Running a Shopify store is like driving a car with no brakes.
Between managing inventory, shipping orders, and fulfilling customer service requests, it's easy to let tracking your orders fall through the cracks.
But here's the thing: if you don't track your orders, how will you know when they've been delivered? And how will you know when something has gone wrong with their delivery?
Or what if there's a problem with one of your products? Without tracking your orders, you might have no idea about any of these issues until it's too late.
It seems like a nightmare, isn't it?🤯
But worry not; we'll show you how to enable order tracking so that you can make sure all of these things stay on your radar!
What is Custom Order Number?
Custom Order Number is a feature that allows you to assign an order number to each order in your Shopify store. It provides information about when it was placed, when it was shipped, and any other activity related to that order. Using this feature, you can also see where your customer’s package is in transit.
This is a unique identifier for every order you receive on your Shopify store. Shopify usually generates them when you do a little bit of manual work, but if you want to unlock more features, you need to enable this feature manually or integrate it with a third-party app.
Why Custom Order Number is a must-have for Shopify stores?
Because you can't search for a needle in a haystack.
A custom order number differentiates every order placed and helps you to do multiple things. Here are some,
1. Easy tracking.
It is essential to maintain precise control over the status of large orders by assigning a unique code for each order, and the custom order number does the same.
It helps you to track the order easily so that you can provide a more efficient service. Suppose there is a certain way in which stores need to track or review order statuses. They only have to find the code that corresponds with each status so they can determine more information about the order.
2. Prevention of Fraud and Mistakes.
A unique order number can also help to prevent fraud and mistakes. For example, if a customer places an order online and tries to cancel it so they can get a refund, you can check the code on their credit card statement to make sure that the purchase is valid. If it is, then you can deny the refund request. This helps to prevent fraud and mistakes from occurring within your business.
You could do this by showing them that you have a record of what happened for each order, so there are no question marks about whether or not the transaction was valid.
Additionally, custom order numbers can help prevent mistakes by ensuring that each order has a unique number that can accurately track and manage the order. This can be especially useful if you have a high volume of orders, as it can help to prevent confusion and ensure that each order is processed correctly.
3. Enhances your professional image.
When customers place an order in your store, they receive an order confirmation email that includes their unique order number. This can give a professional look to your store, as it shows that you have a system for tracking and managing orders.
Additionally, having a custom order number can make it easier for customers to refer to their orders if they need to contact you about their order or if they want to track their order status. This can improve the customer experience and make it more convenient for customers to interact with your store.
4. Improved Order Management Efficiency.
Having a custom order number can also make it easier for you to manage your orders. If you’re using software that includes features like built-in inventory management, order tracking, and fulfillment features, using a custom order number can help you more efficiently organize your data. This can improve your efficiency in managing customer orders and streamlining the process of fulfilling them.
For example, if you have multiple employees taking and fulfilling orders, it can be easier for them to keep track of which orders belong to each customer. You can also notify your customers about their order status with the unique order tracking code.
5. Identification of Trends and Patterns.
Custom order numbers can help you better understand how your business is performing. This can help you identify trends and patterns in the data, allowing you to make more informed decisions about moving forward.
For example, if you track the order numbers of all your customers, you can see how many people are ordering specific items in any given week/month.
This can help you determine what products are popular among your customers and which aren’t selling well—which is essential information if you want to optimize your inventory and avoid stocking those products more.
What else? You can just sit and count the cash flowing in!
How to Add a Tracking Number on Shopify while fulfilling?
Here's a simple step-by-step guide to help you add Shopify tracking numbers to your orders while fulfilling them.
Step 1: Select the order.
From your Shopify dashboard, go to Order. You can view all the orders that you have received in your store. Now select the order which displays the status "Partially fulfilled" or "Unfulfilled."
Step 2: Fulfill the order and add the tracking number.
Now, select the "Mark as fulfilled" option. Once you do, it will take you to the next page, where you can add the tracking number.
On the next page, at the bottom of your screen, enter your shipment's tracking number in a box labeled Tracking Information.
Step 3: Select your shipping carrier.
Shopify will automatically choose a carrier based on the format of your tracking number. If you don’t want to use our chosen shipping carrier, you can select your own and choose it from the Shipping carrier drop-down menu.
Step 4: Add your tracking number and fulfill the order.
If Shopify doesn't support your chosen shipping carrier, or if you choose "Other" from the Shipping Carrier dropdown menu on the checkout page, you can manually enter the tracking information.
Enter the full URL that your carrier gave you to track this shipment.
Once you are done with the above steps, click "Fulfill items," and you are ready to go.
How to Add a Tracking Number on Shopify for a fulfilled order?
If you have fulfilled an order, then you can use the following steps to add a tracking number on Shopify:
Step 1: Go to Orders.
This is the same as the above step, but here the status of the order would be "Fulfilled."
Step 2: Add tracking number.
When you click and enter, you will see a page with the button "Add tracking." Click on that to add your tracking number.
Once you have completed the above steps, a small dialog called Edit tracking will appear. It contains an empty field labeled Tracking number. Enter your shipment's tracking information there.
Step 3: Choose the shipping carrier and add the tracking URL.
Sometimes, when you enter your package's tracking number, Shopify can recognize the format of that number and automatically choose a shipping carrier. But in some cases—mainly if the tracking number is generic or not yet recognized by Shopify—the system will leave it up to you how best to ship your order.
In this case, you can then choose a shipping carrier from the Carrier drop-down list.
Add the tracking URL without leaving any digits.
Step 4: Save the changes.
If you have chosen the correct shipping carrier and entered all your tracking information, save the changes you made to the order.
Easy tracking with BiteSpeed.
Now you know how to add a Shopify tracking number to each order you receive on your store. But a lot of manual work, isn't it?
Though it demands a lot of manual work, it’s a necessary evil to keep your customers happy. Tracking numbers allow you to track when and where your packages are shipped out, resulting in better customer service because you don't have to hunt for them.
But don't worry; we have the solution.
If you want to save time and focus on what's important, it's essential to use software that automates this process. And that's where BitseSpeed comes in.
It populates an order tracking ID based on the user's profile and creates a unique tracking number for each order. As soon as the order is placed, BitseSpeed will automatically generate a tracking ID and attach it to the order. You can easily manage your orders and provide better customer service in this way.
Even better, you can send the order ID and tracking information to your customers via WhatsApp without lifting a finger. When a customer places their order, BiteSpeed automatically notifies the customer with an order confirmation message along with the order number.
This helps you to keep your customers informed and reduce RTO losses for your business.
Moreover, BiteSpeed helps you go beyond the basics and provides you with comprehensive tools to manage your business.
Oh, we have something special: It costs you nothing to track orders with BiteSpeed.
You can escape the rabbit hole of adding tracking numbers manually and get your hands back on what matters the most. Schedule a free demo, and we will do the heavy lifting of this order management in the backend. What say?😉
