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Card class: HeroCategory: Fulfilment

At a glance

Pending Shipment is the live count of paid Depop orders waiting to be dispatched. It is the most actionable fulfilment number in the shop: every order on this list is a clock running toward its dispatch deadline. A backlog that swells well past your normal level is the earliest sign that on-time shipping, ratings and disputes are all about to come under pressure.
What it countsThe number of paid orders that have not yet been marked dispatched, right now.
Sample typeBackend API data from Depop, refreshed on the standard data refresh.
Why it mattersThis is your shippable workload. A backlog above your normal range means dispatch capacity is being outrun, which feeds late shipments, then low ratings, then disputes. Catching the swell early lets you clear it before reputation reacts.
Reading the valueRead it against your own baseline. A steady small queue is healthy. A count running at twice your 30-day average is the alert: prioritise packing now.
Currencycount
Time windowRT (real-time)
Alert trigger> 2x the 30-day average
Sentiment keydep_pending_ship
Rolesowner, operations

Calculation

Pending Shipment is the live count of paid, undispatched orders from the Depop integration, compared against the trailing 30-day average to set the alert. Vortex IQ derives the baseline from your own order history so the threshold reflects your normal volume rather than a fixed number.

Worked example

A representative reading of Pending Shipment for a typical reseller on Depop. The shop’s 30-day average backlog was about 8 orders. After a viral listing it jumped to 19 in a day, more than twice the baseline, tripping the alert. Vortex Mind confirmed the spike was demand, not a stuck queue, so the action was to block out packing time rather than investigate a fault. The seller cleared the backlog over two evenings and on-time shipping held above 94 percent. For a quick triage view, ask Ask Viq for pending orders sorted by closest dispatch deadline.

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

CardWhy merchants reach for it
dep_on_time_ship_rateFulfilment sibling: backlog is the leading indicator of on-time rate.
dep_late_shipmentsAlert sibling: orders already past their deadline.
dep_orders_per_dayVolume sibling: inflow that feeds the queue.
dep_order_countVolume sibling: total orders in the period.
dep_dispute_rateReputation sibling: an uncleared backlog ends in disputes.

Reconciling against Depop

Where to look in Depop’s own dashboard: Your unshipped orders are listed in the Selling or orders view of the Depop app. The Vortex IQ count should match the orders awaiting dispatch there; gaps are usually refresh timing or differences in how cancelled orders are treated. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:
ReasonDirectionWhat to do
Refresh timing. New orders and dispatch marks register on the next refresh.MarginalForce a manual refresh to confirm.
Cancelled or refunded orders. These may leave the queue at different moments.VariableConfirm the live order set.
Baseline window. The 2x trigger compares to your trailing average, which shifts over time.VariableCheck the current baseline in the card.
Cross-connector reconciliation: read backlog with orders per day and on-time rate to tell a demand spike from a capacity problem. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

Q: How often does Pending Shipment update? The count tracks close to real time and refreshes on the standard data refresh. Force a manual refresh after a packing session to watch it fall. Q: My backlog is high but it is normal for me. Is that a problem? Not necessarily. The alert is relative to your own 30-day average, not an absolute number. If your baseline is genuinely high, tune the multiplier in the Sensitivity tab so the alert fires only on real surges. Q: Why is the trigger relative rather than a fixed count? A fixed count would be wrong for most shops. Two pending orders is a crisis for a low-volume seller and a quiet day for a high-volume one. The relative trigger adapts to your scale. Q: Can I customise the alert threshold? Yes, the backlog multiplier is configurable per profile in the Sensitivity tab.

Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

Pending Shipment is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Depop and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. Start for free or book a demo to see this metric running on your own data.