The Ultimate Guide: How to Fulfill Orders on Shopify

Efficient order fulfillment is crucial for the growth of businesses using Shopify as their platform. After customers make a purchase, sellers need to fulfill and deliver the orders to the customers’ doors. Until this fulfillment cycle is completed, the order remains unfinished, and no profit can be made. 

Understanding how to fulfill orders on Shopify is essential for effectively managing and running your business. In this article, we will guide you on fulfilling orders on Shopify, both manually and automatically.

How to Fulfill Orders on Shopify

Following is a detailed walkthrough of how to automatically fulfill orders, how to partially fulfill an order on Shopify, and how to fulfill dropship orders.

Automatically fulfill orders

Automating order fulfilment on Shopify streamlines the process by initiating fulfillment automatically without any manual intervention. Once your customers make a purchase and complete the payment, the order will be automatically marked as fulfilled. However, it’s important to note that automatic fulfillment is applicable only in specific scenarios:

1. Your business sells digital downloads or digital gift cards.

2. You utilize fulfillment services that handle all your products.

3. You do not offer pre-orders for any of your products.

4. Local pickup orders are not compatible with this method.

Now, let’s delve into the steps involved in how to fulfill orders on Shopify automatically:

Step 1: Access your Shopify admin dashboard and navigate to Settings > Checkout.

Step 2: Proceed to the Order Processing section.

Step 3: Under the “After an order has been paid” heading, select “Automatically fulfill the order’s line items.” If you wish to notify customers about their shipping status via email, you can also choose the option to “Notify customers of their shipment via email.” This will send an email to customers once their orders are automatically fulfilled.

Step 4: Save your changes to update the fulfillment method.

Automatic fulfillment provides a hassle-free approach to handling order shipments, eliminating the need for additional manual labor. However, it’s important to be aware of the associated risks.

Partially fulfill orders

To partially fulfill an order on Shopify, you can follow these steps. This method is applicable when customers purchase multiple items, some of which may be out of stock or available for pre-order. In such cases, you have the option to pack and ship the items separately, and it is necessary to disable automatic fulfillment for all orders if you only want to fulfill part of an order. 

If you are using Shopify Shipping, here is how you can set it up:

Step 1: Access your Shopify admin dashboard and select “Orders.”

Step 2: Locate the specific order you wish to partially fulfill and select it.

Step 3: Once you have selected the order, click on “Mark as fulfilled” to proceed.

Step 4: If you use Shopify Fulfillment to purchase shipping labels, you can print the label after marking the order as fulfilled in your Shopify admin. Click on “Create shipping label” to buy the shipping label.

Step 5: On the fulfillment page, adjust the item quantities for each product in the order. Set the quantity to 0 for products that cannot be fulfilled at the moment.

Step 6: Choose the shipping method under “Shipping service.”

Step 7: If you want to notify the customer about the shipment, check the box that says “Send shipment details to your customer now.” This option applies only if you have the customer’s email address on file.

Step 8: Once you have made the necessary selections, click on “Fulfill item” on the right side.

Step 9: The order status will be updated to “Partially fulfilled,” displaying details of the fulfilled and unfulfilled items.

Fulfill dropship orders

When it comes to fulfilling dropship orders on Shopify, the process differs slightly from other fulfillment methods. Instead of handling the fulfillment directly through your shipping carrier, you will need to request fulfillment from your dropshipping partners, such as Printful. Here’s how you can fulfill dropship orders on Shopify:

If you have selected Automatic payment capture, the fulfillment process is as follows:

1. After customers successfully make a payment, the dropshipping order will automatically generate a fulfillment request.

2. The order status will be marked as “In progress.”

If you have chosen Manual payment capture, the fulfillment process involves two steps:

1. Capture the payment manually.

2. Proceed to fulfill the order manually.

Once you have completed the necessary steps, follow these instructions to request fulfillment and complete the process:

1. Click on “Request fulfillment” to move to the fulfillment page.

2. On the fulfillment page, select “Send fulfillment request” to initiate the fulfillment process.

By following these steps, you can successfully fulfill dropship orders on Shopify, ensuring that the fulfillment requests are sent to your dropshipping partners for further processing.

How to Fulfill Orders on Shopify with Apps

ConnectPOS

ConnectPOS is a reputable point-of-sale (POS) system that offers exceptional fulfillment services to enhance the efficiency of your business operations. With ConnectPOS, you gain access to a comprehensive range of fulfillment features designed to streamline your inventory management and customer service processes.

• Inventory management capabilities

One of the key highlights of ConnectPOS is its robust multi-source inventory management capabilities. The system allows you to track and manage your inventory in real time, ensuring accurate stock levels and preventing stockouts. This enables you to optimize your product availability and avoid disappointing customers with out-of-stock items.

• Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) feature

ConnectPOS also offers the convenient Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) feature. With BOPIS, customers can place orders online and collect their purchases from your physical store, providing them with a flexible and convenient shopping experience. This feature integrates your online and brick-and-mortar operations, enabling you to cater to the preferences of modern shoppers.

• Order placing and shipping

Through ConnectPOS, you can effortlessly place orders on behalf of your customers. Whether it’s for special requests, backorders, or customized products, the system allows you to easily create and process orders, ensuring a smooth and efficient purchasing process.

When it comes to shipping, ConnectPOS simplifies the process by providing integrated shipping solutions. You can generate shipping labels, track packages, and manage the fulfillment process directly from the POS system. This saves you time and effort, allowing you to focus on delivering exceptional customer service.

• Refund and return

ConnectPOS also handles refund and return processes. The system enables you to process refunds and manage returns efficiently, ensuring a hassle-free experience for both you and your customers. This enhances customer satisfaction and builds trust in your brand.

DSers

DSers is an official eCommerce app for AliExpress that streamlines the process of managing AliExpress drop shipping orders and making bulk payments. It offers convenient features for sourcing AliExpress suppliers and products for your eCommerce website. Here’s how DSers works when integrated with your Shopify store and linked to AliExpress:

• Install the DSers app in your Shopify store and connect your account to AliExpress. This allows you to import successful products from AliExpress to your Shopify store, enabling you to start selling them.
• When you receive orders from customers, DSers simplifies the shipment process by automatically synchronizing those orders with AliExpress.
• You will need to choose a shipping carrier for the orders, such as AliExpress Standard Shipping or other common service providers. Additionally, you must make the payment for the items on AliExpress to initiate the shipping process.
• Once you have completed the payment, the order status will change to “Awaiting Shipment.” At this point, DSers takes over and handles the remaining steps. When your suppliers ship the package, a tracking number will be generated.
• DSers triggers Shopify to send an email to your customers, including the tracking number for their order. Simultaneously, DSers mark the order as “Fulfilled” on Shopify, ensuring accurate order tracking and status updates.

Zendrop

When it comes to how to fulfill orders on Shopify, Zendrop is a popular app that serves as an alternative to Oberlo, which was removed from the Shopify App Store in May 2022. With Zendrop, you can discover products from both AliExpress and global suppliers who are partnered with Zendrop. These products can be easily imported directly into your Shopify website. Here’s how Zendrop functions:

• On the Zendrop dashboard, you have two options for order fulfillment. You can either enable auto fulfillment by toggling on the feature, allowing the app to handle the process automatically, or manually fulfill each order you receive.
• Similar to DSers, once you have completed the payment for an order, Zendrop takes care of the remaining steps. It will send a notification email to your customers, informing them that their package has been shipped and providing the tracking number.
• Additionally, Zendrop synchronizes the data with Shopify and updates the fulfillment status accordingly. This means that it marks the orders as “Fulfilled” on Shopify, ensuring that your records are accurate and up to date.

To Sum Up,

Once you familiarize yourself with how to fulfill orders on Shopify, you can effortlessly manage order fulfillment on the platform. By following the provided steps for each fulfillment method, you can easily configure the necessary settings and begin selling your products smoothly.

If you require assistance with inventory management while fulfilling orders, our team at ConnectPOS is here to support you. We specialize in helping you manage your listings and inventory, particularly when selling across multiple channels. If you’re interested in learning more about our services, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time for a free trial. Simply drop us a message, and we’ll be glad to assist you.