How does order status work with a custom email fulfillment service in Shopify?

Does a custom fulfillment service update the order status?

Shopify answers this directly:

With a fulfillment service app, the fulfillment status updates automatically as the service processes orders, and any tracking information it provides is added to the order automatically.

Instead, marking an order as fulfilled in your Shopify admin sends your custom fulfillment service an email with the order and customer details, including which items to ship. With automatic fulfillment, orders are automatically marked as fulfilled when they're paid, with no manual fulfillment steps.

How do you keep the order and your customer up to date?

Shopify says to track progress with the service directly, "such as by email or through their website."

When the service ships an order, add the tracking information yourself in your Shopify admin so your customer can track the shipment; a tracking number that arrives after you fulfilled the order can still be added. Once a tracking number is on the fulfillment, delivery status comes from the shipping carrier.

When you enter the service's tracking number, Shopify might recognize its format and select the shipping carrier for you; if it selects none or the wrong one, pick the carrier yourself. When you add tracking to an order you've already fulfilled, you can add more than one tracking number, but all of them must be from the same carrier.

That carrier decides what your customer sees. With a supported carrier, the order status page updates in real time and shows the shipment's location on a map.

If the carrier isn't fully supported by Shopify, or you select Other, you can enter the complete tracking URL by hand, including the digits the carrier gave for the shipment; the order status page uses it to link to the carrier's tracking page. With an unsupported carrier, that link is what your customer gets on the order status page: the order status isn't displayed, and the map pin doesn't update in real time (what that page looks like).

If the service doesn't provide tracking numbers, mark the order as delivered after your customer receives it, which updates their order status page and customer account; otherwise the order remains On its way. The Mark as delivered button shows only on fulfillments without a tracking number.

Which shipping emails does your customer get, and when?

With an email service, your customer's shipping emails follow the steps above, in this order:

1. You mark the order fulfilled. The same step that emails your service can send your customer a Shipping confirmation. It's optional, and available only when you have the customer's email address.
2. You add the service's tracking number. On an order already marked fulfilled, this sends a Shipping update with the tracking number unless you deselect the notification.
3. With a tracking number on the fulfillment, the carrier reports progress. Out for delivery and Delivered go out when a tracking event with that status arrives from the carrier or a fulfillment app; sources, accuracy and timing of those events vary by carrier.

If you already have a tracking number when you mark the order fulfilled, you can include it in that step. If it arrives later, leave the Shipping update on when you add it: that's the email that brings the tracking number to your customer.

Shopify's order status page documentation says order and shipping updates aren't sent by SMS. If your customer entered a phone number at checkout, you can give them the choice to opt in to these updates by email.

What if you need to cancel or change the fulfillment?

To cancel or change a fulfillment, contact your custom fulfillment service directly: canceling a fulfillment in your Shopify admin doesn't stop one that's in progress.

After you've contacted the service to cancel, you update the order status in your Shopify admin manually.