Update a shipment’s status

Once an order has a shipment, you record each step the parcel takes on the order’s Fulfilment tab, from the label to the customer’s door. This article covers delivered parcels, failed deliveries and second attempts, parcels that come back to you, and labels you need to replace.

Update shipment status

1. In the sidebar, open Orders and open the order. An order on the move shows the stage In delivery and the next step Update.

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2. Select Update, or select the Fulfilment tab.
3. In the Latest shipment panel, open Next shipment status and choose what happened. If the order has more than one parcel on its way, first pick the parcel in Parcel to update.

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The panel shows the shipment’s provider, its tracking number and its current status as a badge. Any parcel still on its way can be updated. When the order has more than one, the panel is titled Parcel to update and starts with a Parcel to update list: pick the parcel by its provider and tracking number, for example Rawabi Express · RWB26…. The newest parcel on its way is picked to begin with. Next shipment status lists only the statuses the parcel can move to from where it is now, in the order a parcel travels them, and the first of them is already chosen for you.

These are the statuses, and what each one does to the order:

And this is what the list offers from each status:

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A label that has not been picked up can only move to Picked up or Cancelled, so record Picked up first, then the steps after it. Once a parcel is picked up, it can no longer be cancelled unless its delivery fails: until then it can only move on towards the customer, fail, or come back to you.

When the order itself is closed

The order can take choices away from the list:

• A cancelled, returned or fully refunded order — its parcel can no longer move it on, so the list leaves out Picked up, In transit, Out for delivery and Delivered. A parcel on its way is offered only what brings it back: Delivery failed and Returned to sender. After a failed delivery, a cancelled or returned order is also offered Cancelled. A fully refunded one is offered Returned to sender only (see the next point).
• An order refunded, in full or in part, while its parcel was out — after Delivery failed, the list does not offer Cancelled. Mark the parcel Returned to sender when it comes back: that puts its items back in stock and closes the order.
• A label the provider has not collected yet — on any of these orders, a shipment at Awaiting pickup or Label created can still be Cancelled, for example when you refunded the order before the pickup.

If a page that was open for a while still sends one of these, the update is refused and nothing changes. You see This order has been cancelled, returned or refunded, so its shipment can no longer move it on. Record the shipment coming back instead. or This order was refunded, in full or in part, while its shipment was with the delivery provider. Mark the shipment Returned to sender instead, so its items go back into stock and the order is closed. Reload the order and choose from what the list offers now.

Updating shipments needs the Manage shipments permission. Marking an unpaid parcel Returned to sender also needs Cancel orders, because it cancels the order (see below). See Staff roles: what each one can see and do.

Location and description

Both are for your records. They appear against the step in the order’s Fulfilment timeline, and the customer does not see them. If you leave the description empty, we write a standard one for you, such as "Shipment is out for delivery."

Notify the customer

"When supported" means two steps send an email: Picked up sends the shipped email, with the tracking number and a button to track the parcel, and Delivered sends the delivered email. The other steps send nothing, ticked or not.

Each shipment sends the shipped email once. A shipment created with Mark order shipped ticked sends it when you create it, and starts at Picked up. A new parcel, such as a second attempt in a new shipment after a failed delivery, sends its own shipped email with its own tracking number. The delivered email goes once per order. See Emails your customers get about orders.

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The message Shipment status updated. confirms it. The badge changes, the description and location fields clear, and the next status is chosen for you. Delivered asks you to confirm first; every other status saves at once.

Mark delivered

When the provider confirms the customer has the parcel:

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The shipment and the order both become Delivered. If your store runs a loyalty programme, a customer with an account earns their points for the order now. For a cash on delivery order, the order then waits for you to record the cash: see Record cash collected on delivery.

When a delivery fails

When the driver could not deliver, for example nobody answered the door, choose Delivery failed and select Update shipment status.

The order stays shipped, but its stage becomes Needs attention, a red Delivery failed chip appears under the customer’s name, and the next step reads Review: Delivery needs a look before it can move on. The order also appears in the Needs attention view of your orders list.

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Call the customer, then record what you agreed. From Delivery failed, Next shipment status offers three ways forward:

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• Out for delivery — the provider tries again with the same parcel. The order is back In delivery, and you carry on to Delivered as usual.
• Returned to sender — the parcel comes back to you. See the next section.
• Cancelled — this shipment is called off, and the order goes out again in a new one. See below.

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Send it again in a new shipment

When the parcel will go out again under a new tracking number, choose Cancelled for the failed shipment and select Update shipment status. The order goes back to Ready to ship, its shipped date is cleared, and its next step becomes Ship. The Create shipment panel is available again.

By now the order’s fulfilment time has usually passed: it is 48 hours after the order was placed, unless you changed the Fulfilment SLA (hours). If it has, the stage reads Needs attention with a Late fulfilment chip, and the order is back in the Needs attention view until the new parcel is picked up. The next step is still Ship.

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Create the new shipment as you did the first. See Ship an order with a tracking number. The customer gets a shipped email for the new parcel, with its tracking number. If you decide not to send the order after all, cancel it instead: Cancel order is offered again, and cancelling puts its items back in stock.

Refused at the door: returned to sender

When the customer refuses the parcel, or the provider gives up and brings it back, choose Returned to sender and select Update shipment status. It saves at once, and the customer gets no email for this step.

Every unit in the parcel goes back in stock. The Stock history of each variant that tracks stock gains a line reading Returned to sender, or the description you typed. What happens to the order depends on whether the customer paid.

Cash never collected: the order is cancelled

On a cash on delivery order, nothing was collected, so there is nothing to give back. The same goes for a card payment that was only authorised and never charged. The order is Cancelled for you:

• the stage and the fulfilment status read Cancelled, the payment Not collected and the shipment Returned to sender;
• the cancellation reason is the description you typed, or "Shipment returned to sender." when you left it empty;
• any gift card balance, loyalty points and discount code use on the order are given back, as when you cancel an order;
• the order leaves Needs attention, and appears in the Cancelled view and under More views › Returned to sender.

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The order page then reads the same as any cancelled order, with the Returned to sender marker at the end of the progress bar and the date it was cancelled.

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Because it cancels the order, this needs the Cancel orders permission as well as Manage shipments. A role without it is refused, and nothing changes: Marking this shipment Returned to sender cancels its unpaid order, which needs the permission to cancel orders. Ask the store owner to add it to your role.

A paid order: refund the customer

When the customer paid by card, their money is still with you. The order becomes Returned, and stays in Needs attention until you refund it:

• the stage reads Needs attention, the payment Paid, the fulfilment Returned and the shipment Returned to sender;
• a red Returned to sender chip sits under the customer’s name, and the next step is Review.

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Refund it from the Refund payment card on the Operations tab, which is offered as usual. The parcel already put the items back in stock, so the refund puts nothing back a second time. You can refund all of it, or keep the delivery fee and refund the rest: any refund you make after the parcel came back moves the order out of Needs attention. A refund made while the parcel was still out does not count, because the rest of the money is still owed. See Refund an order in full or in part.

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A paid order needs only Manage shipments to be marked Returned to sender.

Cancel a label and create a new one

If you created a shipment with the wrong provider or tracking number, and the provider has not collected the parcel yet, replace it:

When you cancel the order’s only live label, the order goes back to Preparing so you can ship it again. The cancelled shipment stays on the order for your records, marked Cancelled, and the new one becomes the Latest shipment.

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Your description shows against the Cancelled step. The line under the shipment’s name is the note typed when that shipment was created.

This only works while the shipment is at Awaiting pickup or Label created. If you ticked Mark order shipped when you created it, the shipment started at Picked up, and it can be cancelled only if its delivery fails. To correct the provider or tracking number on such a shipment, open a support ticket with the order number. See Open a support ticket.

Delivered: nothing left to update

Delivered, Returned to sender and Cancelled are final. The Latest shipment panel then reads Not available now and Shipment update unavailable, with The latest shipment has already reached its final status.

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What is left happens on the Operations tab. Next status offers Complete: select Update status to close the order. On a cash on delivery order, record the cash first; its next step reads Mark collected until you do.

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The same tab is where you refund a delivered order or start a return. The whole page shows, from top to bottom, the order’s status, its internal note, the customer’s details (locked now that it has shipped), tags, refunds, offline payments and return requests.

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See Refund an order in full or in part and Handle a return.

What to do next

• For a cash on delivery order: Record cash collected on delivery.
• Why does an order need attention?
• Open your orders list (opens in a new tab).