Shipping - Order Management
- 1 Introduction
- 1.1 Prerequisites
- 1.2 Navigation
- 2 Shipping Department
- 3 Shipping Department Widget
- 3.1 Editing Orders and Processing Refunds
- 3.2 Frequently Asked Questions
- 3.2.1 We have some orders in the Shipping department that are showing a message that the orders are on hold, what are the possible reasons for these orders to be in a hold status instead of immediately transmitting?
- 3.2.2 What happens if an order is rejected while in the transmission queue?
- 3.2.3 Will a rejected order still appear as a sale in reports?
Introduction
The Shipping Department is the staging area where shippable orders, which have successfully processed payment, await fulfillment. Depending on your configuration, the interface will vary based on whether you process orders in-house or transmit them to a fulfillment provider.
Prerequisites
Payment must be successfully processed on the orders.
Distribution Centers must be properly configured.
Navigation
Main Menu: Operations → Order Management → Shipping Department
Shipping Department
Once payment for an order has been processed, the order is moved to the Shipping Department. This Section can also be displayed in 1 of 2 ways.
For merchants with a single Distribution Center configured you will be taken directly into your shipping department. There you can view the orders based on weather you are using a fulfillment center or handling the shipping yourself.
For those merchants that have multiple shipping departments you will see the following screen first. Each additional distribution center (configured earlier) will display a link on this page. The following example shows multiple Shipping Departments.
Self-Service (In-House Processing) vs. Fulfillment Provider
UltraCart supports two modes for shipping operations:
Self-Service View
This view is for merchants managing their own shipping. Available actions include:
Item Dropdown: Filter orders by specific items.
Field Selection: Click any field value (e.g., shipping method) to select all orders sharing that value.
Column Sorting: Click column headers to sort orders.
Order Editing: Edit orders directly prior to fulfillment.
Note: See Order Editing - Shipping for more details.
The item dropdown will allow you to select all the order for a particular item.
Click on any field to select all the order with the same value. For this example we are clicking on the shipping method " Standard Shipping" and all orders with that method are selected.
You Can also click on Column headers to sort orders
Import Tracking via CSV file
Please see the following for details regarding the formatting of the import CSV file: Import Tracking
In the self-service view, you will find situations where you need to edit an order prior to shipping.
(click here for more details)
Editing Orders and Credit Card charges or refunds
Please keep in mind that editing an order from the shipping department will not affect the credit card authorizations.
If the changes you make correspond with an additional charge, then you should apply the additional amount using the "virtual terminal" tool. (See: Virtual Terminal Button for more details).
If changes to the order will result in a partial refund, then you can perform that by navigating to the order in the "view all orders (in any stage)" search tool then clicking the partial refund button. In the partial refund screen you can credit for removed items then process the refund (See How do I perform a Refund for more details).
Fulfillment Provider View
This view is for merchants using integrated 3rd-party fulfillment providers (requires Transmission Mechanism configuration).
Action Buttons
Button | Description |
|---|---|
Refresh | Reload the screen to view the most current order data and clear selections. |
Release | Move orders from Held for Review to Queued for Transmission. |
Remove from Queue | Exclude selected orders from transmission to the fulfillment center. |
Retransmit | Resend selected orders in Pending Immediate Transmission to the fulfillment center. |
Log | View the transmission log (only for 2-way integrations). |
Mark Shipped | Manually mark orders as shipped if necessary. |
Tip: A 2-way integration is recommended to automate status updates.
Shipping Department Columns
Column | Description |
Held for Review | Orders held manually or per distribution center configuration. Use Release to move them forward. |
Queued for Transmission/Pickup | Orders scheduled for future transmission based on Transmission Schedules. |
Manually Unqueued | Orders intentionally removed from automatic transmission. |
Pending Immediate Transmission | Orders ready for immediate transmission if no schedule is set. Typically remain here briefly (2-5 minutes). |
Sent to Fulfillment | Orders transmitted, awaiting confirmation/tracking from the fulfillment center. |
Recently Shipped by Fulfillment | Orders fully processed and marked complete; typically retains one week of history. |
Note: See Distribution Center and Transmission Schedule for more setup details.
Fulfillment Provider view - for merchants using a Fulfillment Center (Transmission Mechanism must be configured) to monitor the fulfillment activity of the orders.
The top portion of the Shipping Department displays 5 or 6 buttons depending upon your distribution center's capabilities and when the corresponding Distribution Center is configured with a transmission mechanism set to anything other than "none".
If your distribution center has only a 1-way transmission mechanism (providing only 1-way communications), the "Log" button will not be visible. You will also see only 5 buttons. . It's highly recommended that you select and use a 2-way distribution center wherever possible so that the shipping data will be automatically fed back to UltraCart.
Understanding the Columns in the Shipping department (Fulfillment Integration View)
The lower portion of the screen will display 4 columns; Queued for Transmission, Pending Immediate Transmission, Unacknowledged Shipments and Recently Acknowledged Shipments.
Column | Description |
|---|---|
Held For Review | If you have configured the distribution center to hold orders for review, then the orders will initially go into the far left column "Held for Review". Once there you will select and click the "release button" to move them to the next column, "Queued for Transmission". |
Queued for Transmission / Pickup | Orders will appear in this column when you have configured Transmission Schedules within the distribution center. These orders will not be transmitted to fulfillment until the scheduled time arrives. Once transmitted, the order will move to the 3rd column "Pending Immediate Transmission" |
Manually Unqueued | This are orders that have been manually removed from being sent or picked up by the fulfillment center |
Pending Immediate Transmission | Orders will appear in this column on first arrival into the shipping department only if you do not have Transmission Schedules configured. They typically will reside in this column for only 2 to 5 minutes. |
Sent to "Fulfillment" | Orders that appear in this column have already been transmitted to the distribution (fulfillment) center and are awaiting return of confirmation and/or tracking information. If you have a 1-way transmission mechanism then the order will not appear here but goes directly to the Recently Acknowledged Shipments column. |
Recently Shipped by "Fulfillment" | Orders that appear in this column have received confirmation and/or tracking information. They are marked as "completed". You will see approximately one weeks orders listed here. |
There is a new warning if there are orders that were manually held.
Multiple Shipping Departments Support
Merchants can configure multiple Distribution Centers to support complex logistics, such as multiple fulfillment providers across different regions or a combination of in-house and outsourced shipping.
Note: See Self-Serviced Distribution Center for in-house setup instructions.
Shipping Department Widget
You can add the Shipping Department widget to your UltraCart Home page for quick access:
Open the Home page customization panel.
Drag the Shipping Department widget from the right panel to the left.
Arrange widgets as desired and save the layout.
Shipping Department Widget
You can add the Shipping Department widget to your UltraCart Home page for quick access:
Open the Home page customization panel.
Drag the Shipping Department widget from the right panel to the left.
Arrange widgets as desired and save the layout.
Editing Orders and Processing Refunds
Editing orders in the Shipping Department does not alter existing credit card authorizations.
For additional charges, use the Virtual Terminal tool. (See Virtual Terminal Button)
For partial refunds, locate the order via View All Orders, select Partial Refund, adjust item quantities, and process the refund. (See How to Perform a Refund)
Frequently Asked Questions
We have some orders in the Shipping department that are showing a message that the orders are on hold, what are the possible reasons for these orders to be in a hold status instead of immediately transmitting?
Orders can be placed into a hold queue for the following reasons:
Manual Hold
Transmission Schedules
Held for Review
Configuration Errors between UC and Fulfillment center
Fulfillment Center validation issues
Placed in ‘Held Orders’ location
Order has a future ‘Ship on Date’ or 'Delivery Date'
In situations where order(s) are not transmitting as expected, review the order details to the issues listed above.
What happens if an order is rejected while in the transmission queue?
Rejected orders are excluded from transmission. The transmission routine checks for rejections before sending orders and omits them from the batch.
Will a rejected order still appear as a sale in reports?
Refund & Reject: Returns funds to the customer and voids the sale (not counted in sales reports).
Reject Only: Excluded from sales reports.
Reference: Understanding Period Sales Reports and Refund Reporting