Order Separation Strategies

Julie  Houlton
Julie Houlton
  • Updated

In this article:

When do you need to separate orders?  

Typically, orders need to be separated when there isn’t enough stock on hand to fulfill and ship the entire order. This requires the out-of-stock items to be moved into a separate order and shipped later. This process happens at order creation.

RyderShip uses several different order separation strategies to do this. See Strategies used to separate orders below for more details. 

Each strategy can be applied to orders via a routing rule, bulk action (Separate), or the API. See Applying a separation strategy to your orders for more details.

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Strategies used to separate orders

Use the table below to understand each strategy and what happens as a result of using each.

New separated orders are indicated by -SE in the order ID.

Order separation strategy Definition Results of using this strategy
Available

Separates items based on Process Orders and whether Process Orders is set to ON or OFF.

OFF = item not available

ON - item available

Items with Process Orders = OFF are moved into a new -SE order. 

If using the RyderShip app
All unavailable items are grouped into a single new order.

If using the RyderShip API:  
Users can update the split_all_unavailable: flag so either:

  • unavailable items are grouped into a single new order.
    split_all_unavailable: false

OR

  • each unavailable item is in its own new order.
    split_all_unavailable: true
Item Available Quantity

Separates items based on the Available quantity for the item when the available quantity is 0 or negative. Available quantity looks at the number of total orders and the demand for the item. This quantity is displayed on each item’s Item Details

This strategy does not rely on the Process Orders setting or shelf quantity.

Items with 0 or negative Available quantity are moved into a new separated order.
Fulfillable Separates items based on shelf quantity and what is fulfillable with a full order item quantity.

Items are separated by shelf quantity.

  • Items with full quantity on hand are moved into a separated order to be fulfilled. 
  • Items that are missing some quantity remain on the original order, waiting to be fulfilled.
Locked

Separates items based on warehouse location – when the item is available in multiple warehouses.

If an order is ‘locked’ to a specific warehouse (Ann Arbor, for example) and there are items fulfillable in other warehouses, then those items can be fulfilled at the different warehouses. 
 

Items available in other warehouses outside of the locked warehouse are moved into new separated orders.
Order Item Misc

Separates items based on the item’s specific attribute. 

Example:  A t-shirt item has an attribute of Color, and the values can be Red, Blue, White. T-shirts will be separated by their color.

Items are grouped by the selected attribute’s values and new separated orders created for each value.  
Each Item

Separates items by line item, keeping the full quantity of the line item intact. 

Example: An order has 3 line items: Item A with qty 5, Item B with qty 2, and Item C with qty 1. Each line item becomes its own order, so this order will become 3 separate orders:

Order 1 – Item A (qty 5)

Order 2 – Item B (qty 2)

Order 3 – Item C (qty 1)

Items are grouped into separated orders by line item, keeping the full quantity of the line item together. 
Each Unit

Separates items by individual unit into their own distinct orders, breaking the quantity apart entirely.

Example: Item A has a quantity of 5. Each single unit becomes its own order, so item A would generate 5 separate orders with qty of 1.

Each individual unit of an item quantity is placed in its own, separated order.
Unfulfillable Separates items that are unfulfillable based on shelf quantity and the Process Orders setting being OFF.  Items that are unfulfillable due to shelf quantity + Process Orders = OFF are moved into a new separated order.
Unfulfillable Each Unit Separates items into separate new orders for each individual unit – when items are unfulfillable based on the Process Orders setting being OFF.   Each individual unit of an item that is unfulfillable due to Process Orders = OFF is moved into its own separated order.

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Applying a separation strategy to your orders

Here’s some general guidelines on how to apply an order separation strategy using the 
RyderShip app

  • Determine which order strategy or strategies work best for you. 
     
  • To apply a separation strategy to orders automatically:  
    Set up a routing rule in advance with Separate as the Action and your selected strategy.  

    Order-separation-1.png
  • To apply a strategy to order(s) once the orders are created:
    Search for the orders, and then apply the Separate bulk action with your selected strategy to the orders.

API customers:  
You can select a specific separation strategy for a given order via the API. Rules cannot be created or used with the API. 

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FAQs

What happens to the new -SE orders?

The separated (-SE) orders may be canceled, or they are fulfilled as soon as there is available stock or any other required conditions are met.

What’s the difference between Short Ship and the other order separation strategies?

The order separation strategies are used during order creation and can be done by customers or RyderShip staff. 

Short Ship is used after the order’s been created and is being packed for shipping. It’s only available to RyderShip staff.

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