If you set your orders to fulfill automatically, then the order is automatically marked as fulfilled after it's paid.
Automatic fulfillment can be used if you exclusively sell digital downloads or digital gift cards. Customers who purchase digital products are automatically emailed a download link and the order is marked as fulfilled.
Fulfill your own orders manually
If you set your orders to fulfill manually, then you need to open your orders and fulfill the line items.
You can fulfill part of an order manually by fulfilling some line items. This is also called partial fulfillment. To make the manual fulfillment process faster, you can fulfill multiple orders at the same time.
Sorting orders using the fulfill by date
You can view and sort the orders that you need to fulfill, using the Fulfill by date on the Orders page of your Shopify admin. The Fulfill by date is the latest date that you can ship an order to ensure that the order is delivered within the estimated delivery window, which was communicated to the customer in the sales channel or online store.
Optional: If you're using multiple locations, and if you want to change the location that you're fulfilling your order from, then click … on the fulfillment card, and then select Change location. Select the location that you want to use, and click Save. The location can only be changed for orders that require shipping, not local delivery or pickup orders.
If you're using a carrier other than Shopify Shipping, then click Fulfill item(s), and enter the tracking number from your shipping provider. Shopify might recognize the tracking number format and choose a shipping carrier for you. If there's no carrier or if the wrong carrier was chosen, then select your shipping carrier from the Shipping carrier drop-down menu. The tracking URL is displayed in the customer's shipping confirmation and shipping update emails.
Optional: To send a notification email to the customer right away, select Send shipment details to your customer now. This option is available only if you have an email address for the customer on file.
Click Fulfill item(s) to mark the order as Fulfilled. If you're using Shopify Shipping, then select a shipping service, and then click Buy shipping label.
The order screen updates to display the order's fulfillment status.
Fulfill part of an order manually
If a customer placed and paid for an order with multiple items, and one or more of the items are out of stock or a preorder, then you might want to fulfill part of the order so that you can ship the items separately.
Steps:
If you're using Shopify Shipping, then follow these steps:
To buy a shipping label for your order, select Create shipping label.
From the Fulfillment page, change the number of products that you want to fulfill for each line item in the Items section.
Select the shipping method in the Shipping service section.
Optional: To send a notification email to the customer right away, select Send shipment details to your customer now. This option is available only if you have an email address for the customer on file.
Click Buy shipping label. The order screen updates to display the order's Fulfilled and Unfulfilled items.
If you're not using Shopify Shipping, then follow these steps:
Optional: If you're using multiple locations, and if you want to change the location that you're fulfilling your order from, then click … on the fulfillment card, and then select Change location. Select the location that you want to use, and click Save. The location can only be changed for orders that require shipping, not local delivery or pickup orders.
Click Fulfill item(s).
From the Fulfillment page, change the number of products that you want to fulfill for each line item in the Items section.
Enter the tracking number from your shipping provider in the Tracking information section.
The tracking URL displays in the customer's Shipping confirmation and Shipping update emails.
Optional: To send a notification email to the customer right away, select Send shipment details to your customer now. This option is available only if you have an email address for the customer on file.
Click Fulfill item(s). The order screen updates to display the order's Fulfilled and Unfulfilled items.
If you want to review the order's fulfillment details or add a tracking number, then click Add tracking in the Fulfilled section of the order.
Fulfilling orders for multiple locations
If a customer has placed and paid for an order of multiple products, and one or more of the products are stocked at different locations, then you can fulfill parts of the order separately based on the location of your inventory. You can set location priorities to specify the priority sequence for order fulfillment.
If the order can be fulfilled using the stock at a single location, then the unfulfilled section displays all of the items in the order listed together.
If the order can't be fulfilled using the stock at a single location, then the unfulfilled section displays the available items listed by location.
Do one of the following:
If you’re using Shopify Shipping to buy a shipping label for your order, then select Create shipping label in the unfulfilled card that you’re fulfilling your items from.
If you’re using a carrier other than Shopify Shipping, then select Fulfill item(s), and enter the tracking number from your shipping provider. The tracking URL displays in the customer’s shipping confirmation and shipping update emails.
Optional: To send a notification email to the customer right away, select Send shipment details to your customer now. This option is available only if you have an email address for the customer on file.
Click Fulfill item(s) to mark the order as fulfilled. If you’re using Shopify Shipping, then select a shipping service, and then click Buy shipping label.
The order screen updates to display the order’s fulfillment status.
Change the location of a fulfillment
If you need to change the location of a fulfillment, for reasons such as stock availability, associated shipping costs, or the need for an expedited delivery, then you can change the location of any unfulfilled orders to fulfill items in that order from a new fulfillment location.
Select the order that you want to change location for.
Click the ... button.
Click Change location.
From the Location drop-down menu, select a new fulfillment location.
In the Items section, click the up or down arrow to adjust the quantity and select the items that you want to change the fulfillment location for.
Click Save.
Fulfill multiple orders at the same time
By selecting several orders, you can use the Mark as Fulfilled button to fulfill them at the same time. This applies to stores that manually fulfill orders. If you aren't using Shopify Shipping, then you need to add tracking numbers to the orders.
The Mark as fulfilled action applies to orders that are fulfilled without a fulfillment service. If you use the Mark as fulfilled action for orders that are fulfilled by a fulfillment service, then these orders are skipped and aren't fulfilled. Instead, you need to request fulfillment.
Optional: Click the Unfulfilled tab to view only the orders that need to be fulfilled.
Select the orders that you want to fulfill by clicking the checkboxes.
Click Mark as fulfilled.
Optional: Select the Send a notification to the customer checkbox to send your customers a shipping confirmation notification.
Click Mark as fulfilled.
Split a fulfillment
You can split a fulfillment order, line items, and quantities into new fulfillment orders to get products to a customer faster. For example, if one of the items in the order is out-of-stock, then you can remove it from the order so that the remaining items can be delivered to customers as soon as possible. The out of stock item is later delivered in a separate package.
Select the order that you want to split a fulfillment for.
Click the ... button.
Click Split.
Use the up or down arrow to adjust the quantity and select the items that you want to split.
Merge a fulfillment
You can merge a set or multiple sets of fulfillment orders from the same location together into one based on line items and quantities. Merging a fulfillment can help simplify your fulfillment process and reduce shipping costs.
Select the order that you want to merge a fulfillment for.
Click the ... button.
Click Merge.
Use the up or down arrow to adjust the quantity and select the items that you want to merge with an existing fulfillment in the same location.
Click Merge. Selected items are merged with an existing fulfillment in the same location.
Cancel a fulfillment (automatic and manual fulfillments)
When you cancel a fulfillment, the fulfillment status of the order returns to Unfulfilled, and you can buy a new shipping label or create a new fulfillment for the order.
If you have purchased a shipping label, then you must void it before you can cancel the fulfillment.