Think: NYSE. An off-floor order comes into play on these exchanges that have both a physical and electronic system.

An off-floor order means that the investor has instructed their broker to skip the real-life people and stick to the computers. Their transaction (whether they are buying or selling securities) will happen electronically. In other words, it won't go through the trading floor.