When should I put an order on hold?

Put an order On Hold when the order is real but cannot move forward yet: you are waiting for an advance payment, for stock, or for the customer to answer. It keeps the order out of your Pending and Processing lists without losing it.

Where to find it

Admin › Online store › Website orders › On Hold shows every order on hold.
To put one on hold, click the order's status badge in the list, choose On Hold in Status and press Update. For several orders, tick them, press Status Change, choose On Hold and press Submit.

For the store owner and staff with the Website orders feature.

Good times to use it

Waiting for an advance. The customer agreed to send a delivery charge advance but has not sent it yet.
Waiting for stock. The size or colour is coming from the factory or supplier next week.
Waiting for the customer. They asked you to call back after payday, or need to confirm a size with family.
Address to check. The address is incomplete and the customer is not answering yet.

When not to use it

The customer said no. Use Cancelled.
Nobody meant to order. Use Fake.
The shopper left the checkout. That is an incomplete order, not an order on hold.

Good to know

The goods stay held. An order on hold keeps its products out of stock, so they are not sold twice. Changing it to Cancelled gives them back.
Facebook Purchase waits. While an order is on hold it is not sent to Facebook as a Purchase. A Purchase that was already sent earlier (for example when the order was placed) is not taken back.
Write the reason. Add a short note on the order (for example "advance ৳150 coming Thursday"), so anyone on the team knows what it is waiting for.

Tips

Check the On Hold list every day, for example each morning. Call the ones that have waited too long.
Set yourself a limit. Many shops move an order from On Hold to Cancelled if nothing happens within a few days, so stock is not held for ever.
When the reason is solved, change the status to Processing and handle it like any confirmed order.

Still need help? Ask in our Facebook group — the team and other shop owners answer there.

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