Orders – an overview
This page gives an introduction to orders in Print Trail.
Orders contain:
- Order lines (the products and quantities)
- Shipping address
- Contact details
- Customer tax/customs details (optional)
Fulfilments
Each order results in one or more fulfilments. Each fulfilment can be thought of as a ‘sub order’.
Many orders will have only one fulfilment, and other orders may have multiple fulfilments.
Each fulfilment is processed by a separate fulfilment location. For example, an order may result in some order lines being ‘printed to order’ in a print on-demand fulfilment location, while other order lines from the same order are shipped from stock from a separate inventory fulfilment location.
More information on fulfilments is here: Fulfilments.
Order flow
- Orders always start in a
draftstate - Orders are typically
queuedfor a short period before they are processed, which allows a grace time before costs are incurred. This is useful when orders are created with incorrect data and need to be changed. - Once the queue period has ended, the order will begin to be processed (order state becomes
processing). - Until then, you can take a queued order back to
draft(for example with theSave as Draftaction on the orders list, a full edit, or rebuilding its fulfilments). This stops the countdown: the order will not be processed until you process it again. - Print Trail’s algorithm decides the optimal way to fulfil an order, usually involving the fewest fulfilments and the most cost-effective shipping. This results in a
processingorder with at least one fulfilment. - Each fulfilment passes through its own flow of states, which is typically:
draft-->processing-->dispatched. - When all of an order’s fulfilments are
dispatched, that order will becomecomplete. If every fulfilment has finished but some failed, the order becomespartial(orfailedif none were dispatched).
Editing orders
Orders can be cancelled, and edited, as long as none of its fulfilments have yet been fully processed or dispatched.