Order statuses in ShipHero control which orders appear in a user's picking queue in the ShipHero Mobile App and in the direct pack option of the Packing App. ShipHero applies system statuses (Default, Canceled, and Fulfilled) automatically, and you can create unlimited custom statuses to group similar orders and route them to specific users.
Use custom order statuses to delegate tasks to specific team members and to send similar orders through different processing flows.
To create custom order statuses, assign them to orders, and set a user's Default Order Status, see How to Use Order Statuses in ShipHero.
Table of Contents
- How Order Statuses Work in ShipHero
- System Order Statuses in ShipHero
- Custom Order Status Naming Rules and Limitations
- Reserved Order Status Names to Avoid for Custom Order Statuses
- Custom Order Status Example Use Cases
How Order Statuses Work in ShipHero
Every order in ShipHero has an order status, and every user has a Default Order Status. Users only receive orders in their picking queue that match their assigned order status. This applies to Multi-Item Batch (MIB) picking, Single-Item Batch (SIB) picking, and the direct pack option in the Packing App.
- System order statuses: ShipHero applies these automatically based on the status of the line items on the order.
- Custom order statuses: Statuses you create to further segment your pending orders, for example expedited orders, orders grouped by size, or orders that need special handling.
When you don't use custom statuses, ShipHero assigns all pending orders the Default system status. New users also get Default as their Default Order Status, so every user receives all pending orders in their queue.
When you use custom statuses, each user only receives orders with the status assigned to them. You can change a user's Default Order Status at any time, for example to have a user work through "Urgent" orders first and then switch back to Default.
System Order Statuses in ShipHero
System order statuses are built into ShipHero and are applied to orders automatically. The Manage Orders page also includes an Unfulfilled filter, which looks like a status but works differently.
| System Order Status | Definition |
|---|---|
| Default | ShipHero's default order status for pending orders. A pending order has at least one line item with a pending fulfillment quantity greater than 0. ShipHero stores the Default status internally under the name Pending. |
| Unfulfilled | Not an official order status. Unfulfilled is a filter on the Manage Orders page that shows all open orders, regardless of the Default or custom status assigned. It does not behave like the other system statuses. |
| Canceled | Orders that are canceled. Orders can be canceled with automation rules, in bulk from the Manage Orders page, or on the order details page. |
| Fulfilled | Orders that are completely processed and have no line items with a pending quantity greater than 0. |
System order statuses can't be deleted. This includes Pending, the internal name for the Default status.
Custom Order Status Naming Rules and Limitations
Custom order status names follow these rules in ShipHero:
- Accepted characters: Letters (a-z, A-Z), numbers (0-9), spaces, hyphens (-), and underscores (_). Special characters such as &, /, and # are not allowed.
- Names can't be edited: After you create a custom order status, you can't change its name. To fix a typo, create a new custom status and delete the old one.
- Reserved names: Some names are reserved for system statuses and shouldn't be used. See Reserved Order Status Names to Avoid for Custom Order Statuses.
Reserved Order Status Names to Avoid for Custom Order Statuses
Don't use a system status name for a custom order status. Don't create a custom order status with any of these names:
- all
- backorder
- canceled
- cancelled
- default (no alert, see below)
- fulfilled (no alert, see below)
- in_queue
- pending
- unfulfilled
ShipHero blocks every name on this list except Default and Fulfilled. The check ignores capitalization, so Pending, pending, and PENDING are all blocked. When you try to save a blocked name, ShipHero shows this message: "The status you are trying to add is a system status. Please choose a different status."
Important
ShipHero doesn't show an alert when you create a custom order status named Default or Fulfilled, but these names still cause problems. A custom status that matches a system status name causes orders to not appear correctly in picking queues and breaks fulfillment tracking across ShipHero.
Custom Order Status Example Use Cases
These examples show how a company might use custom order statuses to manage its operations:
- Contact Customer: Tells the customer service team that more information is needed from the customer, for example when an order is on hold, an address needs validation, or an item is no longer available.
- VIP Customers: Combine your ecommerce tools and automation rules to find orders with a VIP tag and set this status, so VIP orders are processed promptly and get special packaging.
- Expedited Orders: Use automation rules to find orders that paid for expedited processing, so they don't get mixed in with orders on standard service level agreements (SLAs).
- Heavy Items: Separates orders with heavy products that can't be processed through the standard MIB, SIB, and direct pack flows.