Help centreSupplier operationsUpdated
Answer an order from a shop
What the three statuses on an incoming order mean, how to match each line to your own stock, and what to do about a line you cannot fill.
By the end of this an order that arrived from a shop has every line answered — matched to something you hold, offered as an alternative, put on special order, or marked unavailable.
An order carries three statuses at once, and they move independently. The order status is where the conversation has got to, fulfilment is where the goods are, and payment is where the money is.
- NewIt has arrived and nobody has opened it.Can move to:Under ReviewDeclinedCancelled
- Under ReviewYou are working out what you can supply.Can move to:Information RequestedQuotation PreparingDeclinedCancelled
- Information RequestedYou have asked the shop something and are waiting.Can move to:Under ReviewQuotation PreparingDeclinedCancelled
- Quotation PreparingYou are building the quote.Can move to:Quotation SentCancelled
- Quotation SentIt has gone to the shop.Can move to:Awaiting Shop ApprovalCancelled
- Awaiting Shop ApprovalTheir decision. They can also ask for a revision.Can move to:ApprovedQuotation PreparingDeclinedCancelled
- ApprovedAgreed. Stock is reserved and the order can be fulfilled.Can move to:Quotation PreparingCompletedCancelled
- CompletedDelivered, paid, and nothing outstanding.
Nothing follows this — it is the end of the road for that record.
- DeclinedYou would not supply it, or they would not take it.
Nothing follows this — it is the end of the road for that record.
- CancelledStopped before it finished.
Nothing follows this — it is the end of the road for that record.
Approved can go back to Quotation Preparing. That is deliberate: a change agreed after approval is a new version of the quote rather than a quiet edit to the old one. Completed is set for you, once the goods are delivered, the invoice is paid and no discrepancy is open.
Open the order
Supplier Operations → Orders. The list shows your reference, the shop's own purchase order number, who sent it, when it arrived and when they need it. Open one to work on it.
Read the three statuses
The header carries Order, Fulfilment and Payment as separate badges, and a fourth for a discrepancy if there is one. They are separate because they genuinely move apart — an approved order can still be sourcing, and a delivered one can still be unpaid.
Answer each line
Match the line to an item in your own inventory, or use one of the other four answers: offer an alternative product, put it on special order, ask the shop for details, or mark it unavailable. A line that came from your catalogue is already matched.
A line the shop typed themselves arrives as a new item request rather than a catalogue line. Matching it is how it becomes something you can price and reserve.
Check the quantity ladder
Every line shows seven stages — requested, quoted, approved, reserved, dispatched, delivered, accepted — and each is its own figure. If you can supply four of the six asked for, the quoted quantity is four and the requested quantity stays six, so the shortfall stays visible instead of disappearing into an edit.
Questions that come up
- I can only supply part of a line
- Quote the quantity you can supply. The requested figure is kept beside it, so the shop can see what is short and decide whether to approve the line anyway, and you both still have the record afterwards.
- They have asked for something I do not stock
- Offer an alternative and pick the product you would send instead, or put the line on special order if you can get it. Either way the shop sees what you are proposing before they approve.
- Who on my team can do this?
- Owners, managers and sales staff can work orders. Preparing and sending a quotation is limited to owners and managers.