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Fulfillment

Fulfillment tracks the exact item quantities prepared and physically handed off, separately from an order's status. The fulfillment status shown in Sales is a summary of those line-level records; it is not a dropdown you set independently.

What the summary means

StateWhat it means
UnfulfilledNo item quantity has crossed physical handoff. A package may still be preparing or ready.
Partially fulfilledSome exact item quantities have crossed handoff; others have not.
FulfilledEvery required product quantity has crossed handoff.

Order status such as Processing does not mean a package was prepared or shipped. Use the guided Fulfillment workflow in Sales for physical progress.

Prepare a shipment and label

Select the exact quantities going into one loaded package, enter its weight and dimensions, review the carrier service and charge, then buy the label. A successful purchase makes the package Ready to ship. You can print or reprint the label, but the items are still with you: buying or printing a label does not mark the order shipped and does not email the customer.

If a provider result is uncertain, stop and use the reconciliation guidance on the package. Do not start a second label purchase merely because the first response was lost.

Record carrier handoff

When the carrier physically takes the package, choose whether to send or suppress the shipped email and confirm handoff on that exact package. Handoff moves Ready to ship → Shipped, consumes only that package's selected stock, and recalculates the order's fulfillment summary from handed-off line quantities. This is when a multi-package order may become Partially fulfilled.

The available count was already reduced when checkout reserved stock. At handoff, the selected units leave on-hand and reserved inventory together. See Stock levels & adjustments for the complete stock model.

Tracking and historical orders

Carrier, service, tracking number, and tracking link remain visible with the package. If a carrier label omits tracking, add truthful tracking through the guided handoff flow when available.

Older orders may show Historical compatibility shipment or Fulfillment needs reconciliation. Compatibility tracking is edit-only: it cannot invent item quantities, create a shipment, change fulfillment status, move inventory, or send another shipment email. Follow the reconciliation message instead of trying to recreate the old order-wide fulfillment action.

Who can do this

Any team member can view orders. Owners and Admins can operate fulfillment, and so can Staff granted the Orders and fulfillment permission group. Only Owners and Admins can buy or reconcile a carrier label; Staff without the group see fulfillment read-only. See Team & permissions.

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