How to automate WooCommerce order status updates

Your warehouse ships 80 orders. Someone then opens WooCommerce, selects them in batches, flips them to Completed, and hopes nobody got missed. Meanwhile three customers email asking where their parcel is, because “Completed” told them nothing about whether it actually left the building.

Bulk-editing statuses by hand is a daily tax on a process that could run itself.

Advanced Shipment Tracking Pro (AST PRO), our WooCommerce shipment tracking plugin, turns order status into something your fulfilment data controls, not your staff. Tracking numbers arrive from your shipping platform, the status changes on its own, and the right email goes out at the right moment.

This guide covers how to set up automated status changes, from custom fulfilment statuses through to hands-off tracking imports.

Eight steps to automate order status updates

1. Enable the fulfilment order statuses
Go to WooCommerce → Shipment Tracking → Order Statuses & Notifications and switch on the statuses you need: Partially Shipped, Shipped, Delivered, and Updated Tracking. These sit alongside WooCommerce’s defaults and give each stage its own state, so “Completed” stops doing four jobs at once. (For the full setup of these statuses, see the guide to creating custom order statuses.)

2. Map each status to its customer notification
Every fulfilment status has its own email template. Partially Shipped covers orders split into multiple shipments, Shipped confirms the package is with the carrier, Delivered confirms the customer received it, and Updated Tracking fires when tracking details change. Use the Preview Email button to check each one before you go live.

3. Turn on AutoComplete orders when they are Shipped
If you do not want a separate Shipped state hanging around in your order list, enable this option and orders move straight to Completed once tracking is added. It is the simplest automation in the plugin and it removes the daily bulk-edit ritual entirely.

4. Rename Completed to Shipped if you prefer fewer statuses
Some stores do not want extra statuses at all, they just want the existing one to be honest. AST PRO can rewrite the Completed label to Shipped across emails and order screens, so customers read a word that matches what actually happened.

5. Feed tracking in through the Shipment Tracking API
Under the Shipment Tracking API section you can generate REST access tokens, configure webhooks, and set the date format your external systems send. Your 3PL, WMS, or fulfilment app posts tracking numbers directly into the order, and the status change follows automatically. There is also a separate option to auto-complete orders that come from the API, so API-fulfilled orders can behave differently from manually fulfilled ones.

6. Connect your shipping platform integration
If you print labels in ShipStation, Shippo, Sendcloud, ShippyPro, Shiptheory, Pirate Ship, Stamps.com, or Royal Mail Click and Drop, enable the matching integration instead of building anything custom. Tracking syncs the moment the label is created, which means the status change happens before your team has even closed the tab.

7. Set up automated CSV import for warehouse drops
For fulfilment partners who deliver tracking as files rather than API calls, enable CSV Auto-Import and point AST PRO at the remote folder. Set the Import Polling Frequency so the plugin checks on a schedule, pick your CSV date format, and switch on Delete After Import to keep the directory clean. Files land, orders update, nobody logs in.

8. Choose which statuses appear in the fulfilment dashboard
The Fulfillment Order Statuses setting controls which orders show up in the dashboard your team works from each morning. Set it to the statuses that still need action, and unshipped orders stop hiding behind hundreds of completed ones.

What changes once automation is on

Trigger	Automatic result
Tracking added manually	Status moves to Shipped
Tracking posted via API	Order auto-completed
Label printed in ShipStation	Tracking synced, status updated
CSV dropped by your 3PL	Orders imported on schedule
Only some items shipped	Status set to Partially Shipped
Tracking number corrected	Updated Tracking email sent
Carrier confirms delivery	Status moves to Delivered

Automation works best on statuses that match how you actually fulfil — see setting up custom order statuses — and each one can trigger its own notification, covered in customising your shipment emails.

Frequently asked questions about automating order statuses

Can WooCommerce change order statuses automatically?
Not on its own. Core WooCommerce requires you to change statuses manually or in bulk, and it has no way to move an order to Shipped or Delivered based on fulfilment data. A tracking plugin like AST PRO ties status changes to events, adding a tracking number, an API post, a printed label, so the status updates itself and the matching customer email fires without manual work.

How does adding a tracking number change the order status automatically?
When AST PRO receives a tracking number, whether typed in, posted via the API, synced from a shipping platform, or imported by CSV, it moves the order to the status you have configured (Shipped, Partially Shipped, or straight to Completed with AutoComplete) and sends that status’s customer email. The tracking event is the trigger, so fulfilment and status stay in sync with no separate step.

What is the difference between AutoComplete and a separate Shipped status?
AutoComplete moves an order straight to Completed as soon as tracking is added, which keeps your status list simple. A separate Shipped status inserts an explicit Shipped stage before Completed, which is more accurate for stores that distinguish “with the carrier” from “fully closed.” Choose AutoComplete for simplicity, or the Shipped status for a clearer pipeline; both automate the transition.

Can my 3PL or shipping software update statuses without anyone logging in?
Yes. Connect the shipping-platform integration (ShipStation, Shippo, and others) so tracking syncs when a label is printed, use the REST API so your WMS or 3PL posts tracking directly, or enable scheduled CSV auto-import for partners who deliver tracking as files. In all three, the order status updates automatically with no one opening WooCommerce.

Will automated status changes still notify customers?
Yes, that is the point. Each fulfilment status has its own customer email, so when automation moves an order to Shipped, Partially Shipped, Delivered, or Updated Tracking, the matching notification is sent automatically. You can preview and customise each template, and switch any of them off if you would rather a particular status change stayed silent.

Fewer clicks, fewer WISMO tickets

Manual status updates do not scale, and they quietly cost you support time every single day. With AST PRO, the tracking data does the work: statuses change themselves, customers get told at each stage, and your team spends its mornings on orders that actually need attention.