Examine the following process flow diagram, which illustrates the various paths an order can take once created by a customer.

As mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, the Abandoned Order Services module contains a collection of services and tools that enable you to detect, respond to, and report on abandoned orders and related activity, that is, activity that falls within the shaded area of the diagram above. As the diagram implies, there are several general types of orders that fall within this area:

Note in the diagram that the process flow is not always linear. For example, an order can be abandoned, then reanimated, then abandoned again.

The subsections that follow describe the various abandonment states, repository extensions, and repositories that are required to support these orders and the tracking of related order abandonment activity: