Between the moment the warehouse receives an order and the moment it ships, a lot can happen: the warehouse can put it on hold, backorder items, or cancel it. Warehouse order status sync brings that information back into DropStream, so you can see why an order hasn’t shipped without logging into the warehouse’s system. Where the sales channel supports it, DropStream passes the status on to the sales channel too.
Platform support: Warehouse order status sync is available now, but not every warehouse or store platform supports it. The warehouse has to be able to report order statuses, and passing them on to the sales channel requires a store platform that can receive them. To request support for a specific platform, contact support@getdropstream.com.
Use cases
- Answer “where’s my order?” A customer asks why their order hasn’t shipped. The order page shows it’s backordered at the warehouse, with the reason and expected ship date.
- Catch warehouse holds early. The warehouse holds an order because of an address it can’t validate. An alert tells you right away instead of days later when someone notices the order never shipped.
- Fix problems at the source. The order is held at the warehouse for a bad address. You correct it on the sales channel, and — where order modifications are supported — the fix flows through to the warehouse.
- Keep the sales channel in sync. When the warehouse cancels an order it can’t fill, DropStream cancels it too, so the order doesn’t sit open forever.
- Plan around backorders. Line-level statuses show which items are backordered and how many, so the merchant can offer a substitute or split the shipment.
Warehouse statuses
When the warehouse reports a status, a badge appears next to the order’s status on the order page.
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| On hold at warehouse | The warehouse has paused the order. Fix the cause on the sales channel; changes propagate to the warehouse where order modifications are supported. |
| Backordered at warehouse | Every item on the order is waiting on stock. |
| Partly backordered at warehouse | Some items are waiting on stock. |
| Canceled by warehouse | The warehouse canceled the order. DropStream cancels it too — the order’s status changes to Closed. |
| Partly canceled by warehouse | The warehouse canceled some items. |
| Warehouse status: … | The warehouse reported a status that doesn’t fit the categories above. Its own wording is shown. |
Apart from Canceled by warehouse, a warehouse status is informational. It doesn’t change the order’s DropStream status, which stays Open until the order ships.
The order page also shows:
- In the Order summary card: a Warehouse status entry with the status, the warehouse’s reason, when the status started (Since), and when DropStream last checked (As of). When the warehouse provides them, you’ll also see a held-until date and an expected ship date (ETA).
- On each item: the warehouse’s status for that line — for example At warehouse: 5 backordered · Insufficient inventory.
- In the Activity tab: an entry each time the status changes, such as when the order is placed on hold, released from hold, backordered, or no longer backordered.
When the warehouse clears the status — releases the hold, or the stock arrives — the badge goes away.
How often statuses are checked
DropStream checks the warehouse for status changes on a schedule — every 30 minutes by default. You’ll find the schedule on the connection page, in the Sales Orders group, as Warehouse status import. The row only appears when the warehouse platform supports it.
To check right away instead of waiting for the next run, click the run button on the Warehouse status import row, then Import. See Connection Channels and Schedules to change the schedule.
Pass the status on to the sales channel
On store platforms that support it, DropStream sends the warehouse’s status back to the sales channel, so the merchant sees that an order is held or backordered without opening DropStream. If you’d like this for your store, contact support@getdropstream.com.
Get notified
DropStream raises these alerts, which you’ll see with your other alerts and issues:
- Order On Hold at Warehouse — the warehouse put an order on hold.
- Order Backordered at Warehouse — the warehouse backordered an order.
- Warehouse Status Import Failed — DropStream couldn’t read statuses from the warehouse.
The on-hold and backordered alerts close on their own once the warehouse clears the status, or the order ships or is canceled.
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