What Is a Backorder? How C-Store Distributors Should Handle Them

Short answer: What is a backorder? It’s the part of a customer’s order you’ve accepted but can’t ship yet because the item isn’t in stock, with the plan to ship it once new inventory arrives. For a distributor supplying gas stations and convenience stores, that usually looks like this: a store ordered ten cases of a snack, you had six, and the other four stay open until your next supplier delivery comes in.

Every distributor runs short sometimes. The trouble starts when nobody tracks backorders, the store isn’t told, and the missing cases get forgotten or billed by mistake. Here’s how backorders differ from similar terms and how to handle them without losing an account’s trust.

What does backorder mean in wholesale distribution?

A backorder is an open commitment. The customer still wants the product, you’ve agreed to supply it, and you expect it back in stock. Until it ships or is cancelled, it should stay visible on the order so your team knows it’s still owed. A simple example:

• A c-store orders 10 cases of a bottled drink.
• You have 6 cases on hand, so 6 go on the truck.
• The other 4 cases go on backorder.
• When your supplier’s delivery is received, those 4 cases go out on the store’s next delivery.

Backorders happen for ordinary reasons: a supplier ships your purchase order short, a seasonal item sells faster than expected, or a stock count was off. When stores reorder snacks, candy and drinks every week, a short item can come up on almost any delivery day.

Is a backorder the same as out of stock?

Not quite. Out of stock describes the item: you have none on hand right now. A backorder describes the order: a customer asked for that item and you’ve agreed to fill it later. An out-of-stock item becomes a backorder when you accept the order anyway.

If a product is discontinued or you have no realistic restock date, don’t backorder it. Tell the store it’s unavailable and offer a substitute or cancel the line, so nobody waits for something that isn’t coming.

How is a backorder different from a partial or short shipment?

These three terms get mixed up, and they mean different things on the invoice:

• Backorder: the quantity that’s still owed and waiting on stock.
• Partial shipment: a planned decision to ship what you have now and send the rest later. It usually creates a backorder for the remainder.
• Short shipment: fewer units arrived than the paperwork said, usually because of a picking error, a miscount or damage. It wasn’t planned, and it needs to be fixed or credited.

The key point is that a backorder should be known before the truck leaves. If a store finds four cases missing at the back door, it feels like a short shipment, even if you meant to backorder them.

How should distributors handle backorders?

A repeatable process keeps backorders from turning into phone calls and billing disputes:

1. Check each order line against live inventory when the order comes in, not when a picker reaches an empty shelf.
2. Flag the short quantity as a backorder instead of dropping it or writing it on a sticky note.
3. Ship what’s available. One missing item shouldn’t hold up the rest of a store’s delivery.
4. Tell the customer what’s shipping now and what’s coming later, with an expected date if you have one.
5. When product is received, fill open backorders oldest first, unless you’ve agreed on a different priority.
6. Invoice what actually shipped, so a store is never billed for cases it didn’t get.

That’s how backorder management works in Wholtra. Short items are flagged against real inventory, available items move to pick tickets and out the door, and open backorders are ready to fill when product is received. If you’re not sure what belongs on the warehouse paperwork, see our guide to what a pick ticket is.

How should you bill for backordered items?

Bill for what shipped. If four cases are still open, they don’t belong on today’s invoice. They go on the invoice for the delivery that actually carries them. Billing a store for goods it hasn’t received is a common source of disputes and short-pays.

Pricing matters too. Different stores and chains often have different prices, and a backorder can stay open for weeks. It should ship at that customer’s agreed price, not whatever someone remembers. In Wholtra, pricing is tied to the client record, so a backordered item is billed at that client’s price when it ships, and invoicing follows what actually left the warehouse.

How do you tell customers about a backorder?

Tell them before the delivery, not after. A short note works: which items are shipping, which are backordered and when you expect them. Then let the store decide whether to wait, take a substitute or cancel the line. Early notice matters more than a perfect date.

In Wholtra, orders show what’s in stock and what’s on backorder, and you can notify customers of backorder status from the same platform. Orders that stores place through the customer ordering app are checked against the same live inventory, so shortages are flagged as the order comes in.

How can you reduce backorders?

You can’t eliminate them, but you can see them coming:

• Keep inventory counts accurate, and receive purchase orders into your system as soon as they arrive.
• Watch your fastest-moving items and reorder before they hit zero.
• Look at which items get backordered most often. A repeat offender usually points to a reorder point that’s too low or a supplier that ships short.

When orders, stock and invoices live in separate spreadsheets, that’s hard to see. Pulling them into one place is what our software for convenience store distributors is built to do.

What’s the next step?

If your backorders live on paper, in text threads or in someone’s memory, it’s worth seeing how they’d look in one system. Request a quote or call 1-800-WHOLTRA for a quick walkthrough of how Wholtra handles orders, inventory, backorders and invoicing for c-store distributors.

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