Effective order management is essential for any ecommerce business - it ensures timely processing, accurate fulfillment, and a smooth customer experience. In Spree, Order States help you track and manage each stage of an order, so you can quickly identify next steps or potential issues.
To review order states, navigate to the Orders tab of the admin dashboard.
You’ll see a list of all orders placed in your store, with two key columns:
- Payment State - shows the current payment status
- Shipment State - shows the current shipping status
Together, these determine the overall state of the order.
Payment States
The Payment State indicates the current status of payments associated with the order. An order can have multiple payments, but Spree will show the relevant state based on the most recent or net balance.
| Payment State | Description |
|---|
| Paid | The order total has been fully paid |
| Balance Due | The total payments are less than the order total |
| Credit Owed | The total payments exceed the order total (e.g. after removing items) |
| Refunded | The order has been fully refunded |
| Partially Refunded | One or more refunds have been issued, but the order is not fully refunded |
| Failed | The most recent payment attempt failed |
You cannot manually set the payment state. It updates automatically based on actions like capturing payments, issuing refunds, or adjusting the order total.
Shipment States
The Shipment State reflects the current status of all shipments tied to an order. Orders can have one or multiple shipments depending on stock locations or backorders.
| Shipment State | Description |
|---|
| Shipped | All associated shipments have been marked as shipped |
| Partial | At least one shipment is shipped, but others are not / or some items are marked sold but not in a shipment |
| Ready | All shipments are packed and ready to be shipped |
| Backorder | At least one shipment contains inventory that is currently backordered |
| Pending | Shipments are created but not ready to be fulfilled (e.g., awaiting payment) |
| Cancelled | The order has been cancelled |
Like payment state, shipment state is managed automatically based on order and fulfillment actions.
Using Order States Effectively
Understanding these states makes it easier to manage operations and know exactly what action to take.
Here are some common scenarios:
| Payment State | Shipment State | Suggested Action |
|---|
| Paid | Shipped | No action needed – order is complete |
| Paid | Ready | Ship the order |
| Balance Due | Pending | Capture payment or request payment from customer |
| Credit Owed | Partial | Refund the owed amount |
| Failed | Pending | Review payment method or contact the customer |
Next Steps
Now that you’re familiar with how order states work, we recommend checking out related docs for deeper insights:
