- Short answer
- Shopify adds a separate order status page section for each fulfillment, each with its own tracking and carrier — different carriers included.
- Two carriers = two fulfillments
- Several tracking numbers on the same fulfillment must all be from one carrier, so two carriers means two fulfillments.
- The unshipped half
- Unfulfilled and Partially fulfilled are admin labels; no page we read puts them on the customer's page
- How many emails
- Each fulfillment is fulfilled separately, so Shopify says the customer can receive more than one shipping confirmation email
What's New Since Publication: Updated since publication · 1 change
- Shopify now states that a split order can send more than one shipping confirmation emailShopify's Fulfilling your own orders individually page now says that each fulfillment in an order is fulfilled separately, so a customer can receive more than one shipping confirmation email for an order that has multiple fulfillments, and that you can send a separate notification for each fulfillment you ship. When we first read that page on August 22, 2026 it was silent on the count. The same page now lists three reasons an order splits — no single location has the stock, checkout split the shipments, or a mix of shipping and in-store pickup — where it previously named location alone.
One section per fulfillment
Two parcels you fulfill separately are two fulfillments, and the order status page is built for that:
The order status page works with partial fulfillments, even if they're made through different shipping carriers. Shopify creates new sections on the order status page for multiple fulfillments.
Each fulfillment then arrives with its own:
- tracking number and carrier — automatic on a Shopify label; on the manual path you enter the number and Shopify detects the carrier, with a dropdown for the ones it doesn't recognize;
- real-time status on the order status page, for a carrier Shopify supports — the same five shipment statuses a one-parcel order shows.
Can the two parcels ship with different carriers?
Yes — Shopify documents that case by name: your own courier on one parcel, a Shopify label on the other, two sections that track separately.
The limit sits one level down, inside a single fulfillment. Where you add more than one tracking number there, Shopify is explicit: "All tracking numbers must be from the same carrier." Two carriers means two fulfillments, not one fulfillment carrying two numbers.
Whether a carrier is integrated changes what its section can show — its own answer.
What your customer sees before the second parcel ships
Before the second parcel ships, the Shopify pages behind this answer document your side, not your customer's. An order whose items can't be fulfilled together — no single location has the stock, checkout split the shipments, or part is picked up in store — splits into several Unfulfilled sections in your admin, and Partially fulfilled is one of the seven fulfillment statuses there. Both are admin labels: none of the five Shopify pages we re-read on September 16, 2026 puts either on the customer's page.
Email is not a gap. Each fulfillment is fulfilled separately, so Shopify says the customer can receive more than one Shipping confirmation for an order with multiple fulfillments — you can send a separate notification for each fulfillment you ship. Clearing Send shipment details to your customer now skips it for that fulfillment — and if you skip it, tell them yourself that the second parcel is still coming.
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