In this page:
- how orders are born
- the Orders app: tabs, accepting, declining, shortages
- packing a box (short version)
- the cargo office and fast delivery
- auto pickup, couriers, the cargo port
How orders are born
Customers order products that are listed and in stock. Each new order reserves its items from your shelf stock right away. Orders come at random: listing a product does not guarantee an order every time.
What brings more orders:
- fair prices (a price that is far too high can stop orders for that product completely)
- research in R&D
- popular products (popularity moves with trends)
- an advertising campaign at the marketing agency. A campaign boosts one product category. You can run one campaign per category at a time, there is a limit on how many run together, and you need the money to start one.
What pauses orders: a full queue of pending orders, unlisted products, and products with no stock left. While the "create an ad" objective is open, orders wait for it.
Grocery orders are always In-City. International orders only appear after you research them, and only some categories can send them.
Tip: if nothing comes in, list more product types and stock them.
The Orders app
How to open it: tablet, Orders. The tabs follow the life of an order: New, Preparing, Ready, On Delivery and Done. Each tab shows a count. Inside Done you can switch between Completed and Refunded. The type filter has All types, Local, In-city and International.
The list shows Order, Customer, Items, Value, Type and Time. An order whose products are not on your shelves gets an amber row and an exclamation mark. Shelf stock is shared out between orders, so the same units are never counted twice.
- Select an order ("Select an order to see its details"). The side panel shows its items with stock bars (what is covered, what is missing), Reward, Shipping type and Delivery time.
- If products are missing, the panel shows Missing. Add missing to basket puts exactly those units into your wholesaler basket (for New and Preparing orders).
- Press Accept. The box is prepared for you. With a free hand slot it comes straight into your hand, otherwise it waits at a packing table.
- Accept all ready accepts every new order your stock covers, one after the other. It ignores the type filter and stops when your hands are full. A toast says "Orders accepted".
- Go to warehouse puts a waypoint on your map and closes the tablet (for Preparing and Ready orders).
Accepting a local order always works. Accepting an In-City order can be refused until a customer spot is free, and the game tells you to finish your other in-city orders first.
Declining
Decline costs reputation for a pending order, and the panel shows how much before you press. You get a short Undo window. Leaving the app or declining another order makes the decision final. Declining an order you already accepted (Preparing) cancels it without that cost, the reserved products go back to stock, and anything already in its box is handled for you.
If you delist a product, its pending orders are cancelled and the stock comes back. Orders you already accepted stay and can still be delivered.
Empty states
A new game shows Waiting for your first order with a tip: buy products first, list products you own but have not listed, or restock and run an ad at the marketing agency (Go to the marketing agency puts a waypoint). Other empty tabs say "No orders here right now."
Controller: the left face button declines (and undoes while Undo is shown), the top face button accepts all ready orders, and the right face button closes the type menu.
Packing a box (short version)
The full steps and every refusal message are on the Warehouse page. In short: take the box, fill it from the marked shelves, put it on the packing table, tape it with the roll of the right colour, print the label, take the sealed box. Workers with the Packing task do it for you.
Shipping types
Every order has a cargo type with its own colour on tape, labels and floor lanes:
| Type | Colour | Tape |
|---|---|---|
| Local | blue | Local tape |
| In-City | yellow | In-City tape |
| International | red | International tape |
The tape follows the cargo type, not the product you sell.
The cargo office
What it is: the counter that sends your Local boxes out.
How to open it: set a sealed box down in the marked area in front of the counter. It shows up under Boxes at the drop-off. Only sealed boxes of the matching cargo type that are standing there count, so an empty list means no eligible box is at that drop-off.
- Open the counter. The Shipment card lists Subtotal, Delivery and Total, and an Est. arrival estimate in game minutes.
- Tick Fast delivery if you want it sooner. It costs extra and the card shows how much. Tick it before you press the button, the switch resets every time you open the counter.
- Press Send boxes. If you are short of money the card says how much more you need, and the button stays disabled. The button also stays off when there is nothing to send.
- Payment for the order arrives after delivery.
Auto pickup and the lane posts
At higher warehouse levels boxes leave the warehouse without you carrying them. This is not magic, it needs a few things:
- Local: a truck parked in the Local loading area, from warehouse level 3. Pickup runs on a recurring game-time schedule.
- In-City: a delivery drone, from level 7.
- International: a manual lane at level 8 and automatic pickup at level 10.
- Boxes must be sealed, labelled and in the matching delivery area. Each pickup takes only as many boxes as the vehicle can carry.
- The vehicle needs fuel. With too little fuel the pickup is skipped and you get a warning to refuel.
- Shipping is paid when the boxes are loaded, so you need the money.
The tablet's Auto pickup panel shows the state of each pickup: Vehicle Not Parked, Less Fuel, or On, plus a progress bar to the next pickup. If you park a vehicle before the level is reached, the game tells you which level you need. Lane posts you buy in the warehouse shop (Local Lane Post, In City Lane Post, International Lane Post) show the pickup state with their lights.
Couriers
Workers with the Courier task carry ready In-City boxes to customers. They only take boxes that are inside your warehouse, not held by anyone, and for customers inside the courier range of your warehouse level. If a drone exists, boxes at the drone's pickup point are left for it. A courier collects several boxes, visits nearby customers one after another, and brings back what it could not deliver. Boxes it cannot reach are skipped for a while. Carried orders sit under On Delivery without a transit countdown. See the Employees page.
The cargo port (International)
International boxes go through the Cargo port counter. Your boxes wait in your assigned container (Container, Boxes in your container). Place your orders in the container's loading area. The port shows the ship state with a Time left countdown: Ship arriving soon, Ship in port, Ship departing soon, Ship at sea. You can only send while the ship is in port.
Order timers and satisfaction
Arrives in is the transit time after you send the box, it is not a deadline you must beat. While an order waits (accepted or ready) the customer's satisfaction goes down. When you deliver, the customer can leave a star rating based on the satisfaction that is left. Fast delivery makes the box arrive sooner.
Tips
- Accept only what your shelves can fill.
- Use Add missing to basket before you accept a big order.
- Keep lane pallets, fuel and money ready so auto pickup does not skip.
- Protect your prices and reputation, and run ads for the categories you want to grow.
Screenshots needed:
- Orders app with tabs and the type filter
- Order detail panel with Missing and Add missing to basket
- Decline with the reputation cost and Undo
- Cargo office counter with Fast delivery
- Auto pickup panel showing On
- Cargo port counter with ship status