Short answer
Order modification means changing an order after it has been placed and before it ships, such as correcting the address, swapping a size, removing an item or upgrading shipping. Once the order ships, the options become a carrier redirect or a return.- Also called
- Modify order, order edit, order change
- Common changes
- Shipping address, size or variant, items, shipping speed
- Window
- From checkout until fulfillment starts
- Who makes it
- Store staff, or the shopper if the store allows self-service edits
Modify order is what a shopper asks for when they catch a mistake after paying: the old address autofilled, the wrong size went in the cart. The request is simple. The clock is not. A fast warehouse can pick an order within hours, and a change request that waits overnight often turns into a return.
What can be modified, and until when
Each kind of change has its own deadline, and all of them end at fulfillment.
| Change | Usually possible until |
|---|---|
| Shipping address | The shipping label is created |
| Size, color or variant | The order is picked |
| Remove an item | That item is fulfilled |
| Add an item | Varies; some stores create a second order instead |
| Shipping speed | The label is purchased |
| Cancel the order | Fulfillment starts |
How order modification works on Shopify
On Shopify, store staff can edit an unfulfilled order: add or remove items, change quantities and update the shipping address, with any price difference collected or refunded. Unless the store adds a self-service option, shoppers cannot edit an order themselves after checkout, so the request arrives as a chat message or an email.
With Aide, "Get help with this order" in the shopper's Shopify customer account opens a chat with that order attached, so the request arrives with the order it is about. The thank-you page offers the same order help straight after checkout, while the change window is widest.
Handling modification requests in a support queue
A modification request has a deadline, so it needs a fixed sequence.
- Confirm the order belongs to the person asking.
- Check the fulfillment status.
- If the window is open, make the change.
- If it has closed, say so and offer the next option: a carrier redirect, a return or a new order.
- Confirm the change in writing, with the updated details.
The approach this page rejects is answering modification requests first in, first out. A change request is perishable. It should be worked by its deadline, not its arrival time, or a thirty-second fix becomes a return.
In Aide, step one is built in: a shopper proves the order is theirs by being logged in to their store account or giving the order number with the matching email, and Aide works out which order "my order" means when there are several. On a topic set to Drafts, a change the shopper confirms waits for a teammate to approve it.
Other meanings of modify order
The phrase turns up in a few other places.
- Delivery modified. A tracking status that usually means the delivery details changed after the parcel shipped, such as a new date, a redirect to a pickup point or a hold requested by the recipient.
- Modify my order before dispatch. A store's offer to let you change the order until it leaves the warehouse.
- Trading. In stock trading apps, modify order means changing the price or quantity of a buy or sell order that has not executed yet.
Where Aide fits
Aide handles modification requests on Shopify orders for shoppers who prove the order is theirs. It can change the shipping address, remove an item that has not shipped, cancel the order or add a note, and teammates can also hold fulfillment while they sort out a bigger change. Changes outside those, such as swapping a size, go to the team. See address changes on Shopify.