The Order Number Prefix is a short code, up to six capital letters or digits, that goes before every order number in your store: with KO, order 1042 reads #KO-1042. It makes an order unmistakably yours to your team, your shoppers and your courier, and it keeps your orders apart from another store's in a shared courier account. Every store starts with a prefix made from its name, and you can change it or leave it empty for plain numbers. It is in Settings › Checkout and COD, in the Order Clean-up card. Changing it needs the right to change settings.
Where the Prefix Comes From
A new store's prefix is made from its name when the store is created:
- One word gives its first two letters: Kosha → KO.
- More words give the first letters of the first three: Chowk & Co. → CC.
- Only the letters A to Z and the digits 0 to 9 count. A name written in another script uses the store's address name instead.
It is saved as your own setting from the start, so you see it on the screen and can change it.
How to Change It
- Open Settings › Checkout and COD and find Order Number Prefix in the Order Clean-up card.
- Type 1 to 6 letters or digits. They are saved in capitals. Under the box, "Your next order: #KO-1043" shows how the next order will read as you type.
- If another store you own already uses the same prefix, the setting says so. It is allowed; it is only worth knowing if both stores share one courier account.
- Press SAVE.
To go back to plain numbers, empty the box (or press USE DEFAULT) and save. Anything other than 1 to 6 letters or digits is refused: "Use 1 to 6 letters or digits, for example KO."
What Changes and What Does Not
- New orders take the prefix in force when they are placed. Orders already placed keep theirs: changing the prefix never renames an order a shopper has already seen.
- The order number stays the key behind the scenes, so tracking links, account pages, payment receipts and searches by the plain number keep working.
- GST invoices and credit notes keep their own numbering and prefixes, set in Invoice Settings. Documents issued from now show the order's reference.
- SMS messages show the plain order number: the registered SMS templates expect a number there. Emails, WhatsApp messages and push alerts show the reference.
Where the Reference Shows
- The admin and the phone app: every order list and page, the Home screen and the bell, the search box (Ctrl K), customers, drafts, returns, exchanges, shipments and failed deliveries, reports, invoices, the message log, gift cards, store credit, referrals, abandoned bags, B2B quotes and dues, and the label run.
- Your store: the thank-you page, the shopper's account and order page, and the tracking page.
- Messages: emails, WhatsApp and push.
- The shipping label: it prints #KO-1042, and its order barcode carries it.
A marketplace seller's own panel shows plain numbers.
Searching
On the Orders List and in the search box (Ctrl K), type the order however you have it: KO-1042, #KO1042, ko 1042 or just 1042. A typed prefix must be your store's own, so search never finds another store's order. Shoppers can type it any of these ways on your tracking page too.
What Your Courier Gets
Shiprocket and Shipway know each order by the reference Mercayo sends them. With a prefix, your courier gets KO-1042. When your courier account already has that reference (another store's order 1042 in a shared account, or this order's earlier, cancelled shipment), Mercayo sends it once more with three extra letters or digits, such as KO-1042-7F3, so the booking is not refused as a duplicate. The reference a parcel was booked with is kept on the parcel.
Mercayo Controls
Mercayo can set the prefix for your store, with a reason your admin shows, like any setting. The database accepts only 1 to 6 capital letters or digits.
Questions
I run two stores on one Shiprocket account. Do I need different prefixes?
It is wise: with different prefixes, their order references never meet at the courier. If they do share one, Mercayo still adds three characters on a clash so no booking is refused.
Will changing the prefix confuse shoppers with older orders?
No. Their orders keep the reference they were placed with, and the tracking page finds them by that reference or by the plain number.
Why does the courier's panel show KO-1042-7F3?
The account already had KO-1042, from another store or this order's cancelled shipment, so Mercayo added three characters to keep the new booking apart.
Can I use lowercase letters or a dash?
No. The prefix is 1 to 6 capital letters or digits; Mercayo adds the dash itself (#KO-1042) and saves lowercase letters in capitals.