At a glance
Pending Shipment (WAITING_SELLER_SEND) is a fulfilment metric tracked from Alibaba data. It counts orders sitting in the WAITING_SELLER_SEND state, paid for and awaiting dispatch by the supplier. The card sits in the Fulfilment category and pairs with on-time-delivery and late-shipment siblings, because a backlog here puts the on-time delivery badge KPI at risk before any delivery is actually late. Cross-reference the related cards listed below for context.
| What it counts | The number of B2B orders currently in the WAITING_SELLER_SEND state, meaning the buyer has paid (often via Trade Assurance escrow) and the supplier has not yet dispatched. Computed from the latest available order data and refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Sample type | Backend API data from Alibaba, refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Why it matters | The metric appears in the Fulfilment category and complements the sibling cards listed below. Every order in this state is a clock running against the promised delivery date, so a backlog directly threatens on-time delivery and the supplier badge. |
| Reading the value | Lower is better, and the alert compares the live count against the 30-day average. A reading well above the norm signals a dispatch bottleneck. Cross-reference siblings for the full diagnostic picture. |
| Currency | count |
| Time window | RT |
| Alert trigger | >2x 30D avg |
| Sentiment key | ali_pending_ship |
| Roles | owner, operations |
Calculation
Vortex IQ counts the orders currently flagged in the WAITING_SELLER_SEND state in real time and compares that live count against the rolling 30-day average for the same state. The alert fires when the current backlog exceeds twice the 30-day average. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
A representative reading of Pending Shipment (WAITING_SELLER_SEND) for a typical Alibaba supplier. Suppose the 30-day average backlog sits around 6 orders awaiting dispatch at any given time. On the morning of 12 Mar 26 the live count reads 14, which is more than twice the average and crosses the alert. The operations owner opens the WAITING_SELLER_SEND queue, finds that a courier pickup was missed the day before, books a same-day collection, and clears the backlog before any order breaches its promised date. Acting on this card keeps the on-time delivery rate and the supplier badge KPI intact. For deeper investigation of which lanes or warehouses are stalling, use Vortex Mind to trace upstream causes; for natural-language exploration such as “which orders are stuck waiting to ship”, ask Ask Viq.Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why merchants reach for it |
|---|---|
on-time-delivery-rate | Fulfilment sibling: delivery rate this backlog directly threatens. |
late-shipments-risking-supplier-badge | Fulfilment sibling: shipments that slip late when the backlog is not cleared. |
supplier-badge-kpi-threshold-crossed | Reputation sibling: badge KPI a dispatch backlog endangers. |
orders-day | Fulfilment sibling: daily order volume that feeds the dispatch queue. |
revenue-at-risk-live | Economics sibling: revenue exposed while orders sit undispatched. |
Reconciling against Alibaba Seller dashboard
Where to look in Alibaba’s own dashboard: Open the Alibaba Supplier workbench, go to Trade then Order Management, and filter orders by the awaiting-shipment or pending-dispatch status. The workbench shows the same queue of paid orders not yet marked as shipped. Confirm period boundaries and filter settings match the Vortex IQ profile to reconcile cleanly. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:| Reason | Direction | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Period boundary. Vortex IQ counts the live backlog in real time; the workbench view may be cached or paged. | Variable | Refresh both views and compare the same status filter. |
| Time zone. The workbench uses the account time zone; Vortex IQ aligns to merchant reporting time zone, which can affect which orders count as overdue. | Marginal | Confirm time zone match. |
| Filter scope. Profile-level filters (channel, B2B only, test orders) may narrow the Vortex IQ view. | Variable | Match filter settings. |