Changing Your Order Numbers

Every order in your store gets a number. Out of the box that number is just a count: your first order is 1, your second is 2, and so on. You can have your orders start at a higher number, carry your shop's initials in front, or both. Order numbers are included on every plan.

Where to find it

  1. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Store Settings.
  2. Stay on Store Info, the first item in the left-hand list.
  3. Scroll past Address and Customer Accounts to the Order numbers box.
Store Settings with Store Info selected in the left-hand list, the Order numbers box holding the Prefix and Start numbering at fields, and the Save Store Settings button, each circled
Settings → Store Settings → Store Info. The Order numbers box sits under Customer Accounts. Save Store Settings stays in view on the left as you scroll.

The two settings

  • Prefix: letters put in front of every order number. Type KC- and your orders read KC-1001, KC-1002, and so on. Up to 12 characters. Leave it empty for plain numbers.
  • Start numbering at: the number your next order gets. Many shops start at 1001 so early orders do not look like their very first. Leave it empty to keep counting as you are.

Fill in one or both, then click Save Store Settings.

Close-up of the Order numbers box with PW- typed in Prefix and 2001 typed in Start numbering at, both fields circled
A prefix of PW- and a start of 2001. The next order this shop takes will be PW-2001.

Your existing orders do not change

This is the part worth knowing before you touch it. An order number is given once, at the moment the order is placed, and it never changes afterwards. Whatever you set here only affects orders that come in from now on.

Orders you have already taken keep the numbers they have. Nothing is renumbered, and a receipt or invoice a customer already holds stays correct.

The Orders list with the newest order numbered PW-2001, circled, above older orders still numbered 1006, 1005 and 1004
Dashboard → Orders after saving. The first new order is PW-2001; the orders taken before the change keep 1006, 1005 and 1004.

What you can use in a prefix

Letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores. KC-, KC_ and KC2026- are all fine.

Spaces and punctuation are not allowed, and if you type them the page tells you so when you save. This is not us being fussy: your order number also goes into email subject lines, onto printed receipts and packing slips, and into the names of documents you download. A slash or an apostrophe breaks those in ways you would only find out about from a customer.

An example

Say you run Kapu Creations, you have taken a handful of orders already, and you would like your numbering to look more established.

  1. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Store Settings and scroll to Order numbers.
  2. Type KC- in Prefix.
  3. Type 1001 in Start numbering at.
  4. Click Save Store Settings.

Your next order is KC-1001 and the one after is KC-1002. The orders you took before today keep the numbers they already had.

Turning it off again

Clear the Prefix box and save, and new orders go back to plain numbers. As always, orders already placed keep the numbers they were given.

Where your order number shows up

Your order number appears in the Orders list, in the order confirmation email to your customer, and on the printed receipt and packing slip. You choose whether it is printed on those two documents with Show order number under Order Documents on the same Store Settings page. See Receipts and Packing Slips.

Tips

  • Set your prefix early rather than later, so your orders look consistent from the start.
  • If you change Start numbering at without changing the prefix, pick a number higher than your newest order, so no two orders ever share a number.
  • Keep the prefix short. Two or three letters and a hyphen reads cleanly in an email subject.

Questions? Email support@indiemade.com.