Magento 2 is a popular e-commerce platform that allows merchants to manage their online stores with ease. One of the most critical aspects of managing an online store is order management. As a merchant, you need to ensure that you can efficiently fulfill orders while keeping your customers satisfied. If you’re using multiple shipping providers for your store, it can be challenging to manage orders effectively. In this article, we’ll discuss how to manage orders with multiple shipping providers in Magento 2.

Setting up Multiple Shipping Providers

Before we get into managing orders, we need to ensure that our Magento 2 store is set up to handle multiple shipping providers. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Go to Stores -> Configuration -> Sales -> Shipping Methods.
2. Under ‘Enabled Methods,’ select all the shipping providers you want to use for your store.
3. Click on each shipping provider to configure their specific settings, such as shipping method name, cost, and allowed countries.

Managing Orders

After setting up multiple shipping providers, managing orders becomes more straightforward. When an order is placed on your store, Magento 2 automatically calculates the shipping cost based on the customer’s preferred shipping method. The order information is then sent to the shipping provider for fulfillment.

However, when you have multiple shipping providers, this process can become complicated, as you need to ensure that the order is fulfilled by the correct provider. Here are some tips to manage orders with multiple shipping providers:

1. Monitor Order Status

To avoid confusion and ensure smooth order fulfillment, you need to monitor the status of your orders regularly. You can do this by going to Sales -> Orders in your Magento 2 dashboard. Look for orders that haven’t been shipped or are marked as ‘pending.’ Check the shipping method selected by the customer and ensure that the corresponding shipping provider is assigned to fulfill the order.

2. Use Shipping Labels

Shipping labels are a great way to keep track of orders that are being fulfilled by multiple providers. You can generate shipping labels for each order using Magento 2’s built-in feature. This way, you can easily identify which provider is responsible for fulfilling the order. You can also use the shipping label to track the order’s progress from the provider’s portal.

3. Set Shipping Method Restrictions

Another way to manage orders with multiple shipping providers is to set shipping method restrictions for specific products. Using Magento 2’s built-in feature, you can restrict certain shipping methods for specific products or categories. For example, if you have a product that can only be shipped via a particular provider, you can restrict other providers from fulfilling orders containing that product.

4. Communicate with Shipping Providers

Communication is key when it comes to managing orders with multiple shipping providers. You need to maintain a good relationship with your providers and keep them updated about any changes or issues with orders. You should also have a point of contact for each provider, so you know who to reach out to in case of any problems.

Conclusion

Managing orders with multiple shipping providers in Magento 2 can be challenging, but with the tips above, it can be a breeze. You need to ensure that you’re monitoring order status regularly, using shipping labels, setting shipping method restrictions, and communicating with your providers. With these practices in place, you can ensure that your customers receive their orders on time and keep them satisfied with your store.