How to Process Sales Orders (Sales Order Workflow) in eCommerce

For an eCommerce business focused on carrying out its business more efficiently and improving customer satisfaction, effective management of sales orders forms part and parcel of its overall eCommerce strategy. Here, we describe the step-by-step sales order workflow, from creation through to post-processing and post-fulfillment actions.

In this article, we will discuss:

• Creation
• Processing
• Post-Fulfillment
• Review

Creation

Sales orders can be created in two different ways:

1. Order Import – The auto-import sales orders feature allows your eCommerce account to receive order updates from your integrated sales channels automatically.
2. Manual Order Creation – Individual sales orders can be manually created in eCommerce.

Processing

Order processing will commence after the sales order has been created. There are many steps involved in processing orders:

1. Warehouse Assignment – When a sales order is created in eCommerce, a few factors are evaluated to determine where the order will be allocated.
2. Inventory Reduction – Once the items on order have been assigned to the appropriate warehouse(s), we will reduce inventory from the specific location(s). If auto-sync has been enabled for your products, we will also update your sales channels with the new quantity.
3. Fulfillment - When sales orders are ready to be fulfilled, you will see them on the Paid orders screen. There are several fulfillment options available:
   • Self-Fulfillment - If you are shipping orders yourself, you can print labels within your eCommerce account with your integrated carriers. Once a label is generated, we will receive tracking information directly from the carrier. You can also make labels using third-party services and manually enter the tracking information in eCommerce.
   • Dropshipping/3PL - If you have dropship suppliers or 3PLs set up in your eCommerce account, we can automatically forward sales orders to your suppliers and import tracking updates via FTP/SFTP.
   • Fulfilled by Amazon - If you use an FBA warehouse to fulfill sales orders, we can automatically direct those orders to Amazon. Once fulfilled, we will receive the tracking information and update your integrated sales channel.
   • Purchase Order Fulfillment - Once a sales order has been created, you can place an order with your supplier if you need to purchase more stocks.

Post-Fulfillment

Once the sales order has been shipped, it will be marked as complete. There are many ways to complete an order:

1. Manual - You can manually mark it as complete.
2. Shipping Update - When a shipping label is generated in your eCommerce account, the order will be automatically moved to a complete status. If you generate the shipping label outside of your eCommerce account, you can enter tracking and carrier information for the order in your account, and we will mark the order as complete.

3. Storefront Completion - If an order gets marked as complete on your sales channel before being completed in your eCommerce account, we will receive the update from the sales channel and mark the order as complete in our system.

   

Review

Mastering the sales order workflow is a promise to any eCommerce business for making it successful and customer-friendly. One can understand and implement the process from creating an order up to post-fulfillment. The entire process, from automatic import of orders to their creation manually at every step-from the assignment of warehouses and reduction of inventory to several fulfillment options-be a part of your success in operating an e-commerce operation.