How to ship preorder and in-stock items together from a mixed cart

When a customer orders both preorder and in-stock products in the same cart, you may want to ship preorder and in-stock items together in a single package. STOQ lets you keep all items in one fulfillment group so nothing ships until every product is ready. This guide explains how to configure your preorder offer so that mixed cart orders stay together for fulfillment.

Overview

By default, when a customer places a mixed cart order and the delivery type is set to "As soon as possible," all items appear in one fulfillment group with an Unfulfilled status. You can fulfill the entire order at once. If you want to hold the order until all items are ready, enable the Hold all fulfillments option. This places the entire order on hold so nothing ships until you manually release it. Both approaches let you ship preorder and in-stock items together in a single shipment.

Prerequisites

Make sure the following are in place before you configure your fulfillment settings.

• You have a paid STOQ plan. Hold fulfillments is a paid feature.
• You have at least one active preorder offer with products assigned to it.
• Mixed cart orders are allowed on your offer. If Don't allow mixed cart orders is checked in the offer's Limits section, customers cannot add preorder and in-stock items to the same cart.

Allow Mixed Cart Orders

Before you can ship preorder and in-stock items together, customers need to be able to add both types of products to the same cart. STOQ allows this by default, but if mixed carts were previously blocked, you need to re-enable the setting.

Check Your Mixed Cart Setting

1. From your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
2. Click Preorders in the left navigation menu.
3. Click Offers to view your preorder offers.
4. Click on the offer you want to configure.
5. In the offer editor, click the Limits icon in the left sidebar.
6. Scroll down to the Mixed cart orders section.
7. Make sure the Don't allow mixed cart orders checkbox is unchecked. When unchecked, customers can add preorder and regular items to the same cart.
8. Click Save.

Set Up Combined Fulfillment (Default)

The simplest way to ship preorder and in-stock items together is to use the default combined fulfillment. When the delivery type is set to "As soon as possible" and neither split fulfillments nor hold fulfillments is enabled, all items appear in a single fulfillment group.

How to Configure

1. From your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
2. Click Preorders in the left navigation menu, then click Offers.
3. Click on the offer you want to configure.
4. In the offer editor, click the Shipping icon in the left sidebar.
5. Under Settings, select Use one shipping timeline for all products.
6. In the Preorders will be fulfilled dropdown, select As soon as possible.
7. Under Fulfillment options, make sure both Split fulfillments for preorders and Hold all fulfillments are unchecked.
8. Click Save changes on the top right.

What Happens After Checkout

1. The customer places an order containing both preorder and in-stock items.
2. All items appear in a single fulfillment group with an Unfulfilled status.
3. The order is available for fulfillment immediately.
4. You decide when to fulfill — either right away or once all preorder stock arrives.

Set Up Hold Fulfillments

If you want to make sure nothing ships until all items are ready, enable Hold all fulfillments. This automatically places a fulfillment hold on the entire order after checkout, preventing any items from being shipped until you manually release the hold.

How to Enable

1. From your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
2. Click Preorders in the left navigation menu, then click Offers.
3. Click on the offer you want to configure.
4. In the offer editor, click the Shipping icon in the left sidebar.
5. Under Settings, set the delivery type to either:

• As soon as possible — preorders are immediately available for fulfillment once the hold is released.
• Not sure — preorders are placed on hold with an unknown delivery date.

6. Under Fulfillment options, check Hold all fulfillments.
7. If Split fulfillments for preorders was previously enabled, STOQ automatically unchecks it. The two options are mutually exclusive.
8. Optionally, enter a Reason note (e.g., "Order contains preorder item"). This note appears in Shopify admin next to the held fulfillment group.
9. Click Save changes on the top right.

What Happens After Checkout

1. The customer places an order containing both preorder and in-stock items.
2. All items appear in a single fulfillment group with an On hold status.
3. No items can be shipped until you release the hold.
4. Once all preorder stock arrives, you release the hold and fulfill the entire order together.

Release Held Fulfillments and Ship

Once your preorder stock arrives and you are ready to ship preorder and in-stock items together, you need to release the fulfillment hold and then fulfill the order.

Release from STOQ

1. In the STOQ app, go to Preorders > Orders.
2. Select the order you want to release.
3. Click Release fulfillments to remove the hold.
4. Once released, go to the order in Shopify admin and click Fulfill items.

Bulk Release from STOQ

1. In the STOQ app, go to Preorders > Orders.
2. Select multiple orders using the checkboxes.
3. Use the bulk action Release held to release fulfillments for all selected orders at once.

Release from Shopify Admin

1. Open the order in Shopify admin > Orders.
2. On the fulfillment group marked On hold, click Release hold.
3. Once the status changes to Unfulfilled, click Fulfill items.

Understanding the Fulfillment Preview

STOQ includes a fulfillment preview in the Shipping settings that shows you how the order will appear in Shopify admin based on your current configuration.

• Combined fulfillment (no split, no hold): The preview shows a single Unfulfilled group containing both products.
• Hold fulfillments enabled: The preview shows a single On hold group containing both products, with a Release hold button.

The preview updates in real time as you change settings, so you can see the impact before saving.

Known Limitations

• Split and hold are mutually exclusive. You cannot enable both split fulfillments and hold fulfillments on the same offer. Enabling one automatically disables the other.
• Hold fulfillments requires ASAP or Unknown delivery type. The "Hold all fulfillments" option is only available when the delivery type is set to "As soon as possible" or "Not sure." It is not available with scheduled delivery types (specific date or after a number of days).
• Single shipping fee. Customers are charged one shipping fee for the full order. If you need separate shipping charges, configure separate shipping profiles in Shopify.
• Paid plan required. Hold fulfillments requires a paid STOQ plan.
• All items are held. When hold fulfillments is enabled, in-stock items are also held. You cannot hold only the preorder items while shipping in-stock items immediately — that requires split fulfillments instead.
• Already-fulfilled orders cannot be held. STOQ can only hold fulfillment orders that are in Open or Scheduled status. Orders that are already fulfilled, cancelled, or closed are skipped.

Troubleshooting

FAQs

Q: What happens if I do not enable split or hold fulfillments?

A: All items in the order appear in a single "Unfulfilled" fulfillment group. You can fulfill the entire order at once, but you are responsible for making sure all preorder stock has arrived before shipping.

Q: Will hold fulfillments hold in-stock items too?

A: Yes. When hold fulfillments is enabled, STOQ holds all products in the order — including in-stock items — until you manually release the hold. This ensures the entire order ships together.

Q: Can I release held fulfillments in bulk?

A: Yes. In STOQ, go to Preorders > Orders, select multiple orders using the checkboxes, and use the Release held bulk action to release fulfillments for all selected orders at once.

Q: What does the reason note do?

A: The reason note appears in Shopify admin next to the held fulfillment group. It helps you and your staff understand why the order is on hold. You can customize it in the offer's Shipping settings (e.g., "Order contains preorder item").

Q: Do customers pay extra shipping when items ship together?

A: No. Customers pay one shipping fee at checkout for the full order. Since all items ship together, there is no additional shipping cost.

Q: Can I use Shopify Flow to automatically release held fulfillments?

A: Yes. STOQ provides Shopify Flow actions for fulfillment management, including releasing held fulfillments. You can build a Flow that automatically releases holds based on conditions you define, such as when preorder stock arrives. Here's our detailed guide on Use STQO triggers in shopify flow to build custom workflows

Q: Can I enable both split fulfillments and hold fulfillments?

A: No. Split fulfillments and hold fulfillments are mutually exclusive on the same offer. Enabling one automatically disables the other. If you want to ship everything together, use hold fulfillments. If you want to ship in-stock items immediately, use split fulfillments instead.

Updated on: 29/04/2026