Partially fulfil an order in Shopify
Order 1043 has 4 items, but only 3 are on the shelf. Partial fulfilment ships what is ready now and leaves the rest unfulfilled for a second shipment, instead of holding the whole order for one missing item.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 4 minutes read
The worked example
| Order | 1043 |
| Ready now | 3 × Trail Crew Tee |
| Held back | 1 × Summit Hoodie |
| Shipped now | $84.00 |
| Ships later | $45.00 |
| Order total | $129.00 |
| Status after | Partially fulfilled |
Download the plan: partial-fulfilment-plan.csv (117 bytes).
A partial fulfilment plan for order 1043: shipment 1 is $84.00, shipment 2 is $45.00, and the two add to the $129.00 order total. It is a planning record, not a file Shopify imports.
1Check automatic fulfilment is off
To fulfil part of an order by hand, automatic fulfilment must be off. Check it in Settings > General > Order processing; with automatic fulfilment on, the whole order is marked fulfilled at payment and there is nothing left to split.
2Open the order
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click order 1043. The Unfulfilled section lists all 4 items: 3 Trail Crew Tees and 1 Summit Hoodie.
3Click Mark as fulfilled
In the Unfulfilled section, click Mark as fulfilled. The form lets you enter a quantity for each item instead of fulfilling the whole section.
4Enter the quantities you are shipping
Enter 3 for the Trail Crew Tee and leave the Summit Hoodie at 0. Only the items with a quantity above 0 go into this shipment; the hoodie stays unfulfilled for the second shipment.
5Add the tracking number for this shipment
In the Tracking number field, add the number for this parcel. Each shipment gets its own tracking number, so do not reuse the number from a later parcel here.
6Send the shipping confirmation
Select Send a notification to the customer. The customer gets a shipping confirmation for this shipment; they get a second one when the hoodie ships, so the email should say a second parcel is on its way.
7Click Mark as fulfilled
Click Mark as fulfilled. The order status becomes Partially fulfilled, and the hoodie remains in an Unfulfilled section.
8Fulfil the hoodie when it arrives
When the hoodie is back in stock, open order 1043 again and fulfil the remaining item the same way. The order status becomes Fulfilled only after the last item ships.
The arithmetic
The order total is split across two shipments.
| Shipment | Items | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Shipment 1, today | 3 × Trail Crew Tee at $28.00 | $84.00 |
| Shipment 2, later | 1 × Summit Hoodie at $45.00 | $45.00 |
| Order total | 4 items | $129.00 |
$84.00 + $45.00 = $129.00, so the two shipments add to the order total. Each shipment is its own fulfilment, with its own tracking number and its own shipping confirmation email.
Held at the counter
Automatic fulfilment on blocks this entirely. With automatic fulfilment on, Shopify marks the whole order as fulfilled the moment payment is captured. Partial fulfilment needs the manual setting, checked before the order arrives.
The customer gets one email per shipment. Each fulfilment sends its own shipping confirmation. A customer who is not told a second parcel is coming will write in asking where the rest of their order is.
The order sits Partially fulfilled until the rest ships. A partially fulfilled order stays in that state until every item is fulfilled, refunded, or cancelled. If the hoodie never arrives, decide what happens to it instead of leaving the order open.
Sources
- Fulfilling your own orders individually — Shopify's help pages: the partial fulfilment steps, the quantity fields, the automatic fulfilment warning, and the rule that each fulfilment is fulfilled separately.