Order Status Thoughts

Lawrence

It seems both sellers and customers want more detailed order statuses, what do you guys think of the following?

Waiting for payment - starting status for orders paid by non-instant methods
Paid - starting status for orders paid via PayPal
Processing - seller is picking order, no order merging allowed
Processed - seller has packed order
Received - customer has received order
Complete - customer is happy with the order


I'm still not sure on the processed/shipped issue, I would prefer not to have both statuses, just one that is "your order is packed and ready to go, you will get it soon"

misbi

I've often wished that there was a status of 'on hold' for situations when I'm waiting for a buyer to get back to me regarding an issue with their order. Often, buyers don't check their emails as regularly as perhaps they should. Seeing their order status as 'on hold' would encourage them to find out why, either by contacting the seller directly, or checking their email.

YELLOW FARM BRICKS

It's getting to look like BL!

Usually in an on-line store "received" means that the store has received the order, "delivered" means the customer has received it. "complete" means the customer is happy? Hopefully but not by default.

more usual would be something like

order received
order in process
order under query - requires some action by buyer/seller
order dispatched (shipped)
order delivered

paid is not usually an issue because normally you have to pay to place the order. whilst there are options not to pay on checkout, this might be needed like on BL. Delivered could be set by the seller if he has tracking data, can even be auto fed into the order status or by the buyer manually if no tracking. To me delivered means complete by default unless the customer comes back and says something is missing or broken or wrong in which case it's an aftersales issue to be dealt with. Maybe there could be a status of "after delivery issue pending" which itself could be "closed" when it has been resolved to the satisfaction of the customer. If you look at other sites like Amazon, delivered is usually the final point of an order status.

whatever the need, I think more differentiation in some way from the other site is important so as not to be seen as copying it.

Robert

vitreolum

whatever the need, I think more differentiation in some way from the other site is important so as not to be seen as copying it.

But these are the stages an order usually goes through in any online transaction whatsoever, it's not like bl invented the wheel. It doesn't matter if you use synonyms, it's still the same thing.

You don't need to invent different orders stages (seller is thinking what packing materials to use/seller is driving to the post office/etc.) to differentiate from bl.

YELLOW FARM BRICKS

That's not really what I meant. There are some things in the way BL looks at order status that are IMO at least not "usual". Inventing status is the opposite of my thinking too, keep it simple really is what I am saying such as... what purpose is "complete"? many BL sellers think it is the customer's duty to update this field and "received" and then won't give the customer any FB if he doesn't!! That is way off what is usual in an on-line store. Once a store marks something as dispatched/shipped that is normally the last he hears about that order unless the customer reports something wrong, hasn't received it after a normal time, etc. FB is a separate process too, should not be in anyway linked to those statuses IMO, just an option for people who are happy and want to leave a recommendation (or the opposite).

Robert

Lawrence

I guess this is going to be a problem with many things. I have a way that I envisaged the site would work, but people come from BrickLink and want it to work like BrickLink. I actually use the "complete" status as a buyer so I know if an order has been received by me or not, so I can chase it up with the sender if it has not, But I don't want customers being harassed into updating statuses.

YELLOW FARM BRICKS

but I thought you were trying to attract "normal folk" who have never seen BL..

OK all, before you shoot me, I'm not having a go at BL here and I'm not saying BL'ers are not "normal" although I'm one and consider myself to be a bit "non-standard" LOL

your last 10 words there Admin are spot on IMO, that is an issue on BL sometimes, not for us because we don't care if the buyer updates those statuses or not and we still give them FB. There are a significant number of buyers over there who don't like the way sellers use that feature as a FB ransom (in their eyes that is, the sellers claim many different reasons for doing it).

I'm trying to look at this site differently to BL, I have BL now, if you just replicate BL here and attract the same crowd I will just have 2 stores to run to get the same business as now. It is difficult because most of us here (all?) have lived with BL for a long time and that is how we are used to working and I'm not saying I don't like it because I do but I think to be "better" at attracting "normal folk" BO would do better to ignore some BL hangups.

Robert

vitreolum

How is the customer being harassed into changing statuses if the selles updates most of them to keep the buyer informed of their order status? There are a lost of buyers out there that are really impatient and will want these status updates.

All the buyer had to do is change the status to received or complete, which is something I as a seller find useful and something the buyer should have the decency to do. If they set the status to received, I take it as they have received the order but didn't get the chance to check it. That way I am content that the order arrived at destination and don't have to worry about it being lost in post. If the status is set to complete then I know everything went through well and don't bother myself anymore with that order.

If a buyer considers it too much of a bother to inform the seller of the outcome of the transaction...

YELLOW FARM BRICKS

If a buyer considers it too much of a bother to inform the seller of the outcome of the transaction...

then what? he is a bad guy? no he gave you some of his hard earned money in exchange for some LEGO which hopefully you made some profit on... that's it, why does he owe you something else, he may never visit the site again after paying (hopefully not) but if that is the case he still purchased something from my store and that makes him a good guy in my thinking. I love BL but that negative attitude about customers who don't go back and update statuses I can live without, really. If I buy some LEGO on Amazon I don't get labelled as a "non-bothering buyer" if I don't go back into the site and tell the seller my goods arrived, it's a BL thing and is misused by some (not all) sellers there.

Robert

vitreolum

I'm sorry but I don't agree with your point of view. I strive to give my customers the best shopping experience I can, to offer the best prices, to pack the orders properly and offer the lowest possible shipping costs based on their preferences. I try answer all their inquiries as well as I can. So naturally I expect a minimum of effort from the buyer as well, respect should go both ways.

So I don't think that's a reason not to have these features, for those willing to use them. And who doesn't want to use them simply won't, there's no penalty whatsoever for that. I really don't see how their presence affects (negatively) anyone's shopping experience.

But let's not drag this any longer than necessary, after all it's James' call.

figbits

I agree that status changes by the buyers aren't needed. No other site I buy on, other than BL, has these.

For seller-changed statuses, I'm not sure why admin is hesitant to separate "processed" from "shipped". To me, those are the only statuses that are useful. Or, more specifically, we can get by with just ONE status that sellers set manually: Shipped.

Lawrence

My hesitance with the difference between processed and shipped is that currently, as a store we Mark everything as shipped, it is then picked up by Royal mail the same day. Other sellers obviously do not have daily pickups and might not like to Mark the order as shipped when they won't actually give it to the post office for a day or two. I want to avoid having the seller need to go back and Mark the orders as shipped when the go to the post office.

I kind of want one button that says "I've packed it, it's on its way"

SuperBrick

I would suggest the following (based on the suggested status by admin):

Waiting for payment - starting status for orders paid by non-instant methods
Payment submitted - customer indicates they have submitted payment
Paid - starting status for orders paid via PayPal, and used when seller received payment
Processing - seller is picking order, no order merging allowed
Processed - seller has packed order but has not yet been shipped
Shipped - The order has been shipped
Complete - customer is happy with the order

This allows for the separation of orders based on what needs to be done with them and allows for easier separation of duties in stores. Having a separate shipped status allows sellers to indicated when the order is out of their hands. As a result the "Processed" status provides a list of all orders that need to be shipped, when I go to the post office I verify that I have the correct number of parcels.

Most of these can be set by the seller, the only exception would the status "Complete" which is a status that can ONLY be set by the buyer. Buyers who are interested can use this to indicate they consider the order complete. They can look at the list of shipped orders to see which packages they still need to receive and therefore it is important that the sellers cannot set the status to complete.

When the order is set to shipped it should be removed from the sellers outstanding orders screen. For the buyer this would happen when the order is marked as complete.

SuperBrick

My hesitance with the difference between processed and shipped is that currently, as a store we Mark everything as shipped, it is then picked up by Royal mail the same day. Other sellers obviously do not have daily pickups and might not like to Mark the order as shipped when they won't actually give it to the post office for a day or two. I want to avoid having the seller need to go back and Mark the orders as shipped when the go to the post office.

I kind of want one button that says "I've packed it, it's on its way"

Would it be possible to add a button to the outstanding orders screen that would update the status to shipped for all the orders that are marked as processed. This would be one button press to mark all these orders as shipped.

Lawrence

" As a result the "Processed" status provides a list of all orders that need to be shipped, when I go to the post office I verify that I have the correct number of parcels. "

I'm glad you said that as I had forgotten about this use case.

I like that, I would change "Paid" to payment received.

Lawrence

Would it be possible to add a button to the outstanding orders screen that would update the status to shipped for all the orders that are marked as processed. This would be one button press to mark all these orders as shipped.

I wont do that, but I will probably add some checkboxes so you can do mass operations like leaving feedback or changing status.

YELLOW FARM BRICKS

It depends on how you define shipped I suppose. We have the same system as you, RM collect once per day. We mark as shipped once we've made the order to RM, i.e. we've paid for the postage and it is in RM's system, this is the same as when you hand it over at the post office, both cases are waiting for RM to collect it but either way it is in the "shippers system".

To me the shipped button is OK in the way you say "I've packed it, it's on its way". If the mailman didn't show up of course we'd email the customers concerned and let them know of a delay (happened here a couple of times in winter due to snow).

If you don't take it to the post office for a couple of days, it's not shipped but still in process (in the seller's process, not shipped).

This is what I see in big organisations' systems - it is in process(or whatever they call it) until it is logged in the shipper's system then it is "shipped or "dispatched"

Robert

walstib

However the wording, hard to pick a winner there for me, I would like at least I'm processing, packed, shipped for the way I organize things. Just the pulling shipping side after the money is my context. (First order I've have was paid right off so I am already starting there.)

I don't know if it matters the buyer sees I have packed it as opposed to shipped but it's a step in my process, I do dive to the PO myself. Can sellers have more than buyers? Options for what ones you see?

YELLOW FARM BRICKS

your last 2 points - interesting way of looking at it, I like that. There are many process steps a seller does internally to get an order out, but the one the buyer is wanting to see is that all those are done and it's shipped. In BL we manage some of those internal steps that are not in the system ourselves and update the BL status when appropriate.

Robert

Thor

I agree with Admin that there should be little or no action required from buyers to change order status. All I need at a bare minimum is "Processing" and "Shipped". But if we need more options, I would go with the following:

Placed/Paid *OR* Placed/Payment Pending
Processing
Contact Your Seller (used if seller needs anything from the buyer before shipping)
Shipped
Follow-Up (used if there are any post-shipment issues)
Done/Filed

and maybe "Canceled/Refunded". In fact, this last status is very important for tax and bookkeeping purposes.

IMO, I have no need for any kind of Ready status, either as a buyer or seller. As a buyer, "Ready" is meaningless to me. If anything, it is a tease, especially if the order remains marked as Ready for more than a few days. Paraphrasing Yoda: Either ship or don't ship. There is no try.

Thor

DadsAfol

I like the idea of no buyer dependency, however I do like the detail provided by other ecommerce sites. For US domestic deliveries, you could use the USPS API to automatically update status to "delivered" and have a screen that shows buyers their order tracking info.

Here's my suggestions:
For immediate payment (PayPal) orders:
1. Pending (payment received, waiting for seller)
2. Processing (seller acknowledged, preparing for shipping)
3. Shipped (formerly "processed", used when postage and tracking has been printed - even if not yet picked up by the mail carrier)
4. Delivered (system-only status, updated by postal APIs.)

For non-immediate (non-PayPal) orders:
1. Pending (waiting for payment from buyer)
2. Processing (seller acknowledges payment received, preparing for shipping)
3. Shipped (formerly "processed", used when postage and tracking has been printed - even if not yet picked up by the mail carrier)
4. Delivered (system-only status, updated by postal APIs.)

You can use the same 4 statuses, although the context is slightly different for the first two. This is different than BL's status structure which leans towards using status as a communication tool between buyer and seller. I would prefer we not replicate BL's construct of statuses.

Lawrence

You can now see some order statuses on your order details details screen. I still need to add a "hold" status and finish it off

DadsAfol

Need clarifications on new statuses...

For PayPal orders will it automatically move to payment received?

Does "processed" still send the email to the buyer or does "shipped" now send the email to the buyer?

Lawrence

I have added tooltips to each status now. Shipped will send the e-mail now, the "process" call on the API will set it to the final shipped status and send the e-mail now. I will make a new API call to set the status to anything later.

theHellmouth

On the processing tooltip it says: "no order merging allowed". Does this mean that as long as I don't touch that button as a seller, my buyer can add multiple batches to the order? What happens with shipping at this point?

Lawrence

I haven't built in the order merging yet so I have changed that message for now.

theHellmouth

Anyway it would be a nice thing to have (hint hint). Order merging and calculating shipping cost on the combined order and displaying the difference (if any) on the second order.

Lawrence

Agreed, I do hope to do something like that, obviously making it optional etc.