Increase Order Numbers by Three

[tasmania]

Hello,

I searched the past posts about order numbers. I saw that a few buddies are complaining about order numbers begining from one and increase by one. This makes the customer know how many order did the shop got. But i didn't found any solution for this problem. I read about some solutions but none of them finished and send as contrib.

I want to ask that if anybody have a solution other than order numbers increase by one. Maybe it can be a timestamp+random number (i read about this solution in a post but have problems about sending order mails) or increase the order number by x or anything else.

Thanks for replys from now.

[schoolboy]

You can set the START number to anything you want:-

ADMIN>TOOLS>STORE MANAGER

Set it to start at 100120 if you like...

...your next order will be numbered 100121 .

The order number plays a part in the functioning of your zen store, so it's not advisable to change the way it auto increments.

[tasmania]

Thanks for your reply schoolboy,

But i know this solution and asked clearly

if anybody have a solution other than order numbers increase by one

Because i don't want my customers to be able to track my order numbers and how many orders did i get..

[Kim]

The order number cannot be changed to increment by more than 1 as that is generated by an auto-incrementing field in the DB. Changing the numbering to not be consecutive could also cause problems with the taxation departments in some countries.

[gjh42]

Besides which, the most a customer could know is how many orders were placed between their last order and their current one... why is that bad for them to find out?

Only *repeat* customers will ever be able to get this info, and if they're repeating, you have them.

If your order rate is so low that order numbers matter, you can always place some "dummy" orders now & then - for a free/ free shipping product so it won't mess with your bookkeeping.

[tasmania]

Thanks Kim,

Actually i didn't think about modifying order_id. I better think about inserting a new field like ""order_number" in orders table. And make the order_number field random generated or increase by three and customers see this number for the orders. But my php and MySQL knowledge is not good enough to make this type of modification. Can it be done ?

[schoolboy]

Tasmania... I really think this is a non-issue.

Customers could not care less whatr order number they have. We have built over 50 zenshops and never had a client complain about the order number. This number is just a reference point. If yoiu set the base number to a higher value, there may be a customer out there who will be "impressed" that you "appear" to have had ten zillion orders...

...but most people won't care - at all.

[davee]

Hi !

This is a strange problem for me too.
The concurrency can spy our sales quantity.No chance to change the order ID to randomly order ID?( In another shops isin't probelm like ecommerce or virtuemart. ).

Thanks

[Merlinpa1969]

no this number can not be made random,
its auto incrementing,
if your worried about low order numbers you can change the starting number of invoices, to a higher number,
this is done in admin -> tools -> manager

[DrByte]

This is a strange problem for me too.
The concurrency can spy our sales quantity.No chance to change the order ID to randomly order ID?( In another shops isin't probelm like ecommerce or virtuemart. ).

Many months ago you said you were going to work around it a different way. What has been your experience with that?
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50074