Wrong item picked
fulfilmentSymptom
Customer receives incorrect product.
Impact
Return shipping cost, replacement cost, bad CX.
Post-Order Failures in Ecommerce Operations
A post-order failure is any operational breakdown that occurs between the moment a customer clicks "buy" and the moment they successfully use the product.
This reference library documents common failure modes in Shopify and ecommerce operations, categorized by their impact on orders, fulfilment, and support.
Address validation failure
fulfilmentSymptom
Carrier rejects label generation due to invalid address.
Impact
Delayed shipment, manual intervention required.
Carrier integration downtime
fulfilmentSymptom
Cannot generate shipping labels.
Impact
Backlog of unfulfilled orders.
Inventory sync lag
opsSymptom
Website shows stock that was just sold on another channel.
Impact
Overselling, cancellations.
Fraud flag false positive
opsSymptom
Legitimate order cancelled automatically.
Impact
Lost revenue, angry customer.
Overselling inventory
ordersSymptom
Customer orders an item that is out of stock.
Impact
Refunds, lost trust, support tickets.
Payment gateway timeout
ordersSymptom
Order created but payment status is pending/failed.
Impact
Lost revenue, inventory held unnecessarily.
Discount code abuse
ordersSymptom
Promo code leaked or stacked incorrectly.
Impact
Margin erosion.
Email provider blacklist
supportSymptom
Transactional emails land in spam.
Impact
Customer confusion, increased support volume.
Return label generation failure
supportSymptom
Customer cannot self-serve return.
Impact
Support ticket volume spike.