Communication with consumers is critical for success in an increasingly connected and social-media-savvy society. This is especially true for e-commerce businesses, which lack the immediacy and physical interaction that brick-and-mortar stores give.
As an online shop, you can make your customers feel more connected and informed by keeping them up to date on the status of their orders.
It is now standard practice to provide consumers with order progress updates. In a study, 98.3 percent of respondents said they would like to be contacted if their item was delayed.
Customers can better plan for delivery if they have access to sufficient information. Despite this, some order status words, such as “awaiting fulfillment,” sound like jargon to them and may confuse them.
Have you been perplexed by such a status? Don’t worry, we’re here to help you make sense of it all?
Awaiting Fulfillment Definition
The status “Awaiting Fulfillment” indicates that the process of choosing and packaging products (as specified in the invoice) into the appropriate shipping boxes has commenced. Following this, a shipment label is created and the order is ready for dispatch.
What Are Other Statuses?
It is your obligation as an online shop to understand the order fulfillment process and express it to your consumers.
After an order has been verified by the online merchant, it travels through many steps, beginning with order placing and ending with order fulfillment.
As an e-commerce company, you must maximize efficiency at all phases. However, order cycle time must be evaluated in order to maximize the efficiency of the order fulfillment process.
Order cycle time is defined as the time it takes from the moment an order is placed to the time it is shipped. Because of rising client expectations for on-time delivery, you should strive for a faster order cycle to provide a more seamless experience.
Continue reading to learn about some of the important order statuses that your consumers are likely to encounter along the order journey.
- Fulfillment Submission
Orders are submitted for fulfillment after they have been paid for and verified by the online shop. An update of this type verifies that the order details (invoice) have been transferred from the e-commerce company to the logistics partner.
However, it may not always appear on tracking progress alerts because the goal is frequently to proceed quickly to the fulfillment process.
If this change is reflected when your customers click on the tracking number link, it means that the money was accepted and validated, and the purchase is now on its way to fulfillment.
- Fulfillment That Is Pending
This is the step at which the e-commerce business’s logistics partner firm accepts the fulfillment request and begins the process of choosing and packaging the items into the appropriate shipping boxes. The fulfillment procedure, however, is not yet complete.
Many businesses use the term “pending fulfillment” interchangeably with “awaiting fulfillment.”
You may also note that the order’s tracking information indicates that it is “on hold.” It indicates that some information is lacking or necessary for the request to be performed. This might be due to missing customs information, inadequate label data, ambiguous packaging preferences, and so forth.
Once the missing information or details are given, the order procedure will be restarted.
- Partially Shipped
A status of “partially sent” indicates that only a portion of the order has been dispatched. This normally occurs when a product is out of stock. As a result, the package is divided. In this instance, the remaining order is largely completed later.
- Shipped
It is a critical update in the order journey since it notifies you that your order has been securely sent by a courier provider. If an online store promises two-day delivery, it is generally determined from the ship date, which is the day the purchase is dispatched.
Typically, such an update is given with the consumer by a confirmation email or text message, along with package tracking information. From now on, expect notifications like “in transit,” “in the local hub,” “out for delivery,” and so on.
In general, all major shipping firms, such as FedEx, USPS, DHL, UPS, and others, give projected delivery dates to help recipients better schedule delivery.
- Fully Delivered
“Order delivered” is the most pleasant of all status updates for your consumers.
It is only shown after the package has been delivered to the receiver or is ready to be picked up outside their home or garage.
Sometimes delivery providers will incorrectly designate an order as delivered. In such circumstances, the client should contact the online store and report the problem.
Regardless of how cautious transporters are, delivery exceptions may occur. This indicates that a product is delayed due to unanticipated circumstances such as customs hold-ups, federal holidays, damaged labels, weather conditions, and so on. It is better if an e-commerce firm prepares for this and maintains open lines of contact with clients.
Fulfillment VS Pending Fulfilmment VS Awaiting Fulfilment
- Difference Between Awaiting fulfillment And Pending Fulfillment
“Awaiting fulfillment” and “pending fulfillment” signify nearly the same thing: the order is being processed, chosen, and packaged into the appropriate package. This status also indicates that the order is not complete and is not yet ready to ship.
Many e-commerce businesses use these terms interchangeably to refer to the same product.
- Difference Between Awaiting Fulfillment And Awaiting Shipment
“Awaiting shipping” indicates that the order is ready to ship but has not yet been picked up or dropped off at the carrier.
“Awaiting fulfillment,” on the other hand, indicates that the order is being processed but is not yet ready to ship. The order’s products are being assembled in a suitable package for shipment.
After “awaiting fulfillment,” the next natural step in the order path is “awaiting shipping.”
Possible Reasons For An Order To Be Awaiting Fulfillment
“Awaiting fulfillment” is a stage in the order journey that normally occurs relatively quickly due to today’s quick logistical solutions. This step is often missed if a consumer is not closely following the order updates.
Nonetheless, if a product is out of stock or there are certain gaps in the order, you may anticipate this order status to be shown for a longer period of time.
It should be a rapidly changing order status, but if it hasn’t changed in a while, the following are some probable causes for the order to be stuck at this stage.
- Failure to Find the Orders
Inability to locate products specified in the order might create a delay in delivery. It usually occurs as a result of poor warehouse management, ambiguous communication, and so forth. It’s possible that the order status is stuck on “awaiting completion” for one of these reasons.
It is critical to arrange inventory location to minimize such unneeded delays. Inventory placement refers to both your inventory’s physical location in storage and its overall position in the supply chain.
Many factors must be considered when designing inventory positioning, from ensuring that heavy or big SKUs are housed on lower racks to ensuring that high-volume goods are easily accessible.
- Inadequate Inventory Management
Growing brands may encounter incorrect inventory management, resulting in “out-of-stock,” “back-ordered,” and abused storage problems. All of these might lead to orders remaining “awaiting fulfillment” for longer than expected.
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