1. Purpose
Recover an order that was marked fulfilled somewhere other than Shipsidekick, so it returns to your queue and ships properly with real tracking.
2. Scope
Orders showing as fulfilled with no tracking, where nothing physically shipped. Orders that genuinely shipped and need reversing are an unship, which is a different job.
3. Roles & Responsibilities
Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
Account manager | Cancels the fulfilment in the sales channel and reopens in Shipsidekick. |
Brand owner | Identifies who or what marked the order fulfilled, so it stops recurring. |
Warehouse | Confirms the stock is genuinely still on the shelf before shipping again. |
4. When you need this
An order shows fulfilled with no tracking number.
An order disappeared from the pick queue without anyone shipping it.
A customer reports never receiving goods the channel says were sent.
5. Key concept: no tracking means it was not us
What people assume | What actually happens |
|---|---|
Fulfilled means it shipped. | Not necessarily. Shipsidekick reflects what the channel reports. If something marked the order fulfilled there, we close it out to match. |
Shipsidekick might have shipped it without tracking. | It cannot. Anything shipped through Shipsidekick carries a carrier and a tracking number, so a fulfilment with neither did not come from us. |
Reopening in Shipsidekick is the first step. | It is the second. Cancel the channel fulfilment first, or the real tracking will never reach the customer. |
Stock will have been deducted. | Usually not, because nothing was picked. Confirm on the shelf before assuming either way. |
6. Procedure
Confirm the order carries no tracking number and that nothing physically left the building.
In the sales channel, cancel the fulfilment on that order. Do this first.
In Shipsidekick, open the order.
Open the actions menu and choose Force Reopen.
Confirm the order returns to your queue with the full quantity.
Pick and ship it as normal.
Ask the brand who or what marked it fulfilled, so the cause is removed rather than the symptom.
7. Verification
The order is back in the open queue with all units.
Stock is committed to it again.
Once shipped, the channel shows the real tracking number rather than an empty fulfilment.
8. Constraints and caveats
Reopening without cancelling the channel fulfilment first leaves the channel believing the order is complete, and your tracking will not reach the buyer.
If two orders were combined before this happened, the items may sit on the surviving order. Reopen that one; the other needs nothing.
Shipsidekick does not currently record anything in order history when an outside fulfilment closes an order, so there is no trail to follow. Note what you find for the brand.
Connected apps as well as people can mark orders fulfilled. Ask about both.
9. Worked example
An operator at a 3PL combined two orders for one of its brands, and shortly afterwards both showed as fulfilled with no tracking. Neither had shipped.
Observation | Reading |
|---|---|
Both orders read fulfilled, with no tracking on either. | Something outside Shipsidekick marked them. Our fulfilments always carry tracking. |
The combine had worked and moved everything onto the surviving order. | Correct behaviour. Only the surviving order needed reopening. |
The order vanished from the queue shortly after appearing in it. | Shipsidekick saw the channel reporting it fulfilled and closed it out to match. |
No stock had been deducted and the goods were on the shelf. | Nothing was picked, so the order could be reopened and shipped normally. |