An Order is a submitted Checkout. An order can be generated by an admin in the Backoffice, or it can be generated from one of your sales channels including your Eshop. It serves as a proof of sale alongside a corresponding quote or invoice. All orders can be accessed from the Orders menu in the Backoffice.

Each Order is comprised of multiple properties, details and management tools.

It will have a distinct origin, displayed at the top of the Order, along with an order number and status.

The order details are displayed in the following sequence:

Origin #PrivateID | #PublicID

For example:

Shop order #125 | #123456-7890

Time and date of creation is displayed here. If it's a Shop Order, the admin who created the order is displayed.

Add personal / admin notes to an order. This can only be viewed by other team members on the order page and in data exports.​

A New Order can originate from :

Use the Add an item search to add items to your order. Once the item is added, the quantity and price can be adjusted.

To remove an item, select edit within the item line to open the Edit order item module. Select remove or make the quantity '0'.

You can also use the Edit order item module to

To merge one order with another, it must be a New Order. Only orders that can be merged will display the Merge function.

When merging orders, the order which is currently being viewed will serve as the primary order into which other orders (secondary orders) are merged. Merging history is displayed in the Order’s Timeline.

Inventory items in the shopping basket from secondary orders are merged, but messages are not.

Secondary orders will be archived and hidden from view. They can be viewed by using the Order status > Merged filter in the main Orders menu.

In the Billing section, Search and add a customer using the search field. Billing Address will be automatically filled with customer data.

To update customer information, click on the customer name to open their profile. To reflect changes on an open Order, Customer must be removed and re-added to the Order.

In the Billing section, select Payment methods > Edit payment methods.

Here you can apply cash, card, Stripe, Paypal, cheque, bank transfer or credit note payments to an Order. Select Submit Payment to update the Amount due. Apply multiple methods as needed.

To remove a payment method, click Remove with in the Edit payment methods module.

Common Ground allows you to keep track of refunds, but doesn’t directly process the transfer of funds. Refunds must be manually processed. If using Stripe, this can be handled through your Stripe dashboard.

Refunds applied to an Order can be edited in the Billing section.

Online Orders

To apply a refund to an order:

To remove a refund from an order, go to Refunds > Edit refunds within the order and press Remove.

Discogs Orders

There is a limit to which information Common Ground can sync from Discogs. This limitation includes refunds, and item-specific refunds.

To apply a refund issued through Discogs to a Common Ground Order:

Edit the Custom invoice ID and add a unique, sequential identifier to each invoice.

You can send your customer both a Quote or an Invoice when an Order's status is New Order.

To generate a quote of the order, select "Generate the PDF..." and a PDF will be created of the order in its present state. As you add or remove items or update any other details, select the Generate button again to refresh the quote prior to sending.

Once the order is locked, the order status will change to Invoice sent. Only an invoice can be sent at this point. The items of an order can no longer be edited, but can be removed.

An Order's Shipping Status is displayed here.

Method

For Online orders, this corresponds to the Method name outlined in your Shipping Policies.

Shipping Address

Add or Edit Shipping address.

If the customer has an address on file, this field is automatically filled when the customer is added to the order in the Billing section.

To edit Shipping Address:

Weight

Total weight of items in order, not including packing materials.

Proceed to delivery / Packing List

Opens the Packing list module. Review items contained in an order prior to shipping. A tracking link URL and shipping confirmation email can be sent at this stage.​

As long as your order is not locked, you can adjust the shipping cost and tax.

Once an order has been locked, shipping costs cannot be edited.

If the customer changes their mind and wants to pick up the order at your shop for example, you can issue a refund for the shipping cost.

If you need to change the shipping costs after the order is locked, you can collect the correct amount from the customer outside of Common Ground, and add these details to the Note section of the order.

Otherwise, you will need to cancel that order and create a new one.

In the following conditions, Mark as collected will be automatically selected will be automatically applied to your orders.

When Mark as collected is selected at Checkout, Shipping Status will change to Collected, and order Status will change to Shipped when you click Submit Order.

This step will lock the order and prevent use of the Packing List tool.

When canceling an order, you have the option to return the items to stock (restore stock quantities) and choose whether or not the customer was refunded.

Following cancellation, the order status will change to Cancelled.

To cancel an order, select Cancel order under the Delivery options. Select the refund method from the drop down. Add a cancellation note if needed and Submit.

The timeline, located at the bottom left of an order page is the order's activity log. It records each action taken on the order, along with a timestamp indicating when the action occurred and the associated admin responsible for the action.

Read more about Admin permissions

Item Line

Detailed description of each item added to the order .

Action / Edit
Edit the following properties of an individual Order item:

Order Total

Discount on Order Total

Add a Discount to the Order Total: apply a voucher, percentage, or fixed amount to the order total. To remove the discount, select Remove discount on an unlocked order.

Order messages are automatically fetched and updated when you open the detailed order page.

All messages are displayed under the orders items lists. You can only send messages within an order.

To send a new message:

Your message is now sent. The user will receive a mail notification and can access the message from their account section on the Eshop.

When the user answers, you will receive a message notification and you will be able to check it directly in the Messages section and the detailed order page.

In the Orders page, you will see the following icons appear next to the orders customer:

When this Shipping option is active:

Allow basket to be placed as New Order

Eshop Customers can submit a checkout with New Order status.

New orders will appear in your Orders menu and allow you to verify, edit items, adjust billing and shipping manually before an invoice is sent and the order is fulfilled.

#B2B

Locking an order records the order details and prevents further changes to the item list. Customer and Shipping details can still be edited. With Shop Orders, Locking an Order is an important step that allows invoice generation and lets the user proceed with delivery options. Once an order is locked, it cannot be undone - only cancelled.

Always double-check the following information before locking any order :

You can't officially remove an item from a locked order as it is considered as sold on your invoice.

However, you can partially refund that item in our module to even your accounts and mark the item as unavailable to remove it from your sales statistics for example. To do so:

The item will be crossed on the list and Marked as unavailable. It will also be removed from your Sales export for that listing.

You should then issue the equivalent partial refund in the refund module by clicking the Edit button next to the Refund section (and naturally make the refund to the customer if that item has already been paid for).