Is it possible to have alphanumeric order numbers instead of numeric?

I’m using the api /wp-json/wc/v3/orders to import orders from another system which uses alphanumeric order numbers. This all works fine.

The api docs state that the number field is a string, and read only. So even doing a PUT operation after the order has been created does not change it. What’s the best field to place the order number from the other system into WC so that I can also perform a search operation and find it? I tried transaction_id but search doesn’t use that out of the box without adding extra code (still possible, but I don’t think transaction_id was meant for order numbers). Any guidance or advice appreciated. Cheers!