How multi-shipments orders work in WeSupply?

Content

• Overview

• Split-Shipments use case: How Split Shipments are handled in Magento and WeSupply?

Overview

Multi-shipments are a common issue for retailers, especially if they have to split orders into multiple shipments due to inventory availability. This can be confusing for customers who may not know what’s going on or when their order will arrive.

As a retailer, you want to make sure your customers receive their orders as quickly and efficiently as possible. The best way to ensure customer satisfaction is by providing accurate shipping updates at every step of the process.

We know that it is important to provide accurate and reliable order status information to your customers, particularly if you are shipping orders in multiple shipments. It can be hard for retailers to keep track of all the different shipment numbers and the corresponding customer emails or tracking numbers at each step of the process, especially when they may not be involved with every stage of fulfillment.

WeSupply allows you to consolidate all shipments into one view that displays all package statuses in one place, whether it’s shipped or in transit shipment, along with the estimated delivery date (ETA).

This new feature also helps reduce customer support inquiries about missing packages (see Report Lost Packages feature) because your customers will have an easier time understanding where each item is in transit, or when each item was marked as delivered by the carrier.

Your branded tracking page also provides detailed information about each shipment including the tracking number, the carrier, all the tracking events, associated items, so that users know how much they have to wait until delivery.

Now, your customers can easily keep track of their entire order and split packages with just one click!

Use case: How Split Shipments are handled in Magento and WeSupply?

If you're handling split shipments in your Magento 2 store and you're importing your orders in WeSupply, you should know that the system handles split shipments and shows them in different packages.

If you're using ERPs, SAPs, or OMSs software to manage the orders and automate the processes between your warehouses and your e-commerce platform, it might happen that an external system is not able to create split shipments back to Magento.

What must be sent to Magento when using ERPs?

Any external system that you're using to manage your orders and shipments, for spit shipments, must push back into Magento the right shipment information for the order:

• Split shipments containing the items shipped into each package
• Tracking number for each shipment

If those are missing, although the order entered the WeSupply system, it relies on the information received from Magento with regards to the separate shipments and the item included in each one.

In such situations, if the right shipment information for creating split packages on the order is missing, the most common issue here is that your customers cannot track each package that was shipped.

Troubleshooting the way your 3rd party systems are sending over the order updates back into Magento is the first step you might have a look into.

A. Split Shipments in Magento

Below you can verify if split shipments are being handled well in your Magento Admin. First, log into your Magento Admin Panel. 

1. In our example, in Magento Admin Panel -> Sales -> Orders, the order number #000000368 contains 5 items that will be shipped in multiple packages: 

2. In the Shipments table in Magento, for order number #000000368, there are three different shipments created:

 Each shipment contains the items are shipped within the package, along with the tracking number assigned.

Shipment 1:

Shipment 2:

Shipment 3:

As such, this is a quick verification that you can do on your end to make sure that for one order if multiple packages exist, different shipments are created in Magento as well. Also, it's very important for each one to have a different tracking number if shipped at a later time.

B. Split Shipments in WeSupply

The WeSupply system is capable to differentiate split shipments that are received from Magento, as long as the correct information is being to us.

If split shipments for the order are created/received correctly inside the Magento instance that is connected to your WeSupply account, WeSupply overtakes the shipment information from Magento and displays each package separately.

Order number #000000170, which was taken as an example, contains three split shipments in Magento. As such, in WeSupply, each split shipment is displayed separately, along with its corresponding tracking information.

Each package contains the items that were shipped together, along with a different tracking number that is assigned per package. 

Being separate packages, each one needs a different tracking number, as those will be shipped and delivered at different times.