What do order statuses mean? (placed, confirmed, shipped, delivered)

An order status is a label that says where an order stands right now. It answers the customer's most frequent question, "what is happening with my parcel?", and it answers yours too. When statuses are accurate, you spend less time replying to messages and more time packing.

One order's journey

Follow a single order for a handmade soap set, in typical stages.

1. Placed. The customer completes checkout. The order exists.
2. Confirmed. You have checked the details and, for COD, perhaps called to confirm.
3. Packed. The items are in the box, ready for the courier.
4. Shipped. The courier has picked up the parcel and it is on its way.
5. Delivered. The parcel reached the customer.

Some orders end elsewhere: Cancelled before dispatch, or returned after a failed delivery. Many sellers use slightly different words, but the flow is much the same.

The statuses in a Varchas store

I checked the code, and the order statuses in the admin are New, Packed, Shipped, Delivered and Cancelled. So a fresh order shows as New, becomes Packed when you have boxed it, Shipped once it has gone, and Delivered when it arrives. There is no separate Confirmed status in the order list, so if you confirm COD orders by phone, do it while the order is New and move on to Packed afterwards. Confirming COD orders before you ship shows how.

Payment has its own status, separate from the order status. The admin shows Pending, Part Paid, Paid, Refunded or Failed. This is useful: an order can be Delivered and still have payment Pending, for example when cash on delivery has not yet reached you. Part Paid is used when a customer has paid an advance and owes the balance on delivery.

Why the two kinds of status matter

• The order status tells you what to do next with the parcel.
• The payment status tells you whether money is in.

When you read a list of orders, look at both. A Packed order with Pending payment on a prepaid order is a red flag. Do not ship it until the payment is confirmed.

Keeping statuses honest

1. Update the status as soon as the step happens, not at the end of the day.
2. Do not mark Shipped before the courier has the parcel.
3. Do not mark Delivered because you assume it must have arrived. Check tracking.
4. Cancel properly when needed, so stock goes back. Cancellations, refunds and restocking explains it.

Telling customers

Statuses help most when customers can see them. What to send customers at each shipping stage gives message wording, and explaining tracking statuses in plain language helps when the courier's labels confuse people.

Next step

Open your orders list and read the oldest order that is still not Delivered or Cancelled. Find out what it is waiting for and fix its status today.