Why Every Shopify Store Should Use Custom Order Status In 2025

Efficient order management is key for any Shopify store, but default order statuses may not always match your business’s needs. Shopify has some basic statuses (like ‘Processing’ and ‘Fulfilled’), but what if your process includes statuses such as ‘In Production,’ ‘Awaiting Payment,’ or ‘Ready for Pickup’ then what? That’s where custom order statuses make all the difference for you.

Custom order statuses help you more effectively manage the order fulfillment status, provide better information for customers, and communicate with your team better. Whether your store is print-on-demand, offers handmade items, or is a dropshipping model, the ability to customize order status provides a better experience for you and your customers.

Using custom order statuses, you could increase your efficiency, reduce questions about your order, and provide a better shopping experience. In this article, we will share why every Shopify store should use custom order status. 

Understanding Custom Order Status in Shopify

Shopify’s Custom order statuses are simply custom labels that a store owner can use to track and manage the orders in their store. Rather than relying on the standard defaults like “Processing,” “Shipped,” or “Completed,” you have an opportunity to create custom statuses that correspond to your store’s business processes, like “Waiting for payment confirmation,” “Packing ordered,” or “Ready for pickup.”

By adding those statuses, you can:

• Manage your orders in a more organized way
• Communicate and keep customers updated about where their order is
• Decrease confusion and inquiries related to support
• Track orders based on your business needs or process

How Custom Order Statuses Differ from Default Shopify Statuses

Common Use Cases for Custom Order Statuses

The following are some common Shopify Custom Order Status use cases mentioned: 

1. Supplier Approval Status (Print-on-Demand Store)

A customer orders a custom-designed item from a print-on-demand store. Once the order comes in, the store needs to confirm with the supplier if the design can be printed. The order status is moved to “Awaiting Supplier Confirmation,” so the customer knows it is now waiting for supplier approval. The order will be changed to “Processing” once the supplier approves the design and production begins.

2. Packaging in Progress (Retail Store)

A customer purchases a collection of premium products from an online retail shop. After payment is confirmed, the warehouse teams begin packaging the goods for shipment. Upon placing these products in a box, the order status is updated to Packaging in Progress, which fully informs the customer about the status of their order being packed. Once the packing has been completed, the status is changed to Shipped, and the customer receives tracking information for delivery.

3. Exchange Requested (Fashion Retailer)

A client orders an item from an online fashion retailer, gets it, and finds that it’s not the expected size or fit.  They reach out to customer service to request an exchange. Instead of the default On Hold status for the exchange request, the retailer uses the custom status of Exchange Requested to help track the request. When the exchange is processed and the replacement item is shipped to the client, the retailer changes the status to “Shipped,” and the client receives a tracking number for their new item.

Benefits of Using Custom Order Status

Improved Order Tracking

The default order statuses in Shopify only provide limited tracking information, which can be confusing for both store owners and customers. Custom order statuses help clarify the fulfillment process with detailed breakdowns, allowing: 

• Store owners to always know the exact stage of an order
• Staff to better collaborate cross-departmentally
• Customers remain informed, leading to fewer support inquiries 

Enhanced Customer Communication

Customers enjoy meaningful information about their order status. Rather than a vague “Processing” status, customers can view the following:

• Order Confirmed: Preparing for Shipment
• Custom Design Review in Progress
• Awaiting Payment from Bank Transfer

These specific order updates increase trust and improve the customer experience, as customers will not have to contact support to get order updates.

Better Order Management for B2B and Wholesale Stores

Wholesale and B2B stores generally have longer and more complicated fulfillment processes. Having several unique custom order statuses will help retailers remember different steps in their order processing, including:

• Order Approval Pending: For when wholesale clients are waiting on management approval.
• Bulk Packaging in Process: When processing a large order that requires additional handling or packaging.
• Split Shipment Processing: When an order is being shipped in multiple different shipments.

This will help eliminate potential miscommunication and order processing to ensure larger orders run smoothly.

Reducing Order Processing Errors

Order fulfillment issues may occur when a shop only has the default statuses of Shopify, as they are derived from the default terminologies that lack clarity. Custom order statuses can help to alleviate issues like:

• Shipping an order before it undergoes quality control
• Delays of a pre-order because there is no custom status of “Stock Arriving Soon”
• Confusion over whether an order is a pickup or a delivery

By using custom statuses, a shop owner can clarify their order processing and reduce order fulfillment issues.

How to Configure Custom Order Status in Shopify 

To configure custom order statuses in your Shopify store, begin by installing the “Shopify Order Status app” by Addify. After installation, you will have to change the configuration for the app. 

Here’s how to do that:

You have control of enabling and disabling the app anytime. When enabled, it is usable and capable of carrying out the desired functionalities related to order status changes.

Create and Edit Custom New Statuses 

The app enhances the order-tracking experience with transparent status updates, visual progress timelines, short message updates, and distinct color indicators. It keeps customers in the know at every turn so they can follow the entire process more easily. With transparent and clear information, customers will know exactly where their order is and what happens in the background.

Moreover, in your Shopify store, the Custom Order Status App enhances communication by providing automatic smart email notifications for customers and admins. You will easily keep your customer informed about order updates with customizable email notifications, making the shopping experience even more clear and comforting. Meanwhile, your team stays in the loop with instant notifications of any communication regarding order status changes. Custom options for subject lines and email content instill clarity and accuracy around expectations for the flow of the order, making it easier to communicate and trust with your customers. 

Rules Settings

The Custom Order Status App offers you remarkable control over when and how to apply order statuses via customizable rule-based automation. You can easily activate or manage rules that apply status changes to an order when it meets a specific condition, ultimately helping to streamline the order management procedures. If you wish to target a unique user, user role, product, or collection the app enables you to create status updates that best fit your custom workflow. In addition to this, you can configure specific priority levels, which can assist with ordering the more immediate rules first and ultimately keeping everything organized and operating efficiently. This makes it easier to create a more tailored and consistent experience for both your internal team and your customers. 

Streamlined order status tracking happens effortlessly for you by using auto-assigned statuses that trigger the second an order is placed thus saving you time and eliminating the required manual updates. For further accuracy, rules can also be established based on the quantity of items in an order, this way applying specific statuses only if a customer orders that many items. Similarly, rules can be configured even more specifically by creating custom date and amount ranges to further eliminate the subjective experience when dealing with order statuses that relates to the time period between two dates or total cart value for the order. 

With conditional logic, you have full control of each flow whether or not the rule should apply if one or multiple conditions are met, creating a completely customized order management process to meet the specific needs of your business.

Showcase the Logos of Status

You will have access to detailed status logs for every order: showing the customer’s email, as well as the order status and any changes made to the status. This will help track the entire order history to make management easier.

The Custom Order Status app provides an easy way to manage your order statuses. Create customizability for notifications, rules, and settings to enhance communication with your customers and simplify order tracking from your Shopify store.

Best Practices for Using Custom Order Status

A reliable, easy-to-use order status system enables customers to better support satisfaction and reduce anxiety. Customers are more confident and informed throughout the entire order process when they have a clear understanding of what is happening with their orders. Here are some best practices for managing Custom Order Status:

Keep statuses simple and understandable

When describing order status updates, avoid unnecessary or technical terminology. Use simple and understandable status updates, such as “Order Received” or “Out for Delivery,” to quickly and easily give customers a clear understanding of their order status. This ensures things remain simple and clear for customers while reaffirming their confidence in the purchase process.

Automate package status updates when possible

Manually updating order statuses for all orders can take time and resources. Create an automatic method of updating order status based on major events, such as payment received (“Processing”) and order shipped (“Out for Delivery”). This both saves time and creates a better experience for order fulfillment.

Update customers at every stage when the order status is updated

Don’t make customers guess their order status. Provide automatic notifications when order status changes from confirmed, processing, packed, shipped, and out for delivery. 

Communication reassures, eliminates worry, and creates a better overall customer experience, while batching notifications keeps the notifying process effective.

Conclusion

To summarize, using custom order statuses in Shopify is a simple and powerful tool to optimize efficiency in your store. Custom order statuses provide better tracking of orders, inform the customer of progress and help reduce fulfillment errors. They offer another layer of distinction whether you are fulfilling orders in bulk or whether you’re a small business owner managing it yourself. With a Shopify app, you can easily create and manage custom order statuses. Choose custom order statuses today and enjoy enhanced workflow and customer satisfaction.