Connecting a Fulfillment Partner and Setting Up Shipping in Shopify

Locations: telling Shopify where stock sits

Shopify fulfills orders from locations. A location is any place you sell from, stock inventory or ship orders: your own room or unit, a pop-up, a warehouse, or a third-party service such as a 3PL or a fulfillment app (locations). Each location holds its own count for every variant, and each order is assigned to a location for fulfillment. The number of locations depends on your plan, as listed on the pricing page.

A typical merch setup has two or three: your own location for samples, signed items and returns; the printer or warehouse that holds the bulk run; and perhaps a print-on-demand app for the long tail of older designs. Getting this right first prevents the classic mistake of the store selling a hoodie that exists only in a box in your car.

Three ways orders reach a printer or 3PL

Fulfillment apps. With an app connected, you choose a fulfillment method for each product, and one order can mix methods for different items. You can request fulfillment per order or turn on automatic requests so an order goes to the partner as soon as it is paid. The partner accepts (the order moves to In progress and tracking comes back when available) or declines with a note (it returns to Unfulfilled). One rule catches people out: once you request fulfillment, you can no longer edit the order or refund items (app fulfillment). For pre-orders and custom requests, that is a reason to keep automatic requests off or to hold orders until you are ready.

Custom fulfillment services. Under Settings > Shipping and delivery you can add a fulfillment service with a name and an email address. It becomes a location; you assign products to it in each product's inventory section, and you can stock the same product there and at your own location. Marking an order fulfilled emails the partner the items and address. There are no automatic status updates, so tracking is added by hand and cancellations are handled directly with the partner (custom fulfillment).

Before you connect anyone, agree in writing:

• The SKU list, so their system and Shopify name every variant the same way.
• How often stock counts sync, and who corrects them after a miscount.
• The daily cutoff for same-day dispatch, and what happens on drop day volume.
• Packing standard: polybag or not, mailer or box, inserts, folding. See packaging for apparel orders.
• Who buys labels and on which carrier account.
• Where returns go and who inspects them.

Merch fulfillment options compares doing it yourself, a 3PL, print-on-demand and printer fulfillment, including the receiving, storage and pick and pack charges to ask about.

Order routing between locations

With two or more active locations, Shopify assigns each online order using routing rules applied in order. The default set chooses locations that can fulfill every item (to avoid split shipments), stays within the destination market where possible, and then picks the closest location. You can add custom rules based on location metafields, for example to prefer the warehouse over your own shelf (order routing).

For merch, routing matters most when stock overlaps. If both you and the warehouse hold the same tee, decide which should ship it and set the priority, then keep your own count low or at zero for web orders so the bulk stock is used first.

Shipping profiles and zones

Every store has a general shipping profile that covers all products. You can add up to 99 custom profiles for products that need different rates (shipping profiles). Inside each profile, zones group countries or regions, and each zone has its rates.

Custom profiles earn their place when products ship very differently:

• Heavy or bulky goods, such as blankets, heavyweight hoodies or framed prints.
• Items shipped only from one location, such as print-on-demand products whose rates come from the partner.
• Posters in tubes, or mugs that need a box rather than a mailer.

Keep the number of profiles low. When a customer buys from several profiles at once, Shopify combines rates, and that combination can surprise you. Shopify is also moving stores toward managing shipping options by market; existing setups stay as they are until migrated, so check which model your admin shows.

Rate types, and what suits apparel

These options are described in Shopify's zones and rates guide. Rates from Shopify's supported carriers depend on your location's country. Rates from your own UPS, FedEx or USPS accounts need third-party carrier-calculated shipping, which comes with Advanced and Plus and can be added to Grow for a fee or with annual billing (third-party calculated shipping).

Shopify's own shipping strategy page sets out the trade: flat and free rates are clear before checkout, calculated rates are exact but appear late. For apparel, a common pattern is a flat domestic rate that covers a typical one or two item order, a weight-based or calculated rate for international zones, and free domestic shipping above an order value you have costed against your heaviest likely basket. Shipping zones and costs explained shows how carrier zones and weight set the real cost, and pricing your merch shows where a shipping subsidy belongs in your margin.

Weights, packages and labels

Rates are only as accurate as the data behind them. Enter a weight on every variant, by size: a 3XL hoodie can weigh noticeably more than a Small, and a weight-based or calculated rate will charge it correctly only if you tell it. Then set up the packages you actually use, with dimensions and weights, so carriers can price shipments and print labels correctly (packages). A poly mailer and a box of the same weight can price differently once dimensional weight applies.

For international orders, fill in the HS code and country or region of origin fields that each variant carries. Customs paperwork asks for both, and entering them once on the variant saves retyping them on every label.

Shopify Shipping lets you buy and print discounted labels from supported carriers inside the admin, individually or in bulk. Tracking goes to the customer automatically, and you can void and reprint labels and schedule pickups. Depending on your location, it also offers return labels, duty-paid labels for international orders and insurance. Label discounts vary by plan, and you need an eligible fulfillment location and a suitable printer (Shopify Shipping).

Before the first real order

1. Every variant has a weight, SKU and stock assigned to the right location.
2. Products are in the right shipping profile, and every zone you sell to has a rate.
3. Your packages match the mailers and boxes you or your partner use.
4. The fulfillment app or custom service is connected, and automatic requests are on or off by choice.
5. A test order of one tee and a test of a heavy mixed order both show sensible rates.
6. Shipping confirmation emails carry tracking, and the shipping policy matches what the rates promise.

If you take pre-orders, read running pre-orders on Shopify next: holds and request timing interact with everything above.

Useful for: clothing brands, bands, creators, companies.