Two orders can come from the same home with a different mobile and a different email: a buyer trying again, a family member ordering the same thing, or a buyer testing your cash on delivery. A person spots the same address at once; a busy packing table does not. Similar Orders compares every new order with your recent orders and flags it when anything matches, so you check it before the parcel leaves and nothing goes twice to the same door.
What Gets Flagged
A new order is flagged when any one of these is true of another order of your store placed within your time window before it (the last 7 days to start with; see Conditions):
| Match | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Same address | The same house and street at the same PIN code, however it is typed ("No. 14, 2nd Cross" and "14 2nd Cross") |
| Close address | A similar full address (line 1, line 2 and the landmark) at the same PIN code, typed differently, where the house and flat numbers agree |
| Same mobile | The same mobile number, however it is typed |
| Same email | The same email; capitals, a +tag and the dots of a Gmail address do not count |
| Same name, same PIN | The same full name, in any order ("Rahul Sharma" and "Sharma Rahul"), delivered to the same PIN code |
| Same account | The same customer account, and the mobile and email on it |
| Same browser | The same browser on your store (a cookie of your store only) |
| Linked by other orders | The two orders share nothing directly, but each shares a mobile, email, account, address or browser with another of the buyer's orders |
The last kind is the same way Mercayo recognises one buyer for Blocked Buyers and order limits, so a new number with an old email, or an old number with a new email, is still the same buyer.
What is left out:
- orders that are cancelled, returned to you (RTO), refunded in full or never paid (always);
- delivered orders, unless you count them (see Conditions);
- an order and the edit that replaced it (they are one order);
- orders of other stores: only your store's orders are ever compared;
- your team's own test orders, when Your Team's Test Orders Skip Limits is on in Settings › COD and Order Limits.
Neighbours are not flagged: "12 MG Road" and "14 MG Road", or flat 302 and flat 303, have different house or flat numbers, so a close address needs the numbers to agree.
Every order is checked, however it is placed: cash on delivery or online at checkout, an order your team makes, a business order or a marketplace order. It is checked again when its mobile, email, account or address change, and when an online order is paid.
Where You See It
- The Orders list: a flagged order carries an amber Similar Order chip (your own word, see below) beside its status, on a computer and on a phone.
- The Similar Orders filter: while any flagged order is waiting, a Similar Orders chip with its count sits beside the filters. Press it to see only the flagged orders not yet sent; press it again to see everything.
- The order page: one slim Similar Orders strip at the top, under the order's summary: your word as an amber chip, a short line such as "1 similar order | Close address", and MARK CHECKED. Press the strip to open the details in place (press it again, or use the keyboard's Enter, to close them): each matched order with its number, date, name, city and PIN code, stage, amount and the reasons in plain words (Same address, Close address, Same mobile and so on). Each opens that order. When a later order is flagged with this one, it is listed under Later Orders Like This One. A checked or cleared flag is a quieter line ("Checked by Asha on 2 Nov", "#KO-1021 was cancelled").
- The bell: a new flagged order shows as "Similar Order: order #KO-1042", with the buyer's name and the strongest reason.
- The phone app: the chip on the order's row, and the same slim strip on the order with MARK CHECKED; a tap on the strip opens the matched orders in a sheet (the phone's Back closes it).
An earlier order that is not yet sent is flagged too when a new order matches it, so you see both sides wherever you look first.
The word is also added to the order's tags, so tag filters, the CSV export and your own tag habits see it.
Check an Order and Mark It Checked
- Open the flagged order (from the chip, the filter or the bell).
- Press the Similar Orders strip to open its details, then open each matched order and compare: the items, the amount, the address, the buyer. Call the buyer if it is unclear.
- If one of the orders is a mistake, cancel it as usual. If both are right (two gifts, two family members), keep them.
- Press MARK CHECKED (on the strip). The button shows Marking… at once; the strip then says who checked it and when, the word comes off the order's tags, and the order's history has the entry.
- Pressed it by mistake? UNDO in the message at the bottom puts it back to be checked, with its tag.
A checked order is flagged again only if a new matching order arrives later. Marking orders checked needs the right to process orders (the owner, admins and Order Manager); anyone who can see orders sees the strip.
Conditions
These settings decide when an order is flagged. The top of the Similar Orders card in Settings › COD and Order Limits says your rule in one sentence as you change them, for example: "Flag a new order when the same buyer or family ordered in the last 7 days and that order is not cancelled, returned or delivered."
- Time Window: Same day (the same calendar day in India: an order at 11:50 pm and one at 12:10 am are two days), Last 3 days, Last 7 days (to start with), Last 15 days, Last 30 days, or Custom with your own number of days (1 to 365). The window counts back from the new order's time. An earlier order not yet sent is flagged with the new one only within the same window.
- Which earlier orders count, by where they are:
- Count Orders Not Yet Shipped (on): received, COD to confirm, COD confirmed, to ship, ready to ship;
- Count Shipped Orders (on): shipped, out for delivery, a failed delivery attempt;
- Count Delivered Orders (off): delivered. Cancelled, returned (RTO), refunded in full and unpaid orders never count, and never carry a flag of their own.
- Which New Orders: Every order (to start with) or Cash on delivery only: then only cash on delivery orders (part paid ones too) are flagged, and a prepaid order flags nothing.
Flags Clear Themselves
A flag stays only while it has a reason. When the other order is cancelled, returned to you (RTO) or refunded in full (or shipped or delivered while those do not count), every open flag that named it is looked at again. If nothing else still counts, the flag is cleared: the chip and the word in the tags go, the order's history says "Similar Order cleared: #KO-1021 was cancelled", and the strip turns into a quiet line saying so. When the flagged order itself is cancelled, returned or refunded, its own flag clears the same way ("This order was cancelled").
- A flag you have marked checked stays checked.
- A cleared flag opens again only if a new matching order arrives that counts.
- A change of these settings applies to the orders that come after it; flags already there are not looked at again until one of their orders moves.
Mark Many at Once
On the Orders list, press the Similar Orders chip, select the orders you have looked at (or all of them) and press MARK CHECKED in the bar. Up to 500 orders at a time; only flagged orders change, and UNDO puts back exactly those.
Hold Labels Until Checked
To be sure no flagged order is sent unchecked, switch on Hold Labels Until Checked (off to start with). Then GENERATE LABELS on the order, on the Orders list, in a bulk shipping job and in the phone app's ship sheet leaves a flagged order out and says why on its row: "Order KO-1042 is marked Similar Order: check it against the similar orders on its page and MARK CHECKED first, then make its label." The other orders of the run go ahead. The order page's strip shows a lock, and its details say "Its label waits until it is marked checked."
Settings
Everything is in Settings › COD and Order Limits › Similar Orders, beside the buyer signals it shares. The card is short: your rule as one sentence, the switch, the conditions, the word and the label hold; the match kinds and the strictness are behind Match Details (press it to open). Every match kind is on to start with, so the default catches everything; switch off what does not suit your store.
| Setting | Starts As | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Flag Similar Orders | On | Off: no order is flagged; the chip, filter and strip are hidden |
| Time Window | Last 7 days | Same day, Last 3, 7, 15 or 30 days, or Custom |
| Custom Window (Days) | 30 | With the Custom window: how many days back are compared (1 to 365); shown only with Custom |
| Count Orders Not Yet Shipped | On | An earlier order still being prepared counts |
| Count Shipped Orders | On | An earlier order on its way counts |
| Count Delivered Orders | Off | An earlier order already delivered counts |
| Which New Orders | Every order | Every order, or cash on delivery only |
| Same Delivery Address | On | The same house and street at the same PIN code |
| Close Delivery Address | On | A similar full address at the same PIN code; house and flat numbers must agree |
| Close Address Strictness | 55% | How alike two addresses must be (30% to 95%); higher flags fewer, lower flags more |
| Same Mobile Number | On | The same mobile, however it is typed |
| Same Email | On | The same email, capitals, +tags and Gmail's dots aside |
| Same Name at the Same PIN Code | On | The same full name in any order, to the same PIN code |
| Same Customer Account | On | The same account, and the mobile and email on it |
| Same Browser | On | The same browser on your store |
| Linked Through Other Orders | On | Orders linked through the buyer's other orders |
| Word on the Order | Similar Order | The short word on a flagged order and in its tags (2 to 24 letters, no comma), for example "Check First" |
| Add the Word to the Order's Tags | On | Off: the chip and strip still show, the tags stay as they are |
| Take the Tag Off When Checked | On | Off: the word stays in the tags after MARK CHECKED, as a record |
| Hold Labels Until Checked | Off | On: a flagged order gets no shipping label until it is marked checked |
Mercayo's team can set or limit any of these for your store, like every setting, with a reason your admin shows.
Good to Know
- Orders are checked as they are placed from the day Similar Orders reached your store; older orders are not flagged by themselves, but a new order is compared with them, and an older one not yet sent is flagged when a new one matches it.
- The buyer never sees anything: there is no message, no question at checkout and no change to their order page.
- The check reads only your store's recent orders, with fixed limits on how many, so it does not hold checkout up.
Questions
A family shares one address and orders often. How do I stop the flags?
Switch off Same Delivery Address and Close Delivery Address. Their orders are then flagged only by the other matches (the same mobile, email or name at the PIN code). Or keep the flags and press MARK CHECKED: it takes a second, and a new order from them is flagged again only when it is new.
My repeat customers are flagged by their mobile. Is that right?
Yes: a customer who orders again within your time window matches by mobile. That is on purpose, because a second order soon after the first is exactly what is worth a look before you send it. Mark it checked, choose a shorter Time Window (Same day, or Last 3 days), or switch Same Mobile Number off if you only want address matches.
Are neighbours flagged?
No. A close address needs the house and flat numbers to agree, so "12 MG Road" and "14 MG Road", or flat 302 and flat 303 in one building, are never matched by address. The same name at the same PIN code can still match.
Does Similar Orders block or cancel anything?
No. It only flags. You decide what to do; with Hold Labels Until Checked on, only the label waits.
Can I rename "Similar Order"?
Yes: Word on the Order takes any short word of 2 to 24 letters, such as "Check First" or "Same Buyer". New flags use it; the chip, the filter and the bell show it.