Managing Order Statuses
- Panagiotis Papanastasiou
- Niki Rousaki
This page offers information on the default Order Statuses that govern the state of each order in BSS and in Storefront. Also, you can find a guide on how you can add a new Order Status, as well as how each status appears inside an order under different circumstances.
Explaining the Default Order Statuses
Under BSS Setup > Sales > Orders > Order Status is where the default Order Statuses exist but also where new Order Statuses can be created. These statuses dictate the various stages of an order placed either from the BSS and/or the Storefront. For our platforms to run correctly having a basic functionality, the following Order Statuses and conditions should always exist by default in an organization as best practice.
Default Order Statuses
Draft: This order status is utilized only by the Storefront when an order is created inside the checkout process but is not yet submitted for execution. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” In progress and “Storefront Type” Draft that is mandatory & active. Orders in Draft status cannot be edited or executed in BSS.
Submitted: This order status is utilized by both systems when the order is considered as submitted yet not executed. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” In progress and “Storefront Type” Viewable that is mandatory & active. No deletion is possible.
Executed: This order status is utilized by both systems for the successful checkout to automatically invoice the products, begin the provisioning of the services, and change the order status. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” Automatic Execute and “Storefront Type” Submitted that is mandatory & active. No deletion is possible.
Canceled: This order status is utilized by both systems when either a BSS or a Storefront user proceeds with the cancellation of an order. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” Cancelled and “Storefront Type” Viewable for the status of a Cancelled order to be correct. This status is mandatory & active. No deletion is possible.
Pending Reseller Approval: This status is only applicable to Standard Resellers. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” In progress and “Storefront Type” Pending approval for standard resellers and it is mandatory and active.
Canceled by Reseller: This status is only applicable for Standard Resellers. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” Cancelled and “Storefront Type” Pending approval for standard resellers and it is mandatory and active.
Executing: This order status is utilized only by the Storefront when a Scheduled Order is created inside the checkout process and is currently being executed since it reached the predefined future date. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” Executing and “Storefront Type” Viewable that is mandatory & active. No deletion or deactivation is possible. Also, it is not available to be set by any user to an order, and it is not available to be set via the public API.
Scheduled: This order status is utilized only by the Storefront when a Scheduled Order is created inside the checkout process and is submitted for future execution. There can be only one status with the combination “Type” Scheduled and “Storefront Type” Viewable that is mandatory & active. No deletion is possible. Also, it is not available to be set by any user to an order, and it is not available to be set via the public API.
The columns composing the Order Status list are the following:
No. : This column displays the number of each Order Status. In cases, where there are two or more similar statuses, then the number acts as a priority number between them.
Description: This column displays the name/description of an Order Status that is the one being displayed next to the “Status” field of each order in BSS. The “Description” is a text field where you can type in the exact word(s) that you wish to display as a “Status”.
Type: This column displays the available types of statuses in a drop-down menu fashion. Each selected “Type” option works in tandem with the “Storefront Type“ options and what it does essentially is that it keeps a specific stage of the ordering process, whereas the “Storefront Type“ dictates what happens during that specific stage.
Storefront Type: This column displays the available Storefront Types of statuses in a drop-down menu fashion. Each selected “Storefront Type” option works in tandem with the “Type“ options and what it does essentially is that it dictates what happens during the specific stage that the “Type” is on at any given moment.
Color: This column allows you to change the color of the displayed Status text in BSS and is based on an extended RGB color palette that appears upon clicking on it.
Active: This column contains a checkbox for each Order Status so that you can select which status you wish to have enabled and which to have disabled. Please note here that the seven default (systemic) Order Statuses that are displayed in the screenshot above, cannot be disabled, since they are the bare minimum.
Moreover, you may need to have more statuses than the default ones, analyzed above. Let’s see how you can add new Order Statuses in the following section.
Creating New Order Statuses
Other than the bare minimum statuses explained above, new order statuses can be introduced inside this list. The reason for doing so is when you wish to have better control over, for example, certain cancellation reasons such as “canceled due to customer denial”, “canceled due to credit control failure“, etc.
To create a new Order Status and add it to the list, you must first provide a number under the No column and then you provide a descriptive name, under the Description column.
Afterwards, from the columns Type and Storefront Type, you can specify the combination that suits your needs, by choosing one available option from each one.
Then, you can choose to either click on the Active checkbox to activate the new order status upon its creation or leave it as-is if you wish to activate the new order status later.
Lastly, after you have completed the creation of your new Order Status, you must always click the + icon to add this status to the list.
Besides, after you finish with your edits, you must always save your changes by clicking the Save button from the page’s main menu.
Please note that to provide the newly added (custom) cancellation order status based on your defined “Description”, you need to edit the order in BSS and select from the available status options, your “Description“, for example, Canceled - Denial.
Order Statuses Flow in BSS
The three main points for Order Statuses that are analyzed via the following (execution) examples are:
During the creation of an order in BSS, the status of the order is by default set to “Submitted“ by the system. However, the status, during the order’s creation can be changed by the user before saving it.
During the successful execution of an order in BSS, the status of the order is automatically set to “Executed“ by the system.
During the partial delivery of an order, that primary order remains with the status “Submitted” until all its sub-orders are executed. Only then the primary order will automatically change its status to “Executed“.
Executing an Order in its Entirety
In the following example, the BSS order will be executed in its entirety and not partially, so as to visually analyze the changes of the primary order’s status.
When an order is created in BSS, the default status is “Submitted”.
After the services have been added in the order and the order is saved, the status still remains as “Submitted“. (This order status is essentially the combination of “Type” In progress and “Storefront Type” Viewable.)
Once the order is successfully executed in its entirety, then its status will change automatically to “Executed“. (This order status is essentially the combination of “Type” Automatic Execute and “Storefront Type” Submitted.)
Partial Execution of an Order
In the following example, the BSS order will be executed partially and later in its entirety, so as to visually analyze the changes in the status for both the primary order and its sub-orders.
After the services have been added in the order and the order is saved, the status still remains as “Submitted“. (This order status is essentially the combination of “Type” In progress and “Storefront Type” Viewable.)
By choosing to partially execute the order, meaning that you execute some of the order items, you can click on the Products tab and, from the Products' list, choose, for example, the first order item.
After the first sub-order is successfully executed, by clicking on the “Execute Order” button, the sub-order’s status is set to “Executed“.
However, the primary order remains with the status “Submitted“. This happens because the primary order is partially executed.
When the second sub-order is successfully executed, by clicking on the “Execute Order” button, the sub-order’s status is also set to “Executed“.
Consequently, when all the sub-orders of a primary order become executed, only then the primary order changes its status automatically from “Submitted“ to “Executed”.
As a result of all the above information, the stages that an order goes through inside the BSS, based on its status changes, are the following:
First, an order is created and receives the status “Submitted” (In progress - Viewable). Then, as the order progresses by becoming executed, it will receive the status “Executed“ (Automatic Execute - Submitted). However, if for some reason, the execution was not successful, then the order will remain under the status “Submitted” (In progress - Viewable). Concerning the cancellation, if an order is canceled, then its status will receive the status “Canceled“ (Canceled - Viewable).
Order Statuses Flow in Storefront
During the creation of an order in Storefront via the checkout process, the status of the order is, by default, set to “Draft“ by the system.
By choosing the method of the execution of that Storefront order, be that either immediate or scheduled, different order statuses and flows are utilized.
For the analysis of scheduled execution, please continue your reading on the Scheduled Orders in Storefront page.
For the analysis of immediate execution, please continue your reading on this section of this page.
If the checkout process is successful and the execution of the order was set to immediate, then the order changes its status to “Executed“ as can be seen inside the Storefront’s Billing page under the Orders section.
However, if during the creation of an order, your Credit Limit, for example, exceeds its constraint, then an informative ribbon appears under the Basket page.
Even if you continue and complete the checkout process without adding a payment, the order is considered submitted, but no execution or invoice generation will commence.
Consequently, the order will change its status to “In Progress / Submitted” since it is not executed due to the Credit Limit constraint. The status of the order can be witnessed on the Storefront’s Billing page under the Orders section.
Also, if you go to the BSS platform, and locate that order, you can observe two things. The first one is the status of the order, which is “Submitted“ and the second one is the informative ribbon stating in this example the reason this order was not executed.
Once the reason for not executing an order gets surpassed, then the order can be executed and consequently change its status automatically to “Executed“.
As a result of all the above information, the stages that an order goes through inside the Storefront, based on its status changes, are the following:
First, an order is created and receives the status “Draft” (In progress - Draft). Then, as the order progresses, but before it is executed, it will receive the status “Submitted” (In progress - Viewable). If the payment is successful and the order is completed successfully and executed, it will receive the status “Executed“ (Automatic Execute - Submitted). However, if, for some reason, the payment was not successful, then the order will remain under the status “Submitted” (In progress - Viewable). Concerning the cancellation, if an order is canceled, then its status will receive the status “Canceled“ (Canceled - Viewable).
“Unexecuted Orders” Widget on BSS Dashboard
When an order, in Storefront or BSS, has the status “Submitted“ meaning that it is either partially executed or not at all, it is visible inside the BSS Dashboard under the widget Unexecuted Orders.
After an order’s transition from the “Submitted“ status to the “Executed“ status, then its respective row gets removed automatically from the list of the widget.
You can check the following pages for more information on creating, viewing, adding order items, and executing the newly created order.