---
title: Shopware Order Management | Shopware Community Hub
description: >-
This section explains how to effectively manage orders in Shopware, including
processing orders, handling statuses, and managing customer communications.
canonical_url: 'https://hub.shopware.com/learn/unit/shopware-order-management'
---
# Shopware Order Management
- Understand how to **manage and process orders** within the Shopware platform.
- Learn to handle **order statuses and fulfillment processes** effectively.
- Discover tools for **managing returns and customer communications**.
# Shopware Order Management
Order management is a critical aspect of ecommerce that ensures smooth processing and fulfillment of customer purchases. Shopware offers robust features for managing orders, helping you deliver a seamless customer experience. Key features include:
1. **[Order Processing](https://docs.shopware.com/en/shopware-6-de/tutorials-und-faq/orders)**: View, edit, and manage all customer orders in a centralized dashboard.
2. **[Order Status Updates](https://docs.shopware.com/en/shopware-6-en/orders/overview?category=shopware-6-en/orders)**: Track and update order statuses, such as processing, shipping, or completed.
3. **[Payment and Shipping Integration](https://docs.shopware.com/en/ecommerceterminologies#payment-and-security-related-terminologies)**: Seamlessly manage payments and shipping through integrated providers.
4. **[Returns and Refunds](https://docs.shopware.com/en/shopware-6-en/orders/returns-management)**: Handle order cancellations, returns, and refunds easily.
5. **Bulk Order Management**: Process multiple orders simultaneously to save time.
This guide will walk you through the order management process, enabling you to handle orders in your hands-on Shopware environment efficiently.
## Tryout: Place a test order
Let's see how to create a customer, place an order, and view the order in the administration.
1. **Create a customer from the order flow**
In a blank demo instance, there may not be any customers yet. In this tryout, you create one from the order flow first.
- In the administration, go to **Orders** and click "Add order".
The order modal opens on the customer step. This step is used here only to create a customer. You will place the actual order later in the storefront.
- In the customer step, click "Add new customer".
- Fill in all the details, shipping and billing address, and save.
- Now, click on the customer name and click the button "Login as customer".
You can also create a customer through **Customers** > **Add customer**. This tryout uses the order flow because it starts from the order management area.
Customers can also place orders as guests, depending on your shop configuration. When you create a customer from the order flow, you may see a **Guest account** option.
In this tryout, use a regular customer account. If you create a guest customer, the **Login as customer** action is disabled because guest customers cannot be impersonated.
2. **Place an order**
- Choose the product you want to place an order for and click "Add to shopping cart".
- Check out the product. Choose the address and payment mode, and submit the order.
3. **Filter and Search Orders:**
- In the left sidebar of the admin panel, go to **Orders** > **Order Overview**.
- Use filters to find specific orders by date, status, or customer name.
- Click on an order to view its details.
### Hands-On Exercise
**Task:** Explore the order overview and find an order placed during your testing phase.
## Tryout: Managing Order Statuses
Managing order statuses helps you keep track of where each order is in the fulfillment process.
1. **Select an Order:**
- In the order overview, click on an order to view its details.
2. **Update Order Status:**
- In the order detail view, find the **Status** dropdown menu.
- Select the appropriate status (e.g., "Open," "In progress," "Cancelled" or "Done") and save your changes. Meanwhile, you can also update the customer about the status.
### Hands-On Exercise
**Task:** Change the status of an order to "Cancelled" and confirm that the update is reflected in the order overview and to the customer.
## 3. Processing Orders
Processing an order involves preparing it for shipment and updating the customer.
1. **Open Order Details:**
- Click on the order you want to process.
2. **Generate document:**
- Click on the documents tab
- Click on "create new document".
- Select the type of note you want to create, for example, "delivery note".
- Add the details.
- Do a preview.
- Create and send the note to the customer.
- Here is the sample:
3. **Notify Customer:**
- Now update the order status to "done".
- It will prompt for "Assign Mail Template"
- Select the "Attach" option and update the status. Also, push the scroll button "Send email to customer". This will be attached to the note as mail and sent to the customer.
- Click on "Update Status".
- The status is complete, and the customer has been notified via email.
### Hands-On Exercise
**Task:** Process an order by generating a cancellation label and sending a notification to the customer.
## Conclusion
Effective order management in Shopware ensures a streamlined process from order placement to fulfillment. Following the hands-on steps in this guide will give you practical experience viewing, processing, and managing orders while communicating with customers. For more insights check out our official documentation [orders](https://docs.shopware.com/en/shopware-6-en/orders) and [customer](https://docs.shopware.com/en/shopware-5-en/customers-and-orders/customers)
In the next unit, we will explore **Shopware's payment and shipping features** to enhance your order processing capabilities.