You can set up order routing to automatically assign orders to fulfillment locations based on configured rules. Order routing applies rules in sequence to prioritize locations and determine where to fulfill each order.
Order routing requires 2 or more active locations. The default order routing strategy includes rules to do the following:
You can use the default configuration or customize your routing rules based on your business needs. For advanced prioritization, you can also create rules based on location metafields such as warehouse capacity or fulfillment speed.
You might use custom order routing when you want to prioritize specific warehouses, balance inventory across locations, or optimize fulfillment costs for your business model.
You can set up order fulfillment by choosing to fulfill your own orders, use third-party fulfillment services, or combine both methods. Your fulfillment method determines how orders are processed, packaged, and shipped to customers.
You can use the following fulfillment methods:
You might use third-party fulfillment when you want to scale without managing warehouse space, use dropshipping when you want to sell products without holding inventory, or combine methods when different products require different fulfillment approaches.
Some services that you can use to source your products can also ship those products directly to your customers. Services such as on-demand printing typically both print and ship the product for you. Other services can store products that you made or purchased yourself. Services such as warehouses let you store products and will ship out your products to customers on your behalf
Generally, when a business uses a dropshipping or fulfillment service, they don't work directly with the shipping carriers but instead work with the service to determine shipping costs.
For example, some print-on-demand companies charge flat fees for shipping their products to certain parts of the world. If you use their service and receive an order for one of your t-shirts, then when you place the order with the print-on-demand service, they will charge you shipping, not a shipping carrier.
This also means that you don't need to purchase a shipping label for these types of orders, because the service is the one working with the shipping carriers and purchasing the label on your behalf.
There is also the Shopify Fulfillment Network, which has fulfillment centers across the US and Canada and integrates directly with your Shopify store and admin.
There are other services, such as Fulfillment by Amazon, that have a more complex integration with your business.
Some apps let you connect directly with their own shipping carrier accounts. This lets you charge your customers exactly what the service will charge you. Check with your service to see if they offer this option.
If your shipping settings use only the general shipping profile and don't have different shipping rates per location, then any fulfillment app is automatically added to your shipping settings. Otherwise, you need to manually add any shipping app into your shipping settings. For more information, refer to Add rates provided by an app.
Most apps don't have a shipping integration. This requires you to set up your shipping to mimic what a service will charge you if you want to pass on shipping costs directly to customers.
For more information, refer to Create flat shipping rates.
Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) is a fulfillment service app that you can use to integrate with a service that stores your inventory and fulfills orders. To offer this fulfillment service, Shopify partners with Flexport, our trusted logistics partner. To learn more, refer to Shopify Fulfillment Network.
Fulfillment by Amazon is a service where you send your products to an Amazon warehouse for them to use to fulfill your orders. Amazon has specific rules around how to set up their shipping names. To learn more, refer to Fulfillment by Amazon.
If you partner with a dropshipping or fulfillment service that doesn't have an app, then you can add them as a custom fulfillment service. When you mark an order as fulfilled that contains a product from your custom fulfillment service, they receive an email requesting them to send that product to your customer.
Some custom fulfillment services let you connect with their shipping carrier account, such as with UPS or FedEx, which lets you charge your customer the same shipping rate that you are charged by the fulfillment service. If they don't provide this as an option, then you can ask for general shipping costs to various countries for you to base your own shipping rates off of.
You can set up order fulfillment in your Shopify store by following the steps below and choosing the fulfillment setup that best fits your business. Choosing the right fulfillment setup can ensure your orders reach customers efficiently while matching your business operations.
You can choose to fulfill your own orders, use third-party fulfillment services, or use a combination of these fulfillment methods.
When you add a product to your store, you select a fulfillment method for it. This means that there can be different fulfillment methods for items on the same order.
For example, if a customer orders a dropshipped product and a custom product that you create at home, then the dropshipper fulfills the first item, and you fulfill the second item.
You can fulfill orders yourself by packaging and shipping your own items. You might choose to fulfill orders yourself if your business is new or small, and you need an inexpensive fulfillment method. Fulfilling your own orders also gives you control over specialized packaging.
A fulfillment service usually stores, packages, and ships items for you. Using a fulfillment service takes less time than fulfilling your own orders, and can be more cost effective for large businesses.
There are two types of fulfillment services: services that integrate with Shopify using an app, and custom fulfillment services.
After you choose your fulfillment services, you need to activate them in Shopify.
Fulfillment apps sync with your Shopify admin so your order updates as the fulfillment progresses. With these fulfillment services, you can also make changes to your fulfillments from your Shopify admin. The types of updates you receive depend on your fulfillment services.
Below are common examples of fulfillment services and apps:
Custom fulfillment services fulfill your orders when they receive an email request. When you mark an item or order as fulfilled in your Shopify admin, the fulfillment service is automatically sent an email with the information they need to fulfill the order for you.
Because custom fulfillment services don't sync with your Shopify admin, your order timeline and fulfillment statuses don't update as the fulfillment progresses.
If you decide to use fulfillment services, then you need to connect them to your Shopify admin.
If you use a custom fulfillment service, then refer to Using a custom fulfillment service.
If you use fulfillment services that have an app, then use customer support for the fulfillment service.
After you set up your fulfillment methods, you choose to fulfill your orders manually or automatically. The setting you choose applies to all fulfillment methods. By default, your store uses manual order fulfillment.
You can change to automatic order fulfillment by configuring your order processing settings.
Manual fulfillment helps you keep track of your inventory and control when an order is sent. Manual fulfillment might be the best method if one of the following situations applies to your business:
After a customer places and pays for an order, the status of the order is Unfulfilled until you manually open and fulfill the order.
After a customer places and pays for an order, order fulfillment begins automatically without you taking any action.
If any of the following situations apply to your business, then automatic fulfillment can help you ship your orders more effectively:
If you use fulfillment services, then a fulfillment request is sent to your service when the order is paid. You don't need to contact your fulfillment to request fulfillment.
Set up automatic order fulfillment from the order processing settings.
When you add a product to your store, or edit a product, you select a fulfillment method while completing the Inventory will be stocked at field under product details. Depending on how you manage inventory, you could fulfill orders from multiple locations, which could include one or more store locations as well as one or more fulfillment apps that allow managing inventory from multiple locations and fulfillment apps.
You can change the fulfillment service for multiple products at the same time by using the bulk editor.
Now that you have fulfillment set up, you can begin fulfilling orders. The steps depend on the fulfillment method. Learn more about the different methods for fulfilling orders.
With Shopify, you can use custom fulfillment services to fulfill your orders provided that the fulfillment service you're using can process orders by email. If the fulfillment service requires more than an email to process your orders, then you can hire a Shopify Partner to develop a custom app.
When you mark an item or order as fulfilled in your Shopify admin, the fulfillment service is sent an email with the relevant order information so that they can fulfill it for you.
From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
In the Custom order fulfillment section, click Add fulfillment service.
In the Name field, enter the name of your custom fulfillment provider.
In the Email field, enter the email address of your custom fulfillment provider.
Click Save.
From the Shopify app, tap 
, and then tap 
Settings.
In the Store settings section, tap Shipping and delivery.
In the Custom order fulfillment section, tap Add fulfillment service.
In the Name field, enter the name of your custom fulfillment provider.
In the Email field, enter the email address of your custom fulfillment provider.
Tap Save or ✓.
From your Shopify admin, go to Products.
Click the product to be fulfilled by the custom service.
In the Inventory section, select the fulfillment service that you want to use from the Inventory will be stocked at drop-down menu.
Click Save to save your changes.
When you're ready for your custom fulfillment service to ship an order, mark the order as fulfilled from your Shopify admin. This action sends an email to your fulfillment service with the order and customer details.
You can mark part of an order or the full order as fulfilled from your Shopify admin. This action sends an email to your fulfillment service with the details of what to ship.
If you no longer want to use a particular fulfillment service, then you need to make sure that their rates aren't offered to your customers at checkout. If your account with the fulfillment service is in good standing, then you can reactivate the service at any time.
If there is any inventory set to fulfill using the service, then you must select a new service to inherit the stocked inventory and unfulfilled orders assigned to the deleted service. You can change the fulfillment location on your Product pages.
From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
In the Custom order fulfillment section, click … on the service you want to delete.
Click Delete.
Click Delete to confirm.
From the Shopify app, tap , and then tap Settings.
In the Store settings section, tap Shipping and delivery.
In the Custom order fulfillment section, tap … or ⋮ on the service that you want to delete.
Tap Delete.
Tap Delete to confirm.
If there isn't an option to Delete the fulfillment service that you want to remove from your admin, then you can find it on the Apps page instead.
Using Amazon's Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) services allows you focus more time on your business with Amazon's premier pick, pack and ship service. You can import and fulfil Shopify orders directly from your Shopify admin by using the Amazon MCF and Buy with Prime app for Shopify.
This app can be used for Multi-Channel Fulfillment, and to offer customers Buy with Prime benefits on your storefront. You don't need to sell on amazon.com or use Buy with Prime to use the app. Learn more about Buy with Prime.
Multi-Channel Fulfillment through the Amazon MCF and Buy with Prime App for Shopify is pay as you go. Learn more about pricing.
This service is available to:
To complete the setup of Multi-Channel Fulfillment in the Amazon MCF and Buy with Prime app for Shopify, you need to:
To review the installation process, review Amazon's user guide. Learn more about the benefits of using the Amazon MCF and Buy with Prime app for Shopify.
Some order management systems (OMS) apps might be compatible with Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment and split shipping on Shopify. Learn more about split shipping compatibility.
If you need to fulfill orders with MCF outside of the United States, then you can install a different app that offers integrations with MCF services in the UK, Canada, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Spain and US.
First, you need to update all product/product variant inventory from Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to MCF. You can duplicate any unfulfilled orders with products fulfilled by Amazon to update them so that the MCF fulfillment service is linked to the order. From an order's details, click More Actions and then select Duplicate. After the order has been duplicated its location displays as MCF instead of FBA for the relevant products.
Products that aren't assigned to a new fulfillment service location are assigned to your store's default location. You can manually assign the inventory to the new app's location.
The order status page is the final page of your store's checkout where customers can track their orders and view shipping updates. After you add tracking numbers to shipments, customers can return to this page to check the status of their shipment without contacting you directly. If the order is shipping with a supported carrier, then customers can view real-time updates on the location of their shipment.
You can customize your order status page using the checkout and accounts editor to match your brand and add additional information for customers. The order status page also lets customers begin shopping again and provides options for customers who checked out using only a phone number to opt in to receive shipping updates by email.
Customers can visit the order status page to check the progress of their order as it's fulfilled. The order confirmations that you send by email, SMS, or through the Shop app can include a link to the order status page.
The type of notification the customer receives depends on the contact information they enter at checkout. If the customer enters a phone number at checkout, then they receive an order confirmation by SMS. If a customer enters an email at checkout, then they receive an order confirmation by email, followed by order and shipping updates. Order and shipping updates aren't sent by SMS. You can give customers who enter a phone number at checkout the choice to opt-in to receive order and shipping updates by email.
To track their order on the order status page, customers can log into their customer account. Alternatively, to confirm their identity after a certain amount of time has passed, customers without an account might be required to verify their email address or phone number along with the order number to view the order details. Customers can locate the order number in the order confirmation sent to them by email or phone.
If you want to send your customers order status updates by email, then you need set up your email templates to automatically include a link to the order status page.
You might also consider customizing your order status page to display special notes and messages.
If you ship through a supported carrier, then the order status updates in real time and the shipment location is displayed on a map.
The order status page updates in real time as the status of the shipment changes. Possible statuses are:
If you use an unsupported shipping carrier, then the order status page has a tracking number that links to the shipping carrier's website. From the carrier's website, your customers can get more information about the status of their order. The order status isn't displayed, and the pin on the map doesn't update in real time.
The order status page works with partial fulfillments, even if they're made through different shipping carriers. Shopify creates new sections on the order status page for multiple fulfillments.
Although the information provided in the order confirmation, including the link to the order status page, might seem to be publicly accessible, your customers' information remains secure and isn't visible to anyone else.
To ensure the security of customer information when accessing the order status page from an email or SMS order notification, certain access requirements are enforced, depending on how and when the customer accesses the order status page:
If the customer doesn't login or provide their credentials after the expiry period for their browser, then only limited details about the order display on the order status page, such as the items purchased, order total, discounts applied, and the order's status. Customer information such as their name, shipping and billing addresses, payment methods, shipping method, and tracking number aren't displayed.
Customers can choose to share the link to their order status page with friends to inform them about their purchases. However, when customers share their order status page link, only the limited order details display.
The Log in to view all order details prompt doesn't require the customer to have a customer account with your store, nor does it require you to make customer accounts mandatory during checkout. However, displaying login links can make it easier for customers to view all order details on their order status page.
If you want to display log in links to customers on the order status page, then you need to set up customer accounts, and ensure that Show login links is toggled on.
Login links don't display on stores that use legacy customer accounts, or that have turned off login links.
You can visit a customer's order status page from your Shopify admin. However, you can only access limited order status page details due to the customer login requirement.
When you confirm or ship orders, your customers can automatically receive an email that links them to their order status page. To automatically include a link to the order status page in shipping and order emails, complete the following steps.
Email templates control the information that's sent to customers. You can use Shopify's default email templates, or custom email templates. The following email templates can include a link to the order status page:
To set up these emails so they link to your customer's order status page, select the option that best describes you:
If you use Shopify's default templates, then your email templates automatically include a link to your customer's order status page.
To add a tracking number, follow these steps:
From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Notifications.
In the Email templates section, click the Order confirmation email template. If you have customized an email template, then there is a Revert to default button at the bottom of the template page.
Repeat these steps for the Shipping confirmation and Shipping update email templates.
From the Shopify app, tap , and then tap Settings.
In the Store settings section, tap Notifications.
In the Email templates section, click the Order confirmation email template. If you have customized an email template, then there is a Revert to default button at the bottom of the template page.
Repeat these steps for the Shipping confirmation and Shipping update email templates.
Because you customized your order confirmation, shipping confirmation, or shipping update templates, Shopify can't include a link to the order status page in the emails.
To include a link to the order status page in a custom email template, do one of the following:
To make sure that your order and shipping emails include the order status URL link for your customers, you can add some Liquid code to the Shipping confirmation, Shipping update, and Order confirmation templates.
From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Notifications.
Click the template that you want to edit to open it in the online editor.
Find the following section if it exists:
For shipping status on these items:
{% for tracking_url in fulfillment.tracking_urls %}
{{ tracking_url }}
{% endfor %}Replace it with the following:
Track the status of your order: {{ order_status_url }}.Click Save.
From the Shopify app, tap , and then tap Settings.
In the Store settings section, tap Notifications.
Click the template that you want to edit to open it in the online editor.
Find the following section if it exists:
For shipping status on these items:
{% for tracking_url in fulfillment.tracking_urls %}
{{ tracking_url }}
{% endfor %}Replace it with the following:
Track the status of your order: {{ order_status_url }}.Click Save.
You can change this message to fit your brand. The only requirement is to copy (ctrl + C on a PC or command + C on a Mac) and paste (ctrl + V on a PC or command + V on a Mac) the {{ order_status_url }} code exactly as it appears here.
After your email templates are set up to send a link to the order status page, you need to add tracking numbers to your orders.
After setting up your order status emails, test your checkout experience by placing a test order.
If you use a third-party app and notice anything unusual, then there could be a conflict with custom code from a third-party app. Contact the app developer to resolve the issue. You can find their information by searching for the app's name in the Shopify App Store.
After a customer completes their order, an order status page displays a thank you message, details about the order, and a confirmation number. The confirmation number is created immediately at checkout, before the actual order is created. After the order is created, the confirmation number is recorded in the order's timeline, and a confirmation email is sent to your customer with the order number and a link to the order. At this point, the confirmation number is no longer necessary for order tracking.
A confirmation number can give a customer confidence that their checkout is complete. If the customer has a problem, then they can contact you with their confirmation number so that you can resolve their issue.
If a customer has questions about their order, then they might contact you. If your customer provides their confirmation number, then you can search for their order using their confirmation number.
To search for an order by the confirmation number, you can enter the full confirmation number in the Shopify admin search field, or you can use the order filter on the orders page.
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.
Enter the confirmation number in the Filter orders field.
Select the appropriate order from the list.
Order fulfillment and shipping is a fundamental part of most businesses and has many different terms.
To help you understand some of the terminology about order fulfillment and shipping, review the following list of definitions and terms.
A customs declaration form is a document that details the contents and value of goods being shipped internationally. When a shipment arrives at the destination country, customs authorities review the shipment's customs declaration form to ensure it meets the countries laws and regulations, and reviews the duties and import tax.
If you're shipping to an international destination and using shipping labels, then you need to complete a customs declaration form when buying labels in your Shopify admin.
A customs form includes the following information for each item:
Other term: Commercial invoice.
A delivery method is how you deliver orders to your customers. You can use shipping carriers and local delivery options.
For more information, refer to Set up pickup and local delivery.
Delivery time is a combination of your store's processing time and carrier's transit time. The delivery time starts when a customer places an order with your business and ends when the shipment is delivered to your customer.
For more information, refer to Setting up delivery dates.
Dimensional weight is the amount of space the package occupies in relation to the package's actual weight. Dimensional weight is determined by multiplying a package's length, width, and height and dividing by a unique value related to the volume of the package, called a volumetric divisor. Every carrier uses a unique volumetric divisor. If the dimensional weight is greater than the actual package weight, then the dimensional weight rate is charged.
Other terms: Billable weight, cubic weighting, volumetric weighting.
For more information, refer to Dimensional weight.
A fulfillment location is a place or an app where you fulfill orders. A location can be a retail store, a warehouse, your home, a pop-up shop, or an app.
For more information, refer to Locations.
A fulfillment service is a third-party warehouse or a fulfillment center that prepares and ships your orders for you.
For more information, refer to Custom fulfillment services.
Girth is a type of measurement that is used by many shipping carriers to determine the maximum size of a package. Girth is the distance around the thickest part of the remaining non-length sides.
A Harmonized System code is a six-digit code that categorizes each imported or exported item. You need to provide the HS code when filling in the customs declaration form.
Other term: HS code.
For more information, refer to HTS Codes: International Commerce and Imports.
A packing slip is a document that includes shipping and billing addresses, and product information such as SKU number, weight, or quantity.
For more information, refer to Printing and editing packing slips.
Processing time is the time frame between when an order is placed by a customer and when the shipment is given to the shipping carrier.
For more information, refer to Understanding and reducing processing time.
A return label is a label that you can send to your customer to return the shipment to you. Return labels can help you recover inventory that a customer no longer wants.
For more information, refer to Buying return labels.
A shipping carrier is a service, such as UPS, FedEx, DPD, USPS, Canada Post, or Chronopost that deliver your packages to customers. Depending on the carrier, you can schedule a pickup or drop off your package at a carrier's drop-off location.
For more information, refer to Shipping carriers.
Shipping insurance is a service that provides financial protection for damaged, lost, or stolen shipments. You can insure your shipments when buying a shipping label.
For more information, refer to Shipping insurance.
A shipping label is a label that you attach to your shipment's package. A shipping label contains information used by shipping carriers to ensure a shipment is delivered correctly. A shipping label usually contains the recipient's address, origin address, and a barcode.
You can buy shipping labels directly from shipping carriers, from third-party apps, or from your Shopify admin using shipping labels.
For more information, refer to Understanding shipping labels.
A shipping manifest is a document that links all your USPS shipments together into a single barcode.
For more information, refer to USPS shipping manifests.
A shipping profile is a set of shipping rates and zones that you can configure for specific products and locations. For example, you can have one shipping profile for fragile products and charge 15 USD for shipping, and have another shipping profile for all your other products and charge 5 USD for shipping.
For more information, refer to Shipping profiles.
A shipping rate is what you charge your customers for shipping at checkout. For example, you can offer Standard shipping for 10 USD and Express shipping for 30 USD at checkout. You can set up shipping rates based on product weight or order price. You can use flat shipping rates or carrier-calculated rates.
For more information, refer to Shipping rates.
A shipping strategy is how you charge your customers for shipping. For example, you can offer free shipping and add the shipping fees to the product price or offer flat shipping rates.
For more information, refer to Plan your shipping strategy.
A shipping zone is a group of countries or regions where a set of shipping rates are offered. For example, you can create a shipping zone for Europe and offer DHL Express rates and a flat rate that is available for all orders shipping to Europe. You can then have a separate shipping zone for the United States and offer free shipping and USPS rates for all orders shipping to the United Stated.
For more information, refer to Setting up shipping zones.
A shipping service is a shipping method offered by a shipping carrier. For example, one of the shipping services that's offered by USPS is USPS Priority Mail International. This service includes a tracking number and shipping insurance. Shipping carriers usually offer multiple shipping services with different delivery times and different prices depending on the origin and destination addresses, and the shipment's weight and size.
Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) is a fulfillment service app that you can use to integrate with a service that stores your inventory and fulfills orders. To offer this fulfillment service, Shopify partners with Flexport. To learn more, refer to Shopify Fulfillment Network.
Shipping labels in Shopify let you buy and print carrier labels directly from your Shopify admin to fulfill orders, with discounted rates from supported carriers.
For more information, refer to Shipping labels.
A store default package is a package that you set up in your Shipping and delivery settings, that is used to calculate shipping rates at checkout.
When shipping costs are calculated at checkout, if you are using weight-based or carrier calculated rates, the dimensions and weight of the store default package are factored into the shipping price. Set up your most commonly used package to be your store default package, so the shipping price provided to customers at checkout is accurate.
For more information, refer to Managing your store default package.
A tracking number is a unique ID number or code that's assigned to a package or shipment. You and your customers can use this number to track the package throughout its shipping journey. Some tracking numbers indicate the estimated delivery date. Most shipping services come with a tracking number, but cheaper services might not have it.
Other term: Tracking code
Transit time is the time frame from when your shipping carrier collects the shipment from you, to when the shipment arrives at your customer's address.
Transit time can also mean the feature in your Shipping and delivery settings that you can set up for your flat shipping rates.
For more information, refer to Setting up transit time.
Void means to cancel or invalidate your shipping label.
For more information, refer to Changing and voiding shipping labels.
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