Split Fulfillment for Preorders in STOQ
When a customer orders both in-stock and preorder products in the same cart, you may want to ship the in-stock items right away without waiting for the preorder products. Split fulfillment for preorders lets you do exactly that. STOQ automatically separates in-stock and preorder items into different fulfillment groups after checkout, so you can fulfill each group independently.
This feature works when your preorder offer's shipping is set to "As soon as possible" (the Unfulfilled delivery option). After the order is placed, STOQ splits the fulfillment so in-stock products appear in one Unfulfilled group and preorder products appear in a separate Unfulfilled group in Shopify admin.
Before You Begin
Make sure the following requirements are met before enabling split fulfillment:
- You are on a paid plan (Lite, Pro, or Unlimited). Split fulfillment is not available on the Free plan.
- Your preorder offer's shipping is set to "As soon as possible" (also labeled "As soon as inventory arrives"). Split fulfillments are only available with this delivery type.
- You have at least one active preorder offer with products assigned.
- The "Hold all fulfillments" option is disabled on the same offer. Split and hold fulfillments are mutually exclusive — enabling one automatically disables the other.
How to Enable Split Fulfillment for Preorders
Follow these steps to enable split fulfillment on a preorder offer.
Step 1 — Open the Preorder Offer's Shipping Settings
- In STOQ, click Preorders in the sidebar menu.
- Click on the preorder offer you want to configure.
- Click Customize to open the offer editor.
- Select the Shipping tab from the editor drawer.
Step 2 — Set Delivery Type to "As Soon as Possible"
- Under Settings (or Preorders will ship), make sure the delivery type is set to "As soon as possible" (or "As soon as inventory arrives").
- This sets preorder products to Unfulfilled status, making them available for fulfillment right away.
Step 3 — Enable Split Fulfillments
- Scroll down to the Fulfillment options section. This section appears only when the delivery type is set to "As soon as possible" or "Not sure".
- Check the box labeled "Split fulfillments for preorders".
- STOQ displays a help message confirming: "After checkout, STOQ will split in-stock and preorder products into separate fulfillments."
If the "Hold all fulfillments" option was previously enabled, it is automatically turned off when you enable split fulfillments.
Step 4 — Save Your Changes
- Click Save changes in the top right to apply your changes.
- The split fulfillment setting takes effect immediately for new orders.
How Split Fulfillment Works After Checkout
Here is what happens when a customer places an order with both preorder and in-stock items after you enable split fulfillment.
- The customer adds a preorder product and an in-stock product to the same cart and completes checkout.
- Shopify initially creates the order with all items in a single fulfillment group.
- STOQ automatically detects the mixed order and splits the fulfillment into two separate groups:
- Unfulfilled (preorder items) — Contains only the preorder products from the offer with split fulfillments enabled.
- Unfulfilled (in-stock items) — Contains the remaining in-stock products.
- Both fulfillment groups appear separately in your Shopify admin order page.
- You can now fulfill each group independently — ship the in-stock items right away and wait for the preorder stock to arrive before fulfilling the preorder group.
The split happens automatically in the background within seconds of the order being placed. No manual action is required.
What It Looks Like in Shopify Admin
After the split, your Shopify order page shows two separate fulfillment groups:
Fulfillment Group | Status | Contains |
|---|---|---|
Fulfillment #1 | Unfulfilled | Preorder product(s) from the STOQ offer |
Fulfillment #2 | Unfulfilled | In-stock product(s) |
You can click Fulfill items on either group independently.
Advanced Tips
- Multiple preorder offers in one order — If a customer orders products from different preorder offers that each have split fulfillments enabled, STOQ splits each offer's products into their own fulfillment group.
- Per-product shipping timelines — If you use "Set a shipping timeline for each product" instead of one rule for all products, the delivery type still needs to be "As soon as possible" for split fulfillments to be available.
- Combine with Shopify Flow — You can use STOQ's Shopify Flow trigger for split fulfillments to automate follow-up actions like sending custom notifications or tagging orders after a split occurs.
- Preview before saving — The Shipping tab includes a fulfillment preview that shows how a mixed order (e.g., "Floral Shirt" as preorder + "Regular Item" as in-stock) will look after checkout with your current settings.
Known Limitations
- Only works with "As soon as possible" delivery — Split fulfillment is not available when the delivery type is set to "Specific date", "After specific number of days", or "Not sure". For those types, Shopify already places preorder items in Scheduled or On hold status automatically.
- Mutually exclusive with "Hold all fulfillments" — You cannot enable both split fulfillments and hold fulfillments on the same offer. Enabling one automatically disables the other.
- Single shipping fee — Customers pay one shipping fee for the entire order, even though fulfillments are split. If you want to charge separate shipping fees, you need to set up separate shipping policies in Shopify.
- Paid plan required — Split fulfillment is only available on Lite, Pro, and Unlimited plans.
- New orders only — Enabling split fulfillment does not retroactively split existing orders. It only applies to orders placed after the setting is turned on.
- Automatic process — The split happens automatically after checkout. You cannot manually trigger a split from the STOQ dashboard for individual orders (though a Shopify Flow action is available).
- Retry limit — STOQ retries the split up to 30 times if the initial attempt fails (e.g., due to a temporary Shopify API issue). If all retries are exhausted, the order remains in a single fulfillment group.
Troubleshooting
Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
The "Split fulfillments for preorders" checkbox is not visible | Your delivery type is not set to "As soon as possible" | Change the delivery type to "As soon as possible" in the Shipping tab |
I enabled split fulfillments but orders are not being split | The order may not contain both preorder and in-stock items, or the offer does not have split fulfillments enabled | Verify the offer has split fulfillments enabled and the order contains products from that offer mixed with in-stock items |
Split fulfillment was automatically disabled | You enabled "Hold all fulfillments", which turned off split fulfillments | These options are mutually exclusive. Re-enable split fulfillments in the Shipping tab if that is your preferred setting |
The checkbox is greyed out | You are on the Free plan | Upgrade to a paid plan (Lite, Pro, or Unlimited) to access split fulfillment |
The order was placed but the split did not happen | The split may still be processing, or STOQ encountered a temporary Shopify API error | Wait a few minutes and check the order again in Shopify admin. STOQ retries automatically |
I want to split an existing order that was placed before enabling the setting | Split fulfillment only applies to new orders | You can manually move line items between fulfillment groups in Shopify admin, or use the STOQ Shopify Flow action to trigger a split for specific orders |
All items show as "Unfulfilled" in one group despite split being enabled | The order may only contain preorder products (no in-stock items to split from) | Split fulfillment only applies to mixed orders with both preorder and in-stock products |
FAQs
Q: What is the difference between split fulfillment and hold fulfillment?
A: Split fulfillment separates preorder and in-stock items into two separate Unfulfilled groups so you can ship in-stock items right away. Hold fulfillment places all items (including in-stock) on hold until you manually release them. You can only enable one at a time on the same offer.
Q: Do I need split fulfillment if my delivery type is "Specific date" or "After specific number of days"?
A: No. When you use a scheduled delivery type, Shopify automatically places preorder items in a Scheduled fulfillment status, which already separates them from in-stock items. Split fulfillment is only needed for the "As soon as possible" delivery type.
Q: Does the customer see two separate shipments?
A: The customer pays one shipping fee at checkout and sees one order confirmation. However, they may receive two separate tracking numbers if you fulfill each group at different times, depending on your shipping workflow.
Q: Can I enable split fulfillment on multiple offers at once?
A: No. Split fulfillment is configured per offer. You need to enable it individually on each preorder offer in the Shipping tab.
Q: What happens if the split fails?
A: STOQ automatically retries up to 30 times. If all retries fail, the order remains in a single fulfillment group. You can then manually split the fulfillment from Shopify admin or trigger a split using the STOQ Shopify Flow action.
Q: Can I use split fulfillment with Shopify Flow?
A: Yes. STOQ provides a Shopify Flow action to trigger split fulfillments. You can use this to split fulfillments for specific orders based on custom conditions, even if the automatic split is not enabled on the offer.
Q: Does split fulfillment affect shipping costs?
A: No. The customer still pays one shipping fee at checkout. Splitting fulfillments does not create additional shipping charges unless you have separate shipping policies configured in Shopify.
Q: Can I undo a split after it happens?
A: No. Once fulfillments are split, they cannot be merged back into a single group. You can still fulfill both groups at the same time if needed, but they remain as separate fulfillment entries in Shopify admin.
Updated on: 08/04/2026
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