How to process & fulfill an order

A step-by-step guide to processing a Shopify order from payment received to shipped, including adding tracking numbers.

When a customer places an order, it shows up in your Shopify admin waiting for action. This guide walks you through processing that order from start to shipped.

Quick summary

Processing an order means marking it as fulfilled once you have shipped (or handed off) the items. Open the order, click Mark as fulfilled, add a tracking number if you have one, and click Mark as fulfilled again. Tick Send a notification to the customer and Shopify emails them a shipping confirmation.

What you'll need

Admin access to your Shopify store
The order to be fulfilled (paid and ready to ship)
A tracking number from your carrier (optional but recommended)

Step 1 — Find the order

Go to Orders. From your Shopify admin, click Orders in the left sidebar.

Find orders that need action. New orders that have been paid but not shipped show as Unfulfilled. You can switch to the Unfulfilled view at the top of the Orders page to see only the orders that still need shipping.

Open the order. Click the order number to open it.

Step 2 — Review the order

Before fulfilling, take a moment to review:

Is payment confirmed? The order's payment status should be Paid.
Is the shipping address correct?
Are all items in the order what you expected?
Did the customer leave a note on the order?

Check for fraud risk alerts

If Shopify's fraud analysis rates an order as medium or high risk, the order is flagged with a warning symbol next to its number on the Orders page. Review it before shipping: open the order and check the Order risk section for the details. It is your decision whether to proceed — but it is better to check than to ship to a fraudulent address and lose both the goods and the payment.

Step 3 — Fulfill the order

Scroll to the Unfulfilled section. You will see a section listing the items ready to be fulfilled.

Click Mark as fulfilled in that section.

Add a tracking number (optional but recommended). Enter the tracking number from your carrier in the Tracking number field. Shopify may recognize the format and pick the carrier for you; if not, choose it from the Shipping carrier menu. If your carrier isn't listed, choose Other and you can enter the tracking URL yourself.

Tick "Send a notification to the customer." This emails the customer a shipping confirmation that includes the tracking number. The option is only available if you have the customer's email address.

Click Mark as fulfilled. The order's fulfillment status changes to Fulfilled.

You're done

The order is now marked as fulfilled. If you ticked the notification box, the customer receives a shipping confirmation email with the tracking number (if you added one). The order now shows as Fulfilled in your Orders list.

Fulfilling only part of an order

If you are shipping items in multiple shipments — for example, one item is back-ordered — you can fulfill a partial order:

Open the order. Find and open the order in your Orders list.

Click Mark as fulfilled. Enter the quantity of each item that you are shipping now.

Fulfill only the ready items. Click Mark as fulfilled. The order will show Partially fulfilled. You can come back and fulfill the remaining items later.

Sometimes Shopify has already split an order into more than one Unfulfilled section, for example when no single location has all the items in stock. In that case, fulfill each section separately.

Auto-fulfillment for digital products

If you only sell digital downloads or gift cards, Shopify can mark orders as fulfilled automatically. Turn this on in Settings → General: in the Order processing section, select Automatically fulfill the order's line items. For digital products, also turn off the Physical product setting on the product so no shipping is charged, and use a digital download app (such as Shopify's free Digital Products app) to deliver the files.

Using fulfillment apps

If you use a fulfillment service (such as Multi-Channel Fulfillment by Amazon or another third-party logistics company), the service stores your stock and ships orders for you. You connect a third-party service through its app, or you can set up a custom fulfillment service that receives orders by email. Ask us for help if you are setting up a fulfillment integration for the first time.

Printing a packing slip

To print a packing slip to include in your shipment:

Open the order.

Click Print → Print packing slips.

Print or save the packing slip.

Common questions

What if I fulfill an order by mistake?

You can cancel the fulfillment. Open the order, and in the Fulfilled section click the ⋯ menu, then Cancel fulfillment. The order goes back to Unfulfilled. If you bought a shipping label in Shopify, you need to void the label first. Cancelling in Shopify only changes your records: if a fulfillment service is handling the order, contact them to stop it, and a package that's already with the carrier is still on its way.

Do I need to manually fulfill every order?

No. In Settings → General → Order processing you can set Shopify to fulfill orders automatically. Shopify recommends this when you sell only digital downloads or gift cards, or when a fulfillment service handles all your products. If you pack and ship orders yourself, keep manual fulfillment (the default). Otherwise every new order is marked as fulfilled, and it's hard to see which ones still need shipping.

The customer says they didn't get a tracking email — what do I do?

First, check that the fulfillment shows a tracking number and that the customer's email address on the order is right. The shipping confirmation is only sent if Send a notification to the customer was ticked when you fulfilled the order. If orders are fulfilled automatically, the email is sent only if Notify customers of their shipment is selected in the Order processing settings. You don't need to switch the email on in Settings → Notifications: most customer notifications are sent automatically and can't be turned off. Ask the customer to check their spam or junk folder. If you add or change tracking on a fulfilled order (Add tracking, or Edit tracking from the ⋯ menu, in the order's fulfillment section), leave the option to notify the customer ticked and Shopify sends them a shipping update email.

Can I fulfill orders from my phone?

Yes. The Shopify mobile app lets you view and fulfill orders on the go. Download the Shopify app for iOS or Android.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.