Every year, billions of dollars are spent worldwide online with customers eagerly waiting for their merchandise to show up at their doorstep after being sent out by companies all over the globe. Thanks to major advances in tracking information updates it’s also a lot more comforting to order things online, knowing that you are going to be able to (for the most part) track your package from the moment it leaves its warehouse right up until the moment it hits your hands. At the same time, it’s not always effortless to decipher what different tracking updates mean – especially tracking updates like “Awaiting Fulfillment”. Below we are going to run through a quick guide that covers almost everything you need to know about that specific tracking update (as well as related tracking updates) and so much more. Let’s get right to it, shall we?
Why Does My Tracking Info Say “Awaiting Fulfillment”?
If you have jumped online to check your tracking information in the most current update says “Awaiting Fulfillment” you probably started scratching your head, wondering what that has to do with your package getting dropped off in the post and making its way to your door. Well, there are a couple of different stages to the world of e-commerce that start with you placing an order and end with you opening up your box to find everything that you’ve paid for.
One of those stages is the actual fulfillment process, the process of warehouse workers or employees tracking down exactly what you have ordered (according to the shipping invoice), packing that product into a box, slapping on a shipping label, and dropping it off when the shipping service to start its journey to you. When your package is “Awaiting Fulfillment” it basically means that the order has been accepted by the business, payment has been confirmed, and now your invoice has been sent over to the fulfillment department of that operation to actually get filled out, packed up, and sent to you. The reason that your package is “Awaiting Fulfillment” is because it hasn’t actually been fulfilled just yet. Employees haven’t physically stuffed the box with your goods at this particular point in time, though that’s likely the next step in your stuff is (in short order) going to be on its way to you in no time at all.
Is There Anyway to Predict When My Order Will Be Fulfilled?
There’s no real cut and dry way to predict exactly when your order is going to be fulfilled, mostly because different operations handle fulfillment in different ways. For example, some online e-commerce operations like to handle fulfillment just as soon as orders are processed, basically fulfilling them as quickly as the invoices are printing. This can be a great way to get merchandise out the door and in the hands of customers ASAP, but it isn’t always the most efficient system – especially if you’re looking at hundreds if not thousands of orders every day (or every minute).
Amazon, for example, isn’t going to be able to fulfill your order in real time as your invoice prints. The scope and scale of their operation is just too big for that to happen. Instead, operations like Amazon are going to “batch fulfill” orders – taking a chunk of invoices, fulfilling all of them at once, and then rinsing and repeating the process as more orders come in. This might mean that your order gets placed on a Monday but doesn’t actually get fulfilled until a Tuesday morning, and overnight you’re going to have the “Awaiting Fulfillment” message popped up in your tracking details.
Like we mentioned earlier, though, there’s nothing to worry about if you see this message for even a day or two. It just means that the employees responsible for actually collecting all of your items, bundling them together, and getting them into the post haven’t been able to do so just yet. It is a huge priority for them, though, so don’t be surprised if you only see the “Awaiting Fulfillment” change pretty quickly to “In Transit”.
Common Status Updates Related to “Awaiting Fulfillment”
There are a couple of other relatively common status updates that are directly related to “Awaiting Fulfillment”, status updates that you’ll also want to understand so that you have a better feel for what’s going on with your order and your package in specific. Here are some of those status updates!
Submitted for Fulfillment
Submitted for Fulfillment (usually) shows up before the Awaiting Fulfillment message, and it lets you know that your invoice – your actual order form and information regarding what you’ve purchased – has been sent to the fulfillment department. This message may not show up at all (especially if e-commerce operations have a relatively efficient or fast-moving order process), but if it does pop up in your tracking information just know that it’s a good sign that your order is moving forward. A message like this can confirm that your payment has been accepted, that your payment has been verified, and that the next step is going to be the actual fulfillment of your order and then delivery.
Pending Fulfillment
This specific tracking update is very similar to “Awaiting Fulfillment”, and is so similar in fact that some operations like to use these two terms interchangeably with one another. When you see “Pending Fulfillment” you can be sure that the picking and packing process – the process of warehouse employees actually finding your merchandise, gathering it altogether, and putting it into the right box – has started already but it likely hasn’t finished. As we highlighted a moment ago, some operations like to run through the fulfillment process just as quickly as possible. Others take a little longer (maybe a day or two) to get as many orders together as possible before running through the fulfillment stage, helping to improve their overall efficiencies. When you get right down to it, though, this message – just like Awaiting Fulfillment – lets you know that the process hasn’t completed yet but is going to be wrapped up relatively quickly.
Shipped
The “Shipped” status update is the second best update you can see, as it lets you know that your order has already been fulfilled, is packed up and secure, and has even been dropped off with the shipping partner (or picked up by the shipping partner, as the case may be) and has started its journey to you.
This is a big day, as you know that there are only a couple of days (if that) between you and that package – you and your order. It isn’t going to be long now until you actually have your new stuff in your hands! You also usually get individual status updates about your package being “In Transit”, “At Sorting Facility”, or “Out for Delivery”. All of these have to do with the shipping status of your package, and all of them help you to better understand when your package is going to arrive.
Shipping services like the USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL (as well as every other major shipping organization on the planet) provide estimated delivery times as well. This helps you track and anticipate your package as soon as you see the “Shipped” update come through!
Delivered
The only tracking update message that is better than “Shipped” is the message that your package has been delivered! That means that your packages sitting on your doorstep (or in your driveway, up against your garage door, or somewhere safe) waiting for you to pick it up, bring it inside, and pop it open so that you can enjoy what you have ordered. Delivery day is always a lot of fun and never really comes quite as quickly as we hope, even when we’re using something like Amazon Prime (or expedited delivery services from companies like FedEx, UPS, and the USPS) to get us are stuff as quickly as possible. That “Delivered” message is the one we are always looking to see!
What’s the Difference Between “Awaiting Fulfillment” and “Pending Fulfillment”?
Awaiting Fulfillment often means that the invoice has already been sent over, is sitting somewhere in the warehousing or merchandise area, and just hasn’t been tackled by employees yet.
Pending Fulfillment, on the other hand, often means that the invoice has yet to be sent over – or that the actual fulfillment process has already started but hasn’t yet finished.
Either way, there are a lot of e-commerce operations (for example Rush Order) that like to use these two terms interchangeably with one another. If you see “Awaiting Fulfillment” or “Pending Fulfillment” it basically boils down to the same thing: your package is not yet on its way because it isn’t yet full of all the stuff you’ve ordered and the company isn’t ready to drop it off with a shipping partner or to have one of them come and pick it up quite yet.
The fulfillment process is a big piece of the puzzle for getting your merchandise to be sure, but luckily it doesn’t take very long to go from Awaiting/Pending Fulfillment to actually having your order fulfilled and shipped out the door. Some people that see this message pop up in their tracking information are even able to watch (almost in real time) as their tracking updates from their order being accepted and confirmed, to the fulfillment process pending, to the fulfillment process completed and the order shipped out and currently in transit.
Smaller operations with faster teams and less merchandise to sift through are able to get through these different logistical steps quicker than larger companies (like Amazon). But at the end of the day every business that ships merchandise is interested in moving their product out the door as quickly as they can in getting it to their customers ASAP. Your order won’t be “Awaiting Fulfillment” for very long!
Never Worry About Where Your Mail or Packages Are Again with US Global Mail
If you would like to take some of the worry and guesswork out of the whole package tracking process, and would instead like to know exactly when your package arrived – without having to look at your tracking information and without having to check your mailbox or your PO Box every day – then you need look no further than the virtual mailbox service from US Global Mail. Over the past 20+ years, US Global Mail has created the gold standard for virtual mailbox solutions. Providing all of their customers with a permanent, physical street address to have their mail and packages sent to (even if they move 10, 20, or 50 times in the future), customers will be alerted immediately upon their mail and package arriving at their virtual mailbox.
Not only that, but the outside of these envelopes and packages will be photographed or scanned, archived within the US Global Mail system for each individual customer, and available as digital records permanently from here on out, too. This means you’ll be alerted of the exact moment that your package arrives, with an image of that package, so that you don’t have any more guesswork about what’s arrived and when. On top of that, US Global Mail also offers secure check depositing capabilities and the ability to send or forward mail and packages to any address on the planet at up to 80% off of traditional retail postage fees. There’s a lot of advantages to having a virtual mailbox from US Global Mail, that’s for sure.
To learn a little bit more about everything that this service has to offer, or to speak to US Global Mail customer service with any questions you might have, jump over to their website today. You’ll find contact information you can use to get a hold of these experts (day or night) as well as detailed breakdowns of everything that the virtual mailbox service provides. Check out their website today!