Order Number Prefix
Order Numbers That Say Whose They Are: #KO-1042
#1042 could be anyone's order. #KO-1042 is clearly Kosha's, to your team, your shoppers and your courier. Every Mercayo store gets a prefix from its name, and you can change it or turn it off.
- In every plan
- Free for 14 days
Kosha is a demo store on Mercayo. Its products, orders and customers are sample data.
In short
What It Does
Order Number Prefix puts up to 6 capital letters or digits before your order numbers: KO makes order 1042 read #KO-1042. Leave it empty for plain numbers.
Where It Starts
A new store's prefix comes from its name: one word gives its first two letters (Kosha gives KO), more words the initials of the first three (Chowk & Co. gives CC). It is your setting from the start, so you see it and can change it.
Where It Shows
The reference is how an order reads everywhere a person sees it: the admin's order lists and pages, the Home screen and the bell, search, customers, drafts, returns, exchanges, shipments and failed deliveries, the reports, and the phone app; the shopper's thank-you page, account and tracking page; emails, WhatsApp messages and push alerts; and the shipping label, whose order barcode carries it.
Each order keeps the prefix it was placed with. Changing the prefix shows on new orders only; old orders keep theirs, so a number never changes after a shopper has seen it.
Found However It Is Typed
Search on the Orders list and the search box (Ctrl K) finds KO-1042, #KO1042, ko 1042 and plain 1042, always within your own store. A shopper can type it either way on your tracking page too.
What Your Courier Gets
Shiprocket and Shipway know your orders by the reference Mercayo sends them, and one courier account may serve several stores whose numbers overlap. With a prefix, your courier gets KO-1042. When the account already has that reference (another store's order 1042 in a shared account, or this order's cancelled shipment), Mercayo sends it once more with three extra characters, such as KO-1042-7F3, so a new booking is never refused as a duplicate.
What Stays as It Is
GST invoices and credit notes keep their own numbering (set in your invoice settings). Text messages by SMS keep the plain number, because the registered SMS templates expect a number there.
For your store
Why It Matters
Order numbers start at the same place in every store, so #1001 means nothing on its own: not on a courier's label, not in a shared Shiprocket account, not in the inbox of a shopper who bought from two stores. A prefix makes each order unmistakably yours.
It matters most when you run more than one store, or share a courier account with one. Without a prefix, two stores' order 1042 collide at the courier, and a booking is refused as a duplicate on a busy day. With one, the courier, your team and your shopper all read the same reference, and Mercayo settles the rare clash by itself.
And it is quicker to say on the phone. "KO-1042" tells your team which store the shopper means before they search.
Step by step
How It Works
Open the Setting
In Settings → Checkout and COD, the Order Clean-up card has Order Number Prefix, already filled from your store's name, with your next order's number under it ("Your next order: #KO-1760").
Change It, or Leave It Empty
Type 1 to 6 letters or digits; they are saved in capitals. Empty means plain numbers. When another store of yours uses the same prefix, the setting says so (it is allowed, only worth knowing). USE DEFAULT clears it, for plain numbers.
Save
Press SAVE. The next order takes the new prefix; every order already placed keeps the one it was placed with.
Search the Way You Speak
On Orders, or in the search box (Ctrl K), type the reference as a shopper says it: "KO 1042", "#KO1042" or just "1042". The order opens from the first result.
Your shoppers
What Your Shoppers See
Shoppers see their order as #KO-1042 on the thank-you page, in their account, on your tracking page and in your emails and WhatsApp messages. They can type it either way to track it: KO-1042, #KO1042 or 1042.
Settings
Settings You Control
All are under Settings → Checkout and COD → Order Clean-up.
Mercayo
Mercayo's Controls
Mercayo's team can set a store's prefix with a reason your admin shows, like any setting, and every such change is kept in Mercayo's audit log. The prefix is checked by the database: only 1 to 6 capital letters or digits are accepted. Search by a typed prefix only ever finds your own store's orders.
Limits today
Good to Know Before You Start
- SMS messages show the plain order number: the registered SMS templates expect a number there.
- GST invoices and credit notes keep their own numbering, separate from the order reference.
- Changing the prefix does not rename orders already placed.
- A marketplace seller's own panel shows plain order numbers.
Questions
About Order Number Prefix
Can I turn the prefix off?
Yes. Empty the Order Number Prefix and save. New orders then read as plain numbers, such as #1042; orders already placed keep the prefix they were placed with.
Will old links and searches still work?
Yes. The order's number stays its key behind the scenes, so tracking links, account pages and payment receipts keep working, and searching the plain number still finds the order.
Does the prefix change my invoice numbers?
No. GST invoices and credit notes have their own numbering and prefixes in your invoice settings. The invoice shows the order reference beside its own number.
Can two of my stores use the same prefix?
Yes. The setting tells you when another store of yours already uses it, so you can choose another if you share a courier account, but it is never refused.
Why does my courier show KO-1042-7F3?
Your courier account already had KO-1042, from another store in the same account or from this order's earlier, cancelled shipment. Mercayo sent it again with three extra characters so the new booking would not be refused as a duplicate.
Related
Related Features
- OrdersStatus tabs, saved views your team shares, search by number, phone or name, a money summary, bulk actions, and an order page with one clear next step.
- Shipments and PickupsTabs, filters and search for every parcel; request pickups, print manifests and labels, check or cancel shipments in bulk as background jobs.
- Order TrackingShoppers follow their order on your store's own page: order steps, the courier's timeline, the AWB, documents, and messages from your team.
- Search and Command PalettePress Ctrl K or / to find orders by number, phone or name, products by title or SKU, customers, and any screen or action you are allowed to use.
More in Admin on Your Phone: Orders · Products · Inventory · Import and Export · Collections and Categories · Order Alerts · Customers · Admin on Your Phone · Search and Command Palette · Setup Guide and Launch · Sample Data · Contact Inbox · Notification Credits · Plans and Billing · Draft Orders · Catalogue Tools · Media Library · Locations, Barcodes and Stock Counts · Installable Admin · Mercayo Admin App · Alert Sounds
Try It on Your Own Store
Every feature is in every plan, free for 14 days.
