During the lifetime of an order and its belonging shipment(s), the order/shipment passes different statuses and a various number of events occur. These statuses and events are either set by the shop, by Seven Senders or triggered due to incoming tracking updates of carriers. Moreover, the statuses/events are displayed on the tracking page of consumer and trigger notifications to proactively inform the consumer (if set-up in Notifications).
When requesting tracking updated from the carriers, Seven Senders Portal is receiving hundreds of different carrier messages. These carrier messages are mapped on different events and statuses that can occur in the history of a shipment. Due to the generalization of carrier messages, the performance of carriers is comparable and can be monitored in Analytics.
In the following each existing statuses and events on order and shipment level are described in detail.
Explanation
A status describes a state in which the order /shipment is on a high level. It displays the key information for the consumer. Events are happening on a more detailed level. Multiple events can happen meanwhile the order/ shipment is in a certain status. There are events initiating a status switch and some that do not come with a status change.
Statuses are visible on the tracking page. Events are primarily used to trigger notifications and analyse the lifetime of a parcel.
Example 1
A shipment is in status "New". The carrier informs that it is aware of the shipment and has received the data for the upcoming shipment. The carrier message initiates a switch of the shipment from status "New" to status "Info" and the event "Delivery requested at the carrier's" is created.
Example 2
A shipment is in "Pickup". The carrier informs that the shipment has been scanned in the distribution center. The carrier message initiates a switch of the shipment from status "Pickup" to status "Hub Scan at LMC" and the event "(First) hub scan" is created. The carrier later informs that the shipment is delayed due to operational problems. To generalize this Carrier message then creates an event "Delayed", but the status of the shipment does not change and is still in "Hub Scan at LMC". The event can trigger a notification informing the customer about the delay. It can also be used to analyse the performance of the carrier.
Overview Status
The statuses are listed per level - order, outbound and return shipment. Each level has dedicated status.
Order Status
| Status | Description |
| new | If the order is created in Seven Senders Portal (pushed by the customer via API/Plugin), the order automatically gets the order status 'new'. |
| paid | The shop has the possibility to update the status of the order via API/Plugin. It is not a mandatory status. The shop can use the status to monitor the payment process. |
| in_production | The shop has the possibility to update the status of the order via API/Plugin. It is not a mandatory status. The shop can use the status to monitor the fulfillment process in the different warehouses. The status 'in production' is recommendable for shops that produce on demand. |
| in_preparation | The shop has the possibility to update the status of the order via API/Plugin. It is not a mandatory status. The shop can use the status to monitor the fulfillment process in the different warehouses. |
| shipped | The order is shipped as soon as a first shipment belonging to the order is created in the Seven Senders Portal system. |
| completed | The order is in status completed, if all belonging shipments are delivered and the boarding complete parameter is set on 'yes'. |
Outbound Shipment Status
| Status | Description |
| New | As soon as the shipment is created in Seven Senders Portal, it gets the status 'new'. |
| Pickup | The shipment is picked up as soon as the planned pickup date of a shipment equals or is smaller than the current date. The planned pickup date is set by the shop for each shipment. It is not necessarily the real pickup date of the shipment. |
| Info | The shop can electronically announce the shipment at the carrier's and provide already shipment information. This happens before the first hub scan at the carrier's hub. |
| Hub Scan at LMC | As soon as the shipment has been scanned for the first time at the carrier's hub, the shipment is in status 'Hub Scan at LMC'. Depending on the carrier and the destination country, the shipment passes a various number of carrier hubs / distribution centers. |
| Out for Delivery | The shipment has been loaded onto the delivery vehicle of the last mile carrier. In case of a failed delivery attempt, the shipment is still in status 'out for delivery'. |
| Delivered to pickup point | If the parcel is delivered to a pickup point, the shipment is in status 'delivered to pickup point'. The consumer can directly select a pickup point as delivery address. In case of home delivery, the carrier can deliver the parcel to a pickup point, if the recipient is not at home. |
| Delivered | As soon as the consumer received the shipment, it is delivered. It is a final status. |
| Lost | If the carrier informs about the loss of a shipment, the shipment is set to status 'lost'. |
Return Shipment Status
| Status | Description |
Return created | If a return shipment is created in the Seven Senders portal (pushed via API). A shipment is marked as a return by using the tag on the API POST shipment "return_parcel = true". |
Return dropped off | The return shipment has been dropped off by the consumer at a drop-off point - this can be a parcel shop, post office etc. |
Return picked up | The carrier has picked up the parcel from the drop-off point to further process it. |
Return in transit | As soon as the return shipment has been scanned for the first time at the carrier's hub, the shipment is in status "Return in transit". Depending on the carrier and the destination country, the shipment passes a various number of carrier hubs / distribution centers. |
Return delivered | As soon as the carrier informs that the return parcel is delivered, the return shipment is in status "Return delivered" Depending on the physical return process of the shop, this does not necessarily mean that the return shipment has been returned to the warehouse, it can also be delivered to the return hub of the carrier. [we are currently working on a solution to further specify the return delivered status] |
Return lost | The carrier informs about the loss of the return shipment. |
Overview Events
The events are listed per level - order, outbound shipment, return shipment and shared events for return as well as outbound shipments (= shipment). The order as well as outbound and return shipment have dedicated events. Nevertheless the return shipments and outbound shipments also have shared events marked as level "shipments".
Order Events
| Event Type | Description | Availability to Trigger Notifications |
| Order completed | An order is completed, if all shipments of the order are delivered including the boarding complete parameter set on 'yes' . Delivered means the belonging shipments are in status 'delivered'. Final events that indicate the delivered status of the shipment are 'delivered', delivered to third party and 'return delivered'. | ✅ |
| Order created | If the order is created in Seven Senders Portal (pushed by the customer via API), the event is automatically created. | ❌ |
| Order delayed | The shop can transfer a promised delivery date when creating the order in Seven Senders Portal. It is not a mandatory field. The order is delayed if the current date exceeds the promised delivery date. | ❗ As soon as email address has been transferred with shipment creation |
| Order is being prepared | The order status 'order is being prepared' can be pushed by the shop via API (POST order_states). It is not mandatory to push status updates of an order. The shop can use it to monitor the performance of the fulfillment process and to proactively inform consumer about their order. Being prepared means to pick and pack the parcel. If the status is updated, the event is also generated. | ✅ |
| Order paid | The order status 'order paid' can be pushed by the shop via API (POST order_states). It is not mandatory to push status updates of an order. The shop can use it to monitor the performance of the fulfillment process and to proactively inform consumer about their order. If the status is updated, the event is also generated. | ❌ |
| Ordered items are being produced | The order status 'order items are being produced' can be pushed by the shop via API (POST order_states). It is not mandatory to push status updates of an order. The shop can use it to monitor the performance of the fulfillment process and to proactively inform consumer about their order. To announce that order items are being produced is especially interesting for shops that produce on demand. If the status is updated, the event is also generated. | ❌ |
Outbound Shipment Events
| Event Type | Description | Availability to Trigger Notifications |
| Shipment created | As soon as the shipment is created in the Seven Senders Portal - sent via API. | ✅ |
| On the way to distribution center | The event is a dummy state. The customer can define (needs to be set-up in the Seven Senders Portal admin panel) how many hours after the Planned Pickup date of the shipment the event will be triggered. This is especially useful for shipments with longer line-haul lead times. Example Shipment has planned pickup date on Monday at 7AM. The event “On the way to distribution center” has been set up to be triggered 15 hours after the Planned pickup date. In this case it will be on Monday at 10PM. First Hub scan for this shipment happens on Wednesday at 10AM.Having the event “On the way to distribution center” helps to show to the end-consumer that the shipment is on its way. | ✅ ❗Please inform your customer operations manager to set-up the number of hours. |
| FHS timeout | When setting up Service Level Agreements (SLA) in the Settings menu of Seven Senders Portal, a shop can define a number of hours (excluding weekend) after which the event 'FHS timeout' is triggered. If x number of hours after the Planned Pickup date no First Hub Scan (FHS) has taken place, the event is triggered. The shop can use it for internal monitoring purposes. Example Shipment has planned pickup date on Monday at 7AM. For this carrier FHS usually happens within 24 hours after Planned Pickup Date. FHS timeout event will be triggered 24 hours after Planned pickup Date if FHS has not taken place.Two cases are possible here:
This event allows to monitor delays in FHS. | ✅ ❗Please make sure the SLA settings are complete. [more details here] |
| (First) Hub scan | The event is triggered, if the parcel has been scanned more than once (first hub scan) at the carrier's hub. | ✅ |
| Out for delivery | The parcel has been loaded on the delivery vehicle. | ✅ |
| FDA timeout | When setting up the Service Level Agreements (SLA) in the Settings menu of Seven Senders Portal, the shop can define a number of days (excluding weekend) after which the event 'FDA timeout' is triggered. If after x number of days after the planned pickup date no First Delivery Attempt (FDA) has taken place, the event is triggered. The shop can use it for internal monitoring purposes. | ✅ ❗Please make sure the SLA settings are complete. [more details here] |
| Delayed | The shipment is delayed as soon as the current date exceeds ETA date (FHS + SLA days) and is not delivered yet. A shipment can also be delayed as soon as the carrier announces delays. | ✅ ❗Please make sure the SLA settings are complete. [more details here] |
| Delivered to a pick-up point | If the parcel is delivered to a pickup point, the event 'delivered to a pickup point' is triggered. The consumer can directly select a pickup point as delivery address. In case of home delivery, the carrier can deliver the parcel to a pickup point, if the recipient is not at home. | ✅ |
Storage period at the pick-up point exceeded | The carrier announces that the storage period of the parcel at the pick-up point has been exceeded. The parcel will then be automatically returned to the consignor (= postal return). | ❌ |
| Collected from pick-up point | The recipient has collected the parcel from a pick-up point - with that the parcel is finally 'Delivered'. | ✅ |
| Delivered to a third party | In case the recipient is absent, the carrier delivered the parcel to a third party such as a neighbor, flat mate, reception etc. In this case the shipment is seen as delivered. | ✅ |
| Delivered | As soon as the carrier informs that the parcel is delivered. The event can be initiated either, if the shipment is 'Delivered' [to recipient], 'Delivered to a third party' or after a delivery to a pick-up point as soon as the recipient has collected it [= 'Collected from pick-up point]. | ✅ |
Cash on delivery update | The carrier has provided additional information on the customer's Cash on Delivery payment. | ❌ |
| Wrong address | The carrier reports a wrong delivery address. | ✅ |
| Shipment lost | The carrier informs about the loss of a shipment. | ✅ |
| Light damage | The carrier announces a light damage to the parcel. | ✅ |
| Heavy damage | The carrier announces a heavy damage to the parcel. | ✅ |
| International | The parcel has left the country of origin. | ✅ |
Return Shipment Events
| Event Type | Description | Availability to Trigger Notifications |
| Return shipment created | A shipment with parameter return parcel 'yes' is created in Seven Senders Portal. | ✅ |
| Delivered to a drop-off point | In case of a return, the consumer brings the parcel to an official drop-off point of the carrier. | ❌ |
Return picked up | The carrier has picked up the parcel from the drop-off point for further processing. | ✅ |
(First) Return hub scan | The event is triggered, if the return parcel has been scanned more than once (first hub scan) at the carrier's hub. | ✅ |
| Return delivered [formerly called Returned to warehouse] | The carrier announces that the return shipment has been delivered. The event was formerly called 'Returned to warehouse', but depending on the physical return process of the shop, this does not necessarily mean that the return shipment has been returned to the warehouse. It can also be delivered to the return hub of the carrier. In the event and content library in the portal, you have the possibility to adapt the event message and description visible to consumer. [we are currently working on a solution to further specify the return delivered status] | ✅ |
Return lost | The carrier informs about the loss of a return shipment. | ✅ |
Return damaged | The carrier announces a damage of the return parcel. | ✅ |
Return delay announced by the carrier | The carrier announces a delay of the return parcel. | ✅ |
Wrong return address | The carrier reports a wrong delivery address. | ✅ |
Shipment Events - shared for return and outbound shipments
| Event Type | Description | Availability to Trigger Notifications |
| 7S hub scan | Before the shipment reaches the hub of the last mile carrier (first hub scan the carrier's hub), the shipment is scanned at the distribution center of Seven Senders. In case the customer ships with Prime Network Delivery solution, the shipment will be potentially re-labeled to select the best fitting last mile carrier. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Carded | In case of absence of the recipient, the carrier left a message in the mailbox. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Carrier changed | This event only occurs in case of the Prime Network Delivery solution by Seven Senders and occurs in combination with the event '7S hub scan'. In this case the shipment has been re-labeled and another carrier was selected. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Contact carrier | In case the carrier is asking for instructions of the recipient or sender regarding the shipment, the event 'contact carrier' is triggered. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Delivery address changed | The consumer changed the delivery address of the parcel and the carrier announced it in a carrier message. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Delivery date changed | The carrier changed the announced estimated delivery date and announced it in a carrier message. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Delivery impossible | In some cases (e.g. name not found on the mailbox) the delivery of the parcel is impossible for the carrier. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Delivery requested at the carrier's | The shop can electronically announce the shipment at the carrier's and provide already shipment information. This happens before the first hub scan at the carrier's hub. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| First to Fifth delivery attempt failed | Event is triggered, if the first up to fifth delivery attempt of the carrier was not successful. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| First to Fifth delivery attempt succeeded | Event is triggered, if the first up to fifth delivery attempt was successful. The recipient received the parcel, if it was a home delivery. In case of a delivery to the third party, the fifth delivery attempt is also counted as successful even though the recipient did not personally receive the parcel. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| General | The event is triggered, if the carrier announces general information about the shipment such as the status of Cash on Delivery options. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Notify recipient | The carrier sends mail to the recipient that shipment is not deliverable. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Postal return | The return of the parcel has been initiated by the carrier. Reason for a postal return can be that the parcel has been refused by the recipient, the parcel has not been collected from the pickup point etc. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Refused | The recipient refused the parcel. The delivery attempt failed and a postal return will follow. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Routing problem | The carrier announces a routing problem of the parcel. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
| Tracking update | The carrier provides further tracking information about the parcel. | ❗Outbound shipments only |
Pending | The carrier announces that the parcel is being stored until further notice. | ❌ |
Non-Trackable Shipment Events
Shipments can be marked as non-trackable shipments, when sending the shipment via API (shipment POST). Non-trackable shipments do not receive real-time tracking updates from the carrier. This can be for example bulky goods shipped with a special freight forwarder or a carrier delivering small letters.
Still we offer the possibility to display tracking updates on the tracking page - more details here.
| Event Type | Description | Availability to Trigger Notifications |
| Non-trackable shipment created | Will be created/displayed when the shipment has been created in Seven Senders Portal (sent via API). | ✅ |
| On its way | As soon as the 'planned pickup date' sent via API for the non-trackable shipment is in the past, the shipment is marked as 'On its way'. | ✅ |
Expected to be delivered | The expected delivery date is calculated by summing up the planned pickup date + the SLA days set-up in the setting for the carrier. If this date is in the past, the event is created. | ✅ ❗Please make sure the SLA settings are complete. [more details here] |