How to fulfil in stock items seperately in a preorder?
When customers order both preorder and in-stock products in the same cart, you may want to ship the in-stock items immediately while waiting for preorder items to become available. You can manually split and fulfill these items separately directly within your Shopify admin, ensuring customers receive their available products right away without waiting for the preorder items.
What Are Mixed Cart Orders?
A mixed cart order occurs when a customer purchases both preorder products and regular in-stock products in the same transaction.
Example Scenario
A customer adds to their cart:
- 1x Blue T-Shirt (in stock, ready to ship)
- 1x Limited Edition Sneakers (preorder, ships in 4 weeks)
If these items are grouped in the same fulfillment box in Shopify, you would normally need to wait until the sneakers are available before shipping anything. By splitting the fulfillment, you can ship the Blue T-Shirt immediately and fulfill the Sneakers later.
When to Fulfill Items Separately
Fulfilling in-stock items early is ideal for stores that want to provide the best customer experience for mixed orders.
Benefits
- Faster delivery for in-stock items: Customers receive available products sooner.
- Better customer satisfaction: No unnecessary waiting for items that are ready to ship.
- Clearer order tracking: Customers know exactly which parts of their order are on the way.
Considerations
Before splitting fulfillments manually, consider:
- You'll have multiple shipments to manage for single orders.
- Shipping costs may be higher if you're paying per shipment out of pocket.
- This requires manual admin work for every mixed order unless automated.
Fulfilling Orders That Are Already Separated
If your in-stock and preorder items are already separated into different fulfillment groups (either manually or by an app), follow these steps to ship the in-stock items.
Processing the In-Stock Fulfillment
- Go to your Shopify admin.
- Navigate to Orders and select the specific order.
- Locate the fulfillment box containing the in-stock product and click the Mark as fulfilled button.
- Add the Tracking number and select your Shipping carrier.
- Click Mark as fulfilled to finalize.
Splitting and Fulfilling Mixed Orders
If the in-stock and preorder items are grouped together in the same fulfillment box, you must manually split them before you can fulfill the in-stock item early.
How to Split the Fulfillment
- Go to your Shopify admin.
- Navigate to Orders and select the specific order.
- Locate the fulfillment box containing both items.
- Click the three dots (...) icon on the fulfillment box.
- Click Split fulfillment
- Select the in-stock product and click **Split fulfillment **to separate the items into different fulfillments.
Note: Be careful to assign the correct quantities of the in-stock and preorder items to their respective new fulfillment groups when prompted by Shopify.
Fulfilling the Separated In-Stock Item
- Once the items are split into different fulfillment boxes, click the Mark as fulfilled button specifically on the in-stock product's box.
- Add the Tracking number and select your Shipping carrier.
- Click Mark as fulfilled to complete the process.
Automating Split Fulfillments
Manually splitting every mixed cart order can be time-consuming. If you want to save time and automate this process for future orders, STOQ can handle this for you automatically after checkout.
Read the guide: Split fulfilment automatically for mixed cart orders
Troubleshooting
If you encounter issues while trying to manually split and fulfill orders, use this guide to identify and resolve common problems.
Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Cannot find the "Split fulfillment" button | Items are already split, or the order is fully fulfilled | Check if the items are already in separate unfulfilled boxes |
Customer received confusing tracking | Tracking number was applied to the preorder item by mistake | Carefully ensure you are only clicking "Mark as fulfilled" on the in-stock item's box |
Shipping costs are higher than expected | Multiple shipments created manually | Factor in multiple shipment costs when setting up your store's shipping rates |
FAQs
Q : Does the customer get notified when I split the fulfillment?
A : No. Customers are notified only when you click "Mark as fulfilled" and add a tracking number. Simply splitting the fulfillment in Shopify admin does not send any notification.
Q : Can I undo a split fulfillment?
A : Yes. If neither fulfillment has been completed, you can merge them in Shopify admin by clicking the three dots and selecting "Merge fulfillment" to combine the items back into one fulfillment.
Q : Do I have to add tracking right away?
A : No. You can split the fulfillment at any time for organization. Tracking details are required only when you mark the item as fulfilled and ship it.
Q : What happens to the shipping fee when I manually split a fulfillment?
A : The customer is charged only the shipping fee calculated at checkout. Splitting fulfillments does not automatically charge additional shipping. If you incur extra shipping costs by sending multiple packages, you will need to cover them unless your shipping rates account for mixed cart orders.
Q : Can I split the fulfillment if a customer ordered multiple quantities of the same item but only some are in stock?
A : Yes. When you click Split fulfillment, you can adjust the quantity being moved. For example, if a customer ordered three items and only one is in stock, you can ship one now and leave the remaining quantity on hold.
Q : Will my third party fulfillment service know I split the order?
A : This depends on your fulfillment service. Most modern 3PL apps sync with Shopify fulfillment data and will recognize the split as separate shipment requests. We recommend testing a mixed order or confirming directly with your 3PL provider.
Q : Does manually splitting an order affect my STOQ settings?
A : No. Manually splitting an order only changes how that specific order is organized for shipping. It does not affect your STOQ preorder rules or automated settings.
Updated on: 20/02/2026
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