“Awaiting Fulfillment” is a stage that often triggers questions from customers. eCommerce businesses need to understand that efficient management of this step impacts delivery speed, customer satisfaction, and revenue. Here, we’ll delve into this stage of order fulfillment in more detail and understand its significance in eCommerce business.
In the world of eCommerce, communication is a key factor in attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. When customers place orders, they want to be kept informed about the status of the orders, especially if the status changes. Different phases of order fulfillment status are submitted for fulfillment, pending fulfillment, partially shipped, shipped, and delivered. One of the order statuses that an average customer finds frustrating is awaiting or pending fulfillment, as it is often called. When a product is marked as “awaiting fulfillment,” it implies that the merchant has confirmed the order and entered it into their system. The payment has been verified, and the order is now waiting to be moved to its next stage of fulfillment. In essence, the order is yet to be packed, picked, and delivered by the seller. The time it takes for the order to move to the next stage of fulfillment depends on various factors and whether or not there are any impediments to a successful order fulfillment.
Order Status Explained
When customers place orders, they move through different phases of order fulfillment. When the order moves through the different statuses, it might give the customers an idea of how long it will take for the order to be delivered to them. Often, the technical terms of the different stages of order fulfillment might confuse the customers. The following is a list and explanation of each stage of order fulfillment:
- Order receipt: The first step of order fulfillment is receiving the order, implying that the customer has paid for it and the business owner has entered the order details into their system. Customers usually get notified that their order is received but are not often notified when it moves to the logistics part of the fulfillment process.
- Awaiting fulfillment: Depending on each company, this next step is called pending or awaiting fulfillment. This stage implies that the order has been placed but has not yet been sorted. In other words, the logistics company has not yet received the dispatch order.
- Picked and packed: In this stage, the order components are picked from where they are stored and often brought to a central location. Big companies often have warehouses where the materials are stored. The order component has to be identified and then picked from the warehouse. The order is then packed according to the content. Special considerations are given during packing if the order contains fragile items. The packing is either done manually or using robots. The container size and packaging material used depends on the type of product packed.
- Shipped and delivered: After the product is picked and packed, the next step is to ship it. The shipping process varies depending on whether the company ships or uses a third-party logistics service. After the product is shipped, it is then delivered to the customers within a pre-stipulated timeframe.
- Manage returns: The last step of the order fulfillment process is to manage the returns of the products. They could either be returned to be replaced or returned with an instruction for a refund. Depending on the return type, the company decides on the next step.
Reasons for Awaiting Fulfillment Status
Usually, the status of an order changes fairly quickly depending on the product ordered. If an order is awaiting fulfillment for a considerable duration, it could signify an issue with completing it. There could be several reasons behind this status, such as the company does not have the product in stock. There could be a miscommunication between the demand and supply of the product. One of the major reasons for orders being stuck in this status is a lack of proper inventory management. Consequently, the product order could be out-of-stock, and the company still has backorders to fulfill. This means the company is not managing its inventory at the rate it is growing. This lack of inventory management can also lead to products being “lost,” which is another reason products are awaiting fulfillment. If the product is not stocked properly in the warehouse and its data is not entered into the system correctly, spotting the products won’t be easy. The product stocking should ideally follow inventory positioning, where the products are stocked according to demand. Poor inventory management is one of the leading causes of delays in order fulfillment.
Steps to Improve Order Fulfillment
Whatever the reason is for an order to be in the “awaiting fulfillment” status, it is undeniable that for customers, it is annoying to have their orders stuck in the process. If a company notices a pattern of products being stuck in the fulfillment process frequently, it is time to investigate and streamline the operations. There are several ways to do this, including accurately forecasting the demands for the orders and implementing an optimal process to handle returns. Let’s look at them individually:
- Automate order processing: As a business grows, the demand for its product increases manifold. It is, therefore, a smart business decision to implement a system that would process the orders automatically. A manual order processing system might work for small businesses, but as the business grows, so do the orders. With manual processing, the time taken to process the orders increases along with the chance of errors. An automated process will take care of the orders with minimal errors.
- Forecast demand: Another way of improving operations is to plan inventory accurately. Forecasting is a crucial step of inventory planning, where the demand for each product is estimated and stocked accordingly. The more data available about product sales, the more accurate the forecast demand. This forecasting and stocking up accordingly ensures that there are fewer chances of the product being out-of-stock or being ordered in excess while not in demand.
Conclusion:
Business owners face several challenges daily when running a successful business. Orders and the several processes and steps around fulfilling them can be quite daunting. Streamlining the process beforehand is a good idea to avoid dealing with order-related issues later. However, depending on the scale of the business, it might be a good business decision to outsource the logistical requirements to a third-party logistics (3PL) company. These 3PL companies provide customers with a wide range of options, including inventory management, order fulfillment assistance, and transportation assistance. So, to avoid putting customers through the pain of their order being in the “awaiting fulfillment” status for a long time, think of 3PL for an easy and affordable solution.
Contact XPDEL if you are looking for a professional 3PL partner to help you with your logistics issues.
About XPDEL:
XPDEL helps eCommerce brands accelerate their growth, empowering them with multi-channel fulfillment, whether shipping directly to consumers, delivering to businesses, or selling through retail stores. We are founded and operated by veterans with experience from Amazon, FedEx, UPS, JDA, Walmart, Target, and other leading companies in eCommerce and Retail. Guided by these experts, we provide customer experiences that help you grow your business.