It’s possible that the status of an online order will read “awaiting fulfilment.” Yet, what, precisely, does it mean to be “awaiting fulfilment”?
You may feel as though your order has been lost in the shuffle if you’re not familiar with the 3PL industry. In this article, we will discuss the meaning of “awaiting fulfilment” and the answer to the problem of how to manage dropshipping shipments.
What does it mean to be “awaiting fulfilment”?
There are a lot of steps between placing an order with an online store and getting it sent to your house. We don’t usually pay attention to these states unless they say “shipped” or “delivered.” But if you keep track of orders often, you may sometimes see phrases that are hard to understand. “Waiting to be fulfilled” is one of them.
If your order is “awaiting fulfilment,” it means that the staff has received it and is working on it. Also, they are getting your cargo ready right now. So, you’ll soon get a message from them letting you know that your goods have been sent.
What in the ordering process is waiting to be filled?
It also means that your order has been received, but that the logistics company hasn’t started to package it yet. If the order status or notification says “Awaiting Fulfillment,” there’s nothing to worry about. This means that your order is being prepared at the fulfilment warehouse or centre, and the process of getting your item to you will start soon.
So, don’t freak out when you see that your order is “awaiting fulfilment.” It doesn’t always mean there’s something wrong with your order. In fact, it means that they are getting your cargo ready to be sent out.
After ordering and paying online, you can check the status of your order to stay up to date. Most of the time, your order will be marked as “Completed.” Then you’ll see “Awaiting Fulfillment” as the next status for your order. This means that the logistics team has not yet gotten your package. But the seller is already working on getting your item ready. After the item has been packed, the merchant will send it to the logistics department.
Awaiting Fulfillment Is Not the Only Order Status You Need to Know
There are a few more status updates that are closely related to “Awaiting Fulfillment.” You’ll want to understand these so you know what’s going on with your purchase and your shipment in particular. Here are the most common order statuses!
Pending
“Pending” means that you have started to check out the products. However, you haven’t finished the steps yet. In some apps, you’ll see “Incomplete” instead of “Pending.”
Getting this message means that you can’t get the things until you finish the checkout process.
Awaiting Payment
When you see “Awaiting Payment,” you’ve finished the checkout process. But the seller is still waiting for you to pay. When you’re done shopping, the app or website will usually take you to the Payment page. You can use your e-wallet or a bank transfer to pay your bill here.
Most of the time, you don’t even know what this means for your order. This is because we usually check on the status of our orders after we have paid for them.
Awaiting Shipment
After the merchant coordinates with the logistics team, your order’s status will change to “Awaiting Shipment.” This means that the merchant is currently waiting for the logistics crew to pick up your goods.
It could also mean that your item has already been sent to the logistics office. Most likely, your item is still in the logistics warehouse, ready to be sent out.
Awaiting Pickup
“Awaiting Pickup” means that you can now get your item at a location chosen by the seller. This isn’t a normal status for an order. This notice is used by stores that don’t deliver right to your door. Instead, they send the orders to a place where their local customers can pick them up.
Only Partly Shipped
“Partially Shipped” is another order status that you might get, but it doesn’t happen very often. This is the case because it doesn’t work with all online shopping apps or sites. In reality, this is only used by online shopping apps or websites that have a lot of stores.
For example, if you ordered seven items online but only got two of them, the status of your order will be “Partially Shipped.” This will keep showing the same thing until all 7 items have been gotten.
Shipped
When you see “Shipped,” it means that the seller has already sent your items. It means that the things you bought are on their way to you.
This does not mean that the buyer has already gotten the things. It just means that the products are on their way.
Completed or Delivered
If your order status says “Completed” or “Delivered,” the things you bought online have already been sent to you. Most of the time, the “Delivered” status means that the products have been sent to the buyer. To put it another way, most people think of “Delivered” in terms of door-to-door delivery.
Cancelled
“Canceling” an order can be done for many different reasons. Here’s what can happen if you use a debit card when it doesn’t have enough money on it. In some cases, the status of an order may start out as “Awaiting Payment.” If it hasn’t been paid for a certain number of hours or days, the status will change to “Cancelled.”
If the item you ordered is no longer in stock, the transaction will be cancelled. Because of this, the status of the order will be “Canceled.”
There’s also a chance that the buyer will back out of the deal. If you change your mind and don’t want to finish your order, you can always click or press “Cancel” to stop the transaction. In that case, your order will be marked as “Cancelled.”
Declined
Your order says “Declined,” which probably means that your payment didn’t make it. It’s possible that you don’t have enough money in your e-wallet or on your debit card. But it’s possible that your issuing bank won’t be open.
If your status is “Declined,” it could mean that the app or website didn’t accept your credit card payment. It’s also possible that the system for taking credit cards is down. But it could also mean that the merchant is not an approved partner of the credit card company. If you have another credit card, you could try to use it in this case.
Refunded
The “Refunded” status means that the seller has given you back the money you paid. You could get a refund if, among other things, you didn’t get the things you bought or got something that was broken.
Refunded in Part
Some businesses use the “Partially Refunded” status to show that they have given some of the buyer’s money back. On the other hand, this order status is not used very often by merchants. Most of the time, merchants would rather do a one-time refund.
Difference between Expected and Expected-to-Fulfill
Although there is little difference between the “Awaiting Fulfillment” and “Pending Fulfillment” statuses, organisations may use subtle distinctions to their advantage.
If an invoice’s status is “Awaiting Fulfillment,” it means the shipment has arrived but is still waiting to be processed.
Whereas, a status of “Pending Fulfillment” typically indicates that the invoice has not yet been delivered, or that the fulfilment process has begun but has not yet been completed.
If your order status says something like “Awaiting Fulfillment” or “Pending Fulfillment,” it just means that the business hasn’t yet packed all of the items you ordered into the box and isn’t ready to have the shipping company pick up the package.
Drop Shipping Order Tracker (Dropship Corporation)
Dropship Corporation tracking solution is the best option if you want to eliminate some of the stress and uncertainty associated with package tracking by knowing for certain when your shipment arrived without having to constantly check your tracking information or your mailbox or PO Box.
In addition to its other useful features, Dropship Corporation’s order management lets you place multiple orders with a single mouse click. With Dropship Corporation, dropshippers can monitor the progress of their orders in a number of useful ways:
Sender’s Phone Number Is Now The Package’s Tracking Number
For dropshippers, the best option is the sync tracking number automatically feature, which will ensure that customers receive any urgent updates as soon as possible. Dropship Corporation instantly syncs the AliExpress tracking number and sends it to your store so that you can notify the customer as soon as it becomes available.
Synchronously Update Order Confirmation
If you want your customers to always know the status of their orders, the best solution is the auto-update feature. The dropshipping solution provided by Dropship Corporation makes it easy to monitor the status of your orders and their specifics with minimal effort on your part.
Conclusion
Everything you need to know about the fulfilment process and its associated terms is laid out above. The article hopefully provided you with a high-level summary of the shipping procedure and the answer to the problem of how to manage shipments for dropshippers. Visit Dropship Corporation Blog for more great reading material.