Automatically forwarding orders to your fulfillment partner works in six steps: the order comes in, is checked for payment and address, goes to the warehouse, is picked and shipped, the shipping status and tracking number are sent back to the online store and the customer, and returns follow the same path back. The technical side is the easy part. Most of the problems we encounter with online stores stem from the rules surrounding them: when an order can be shipped, who is in charge of inventory, and what happens if something goes wrong.
The Order Flow in Six Steps
- Order received. Shopify, WooCommerce, Bol, or Amazon notifies you of a new order.
- Inspection. Has payment been made? Is the address complete and valid for delivery? Is the order on fraud hold? Only then can it proceed.
- To the warehouse. The order is sent to the fulfillment partner, along with the shipping method, preferred carrier, and any inserts or gift wrapping.
- Pick, pack, ship. The warehouse processes the order and prints the label.
- Feedback. “Shipped,” the Track & Trace number, and the carrier are sent back to the online store, the sales channel, and your accounting system; the customer receives a notification.
- Return. The customer requests a return; the warehouse receives and inspects the item, and inventory and refund information are updated.
Steps 1, 3, and 4 are performed by every link. The difference between good and mediocre automation lies in steps 2, 5, and 6.
Which route is right for you?
There are five ways to set this up, ranging from your fulfillment partner’s plugin to an integration platform. You can find a comparison in “Connecting a Fulfillment Partner to Your Online Store: A Comparison of the 5 Approaches.” In short: one online store and one 3PL without ERP → your partner’s plugin; ERP, multiple channels, or returns logic involved → integration platform.
The Seven Mistakes You Can Avoid
1. Forwarding orders too early
An order that reaches the warehouse before payment is finalized is picked and sometimes shipped, even though the payment may later fail. Set the rule: only ship orders with a “paid” status, and hold orders suspected of fraud.
2. Do not validate addresses
A missing house number or a ZIP code that doesn’t match the city won’t be noticed until it reaches the carrier—by which time the package has already been packed. Validate addresses before forwarding them, and place any questionable cases in a queue that someone reviews daily.
3. No rules for partial shipments and backorders
What happens if two out of three items are in stock? Without a rule in place, each party will handle it differently. Decide in advance what you’ll do: wait until the order is complete, make a partial shipment, or split the order. And decide this on a per-channel basis, because Bol and Amazon have their own requirements.
4. Inventory managed in two locations
If both the online store and the warehouse “track” inventory, their records will diverge, and you’ll end up selling items that aren’t in stock. One system serves as the primary source (either the warehouse or your ERP); all other systems follow. See also Preventing Inventory Discrepancies.
5. Statuses That Don’t Come Back
The outbound process works, but the return process doesn’t: orders in the online store are marked as “processing” even though they’ve already been delivered, and the customer doesn’t receive a tracking number. Bol and Amazon will penalize you for this in your seller rating. When setting up the system, make sure to explicitly verify that the shipping status and tracking information are returned for each channel.
6. Returns Outside the Workflow
Returns are received at the warehouse, but the process of adjusting inventory and refunding funds is done manually, often days later. Have returns follow the same workflow as orders: registration, receipt, inspection, inventory adjustment, and refund. For Shopify, this is detailed in “Automating Shopify Returns with Your Fulfilment Provider.”
7. No error handling and no alerts
A system downtime in the warehouse, an order with an unknown SKU, a duplicate order number: if left unresolved, the order quietly disappears into a log. Set up a queue with retry attempts, a notification for repeated errors, and a summary where someone can see every morning what didn’t go through.
Checklist for the Layout
| Component | Rule you set in advance | Where Things Go Wrong Without Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Forwarding Time | Only when “paid,” not when “posted” | Shipped but not paid for |
| Address | Validate before forwarding; if in doubt, place in queue | Return by the carrier |
| Partial deliveries | By channel: wait, make partial deliveries, or split orders | Dissatisfied customers, double shipping costs |
| Inventory | A single leading system | Overselling |
| Feedback | Status + Track & Trace by Channel Back | Service-related questions, lower sales representative score |
| Returns | Same link as the order | Manual Reversals |
| Errors | Queue, retry, notification, daily overview | Silent failure |
How does KoneX do it?
At KoneX, the order flow is a single, streamlined process across all your channels: orders from Shopify, WooCommerce, Bol, or Amazon are verified, sent to PostNL Fulfilment or Paxon, and shipping status, Track & Trace information, and returns are fed back into the channel, into Exact Online, and to the customer. We work with you during setup to define the rules from the checklist—such as the forwarding time, partial shipments, the lead inventory, and error handling—in the implementation plan. This ensures that every party understands the same order in the same way. If you have a single online store and a single fulfillment partner without an ERP system, your partner’s plugin handles the basics just fine; KoneX is designed for situations where three or more systems need to interpret the same order.
Frequently Asked Questions About Automatic Order Forwarding
Schedule a no-obligation consultation here to discuss which order processing approach best suits your situation.
