Are you selling products via a website built using Shopify? Are you thinking about setting up a Shopify account to start an online store? Either way, you will definitely want to make sure that you’re informed about the order fulfillment process that Shopify uses.
How Does Fulfillment Work on Shopify?
There are several reasons why you might consider outsourcing such a critical component of your business, such as logistics not being a core skill set of your business or the increased overhead of managing them in-house. While seeking the expertise of those for whom logistics is their core business may sound like a no-brainer, it’s important you understand the pros of working with a 3PL company to fulfill your DTC orders on Shopify.
You have three options when trying to do fulfillment with Shopify:
- In-House Fulfillment (Doing it yourself)
- Using a 3PL to Handle the Fulfillment
- Using the Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN)
In-House Fulfillment:
Advantages:
When you handle fulfillment in-house you maintain complete control over every touch point in the post-purchase experience. You decide how your products are packed, what materials are used, how inserts are presented, and what the unboxing experience feels like. This level of control lets you align the fulfillment process with your brand’s tone and customer expectations which can be a major differentiator especially for premium boutique or handmade products. You are also able to make real-time changes without waiting on external partners which can be helpful when testing new packaging strategies or responding to customer feedback quickly.
Self-fulfillment also opens the door to highly personalized touches that third-party providers typically do not support without added fees. Handwritten thank-you cards, free samples, seasonal add-ons, or even unique packaging materials can enhance customer loyalty and increase repeat purchase rates. These small moments often create big impressions especially for newer or smaller brands that are still building community and trust. For businesses that value authenticity and customer connection fulfilling orders yourself can offer a clear advantage.
Disadvantages:
As your business grows managing fulfillment on your own quickly becomes a time-consuming obstacle. Picking packing labeling and shipping take valuable hours away from marketing product development and customer engagement. These logistics tasks may seem manageable at first but they often turn into a major distraction as order volumes increase especially during peak seasons or promotions.
If you are storing inventory in your home garage or office you will eventually run into limitations with space tracking and speed. Manual processes create room for errors and slow down your response time. What starts as a cost-saving measure can become an operational burden. Many ecommerce owners reach a point where self-fulfillment starts holding the business back rather than pushing it forward.
Running fulfillment manually means you miss out on the benefits of automation and advanced logistics technology. You will need to track inventory by hand manage returns with limited tools and resolve shipping issues without the support of a professional warehouse management system. These limitations can result in more errors shipping delays and a lack of visibility across your fulfillment pipeline.
Over time the costs of self-fulfillment begin to rise. Without access to bulk shipping discounts optimized delivery networks or scalable infrastructure you are likely paying more per shipment and spending more time solving fulfillment issues. The longer you wait to streamline your process the more it affects your profit margins and overall customer experience.
Using a 3PL to Handle the fulfillment
Advantages:
Outsourcing fulfillment to a trusted third-party logistics partner gives your business the ability to scale without being slowed down by daily operations. A 3PL handles inventory storage, order picking, packing, and shipping so you can focus on growing your brand, developing new products, and increasing sales. This shift in responsibility removes the constant time pressure of fulfilling orders yourself and gives you the flexibility to operate at a higher level. For fast-growing ecommerce businesses this is often the most efficient way to keep up with customer demand without adding overhead.
A high-quality 3PL also brings advanced fulfillment technology that would be difficult or expensive to build on your own. You gain access to automated inventory tracking, real-time order visibility, and multi-channel integration across platforms like Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, and more. These tools eliminate manual work and reduce the risk of fulfillment errors, which leads to better accuracy and faster shipping times. Many 3PLs also offer same-day fulfillment and discounted carrier rates which improves your delivery speed while lowering your shipping costs.
Partnering with a 3PL allows your business to stay lean while expanding its reach. You no longer need to rent warehouse space, hire fulfillment staff, or manage complex logistics. A reliable 3PL can scale with your volume whether you are preparing for a seasonal surge or entering new markets. This flexibility makes it easier to adapt to changes in demand while maintaining a consistent customer experience. With fewer moving parts in-house and expert logistics support in place your business is positioned to grow faster and operate more efficiently.
Using the Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN)
Advantages:
The Shopify Fulfillment Network, or SFN, is an option for business owners running their eCommerce store on Shopify to outsource fulfillment. SFN can be an invaluable solution for eCommerce business owners who either don’t have the time or the know-how to handle the time-consuming and often tedious task of fulfilling customer orders.
By outsourcing the order fulfillment process to a 3PL fulfillment service, Shopify store owners can free up their time so that they can focus on more important things, like growing their company and improving customer satisfaction.
However, is Shopify Fulfillment Network, the in-house order fulfillment option that Shopify offers, really worth your while? Compare the disadvantages of SFN and other 3PL fulfillment providers to find out which option is best for your business.
Disadvantages:
- Currently, only open to US sellers.
- Need to hit certain requirements in order to be eligible for SFN:
- Offer fewer than 2000 SKUs
- You must ship at least 10 orders per day
- You can’t ship more than 10,000 orders a day
- There are certain restricted items SFN won’t manage.
While Shopify offers a great solution for those who sell in their ecosystem and fulfill their requirements, it doesn’t cover those who don’t. Therefore, it’s important to do your own research and find a great 3PL partner for your store’s growth.
3PL Warehouse Integration with Shopify
MAI Fulfillment Inventory & Order Management System (OMS) offers a Shopify Integration that makes it easy to manage all of your orders. MAI Fulfillment in Chicago, IL offers Shopify Integration website owners the option to have the OMS as their system of record (SOR) or use their Shopify store as their SOR. It makes it easy to manage all of your orders from all of your marketplaces and sales channels.
This integration sends all of your marketplace orders directly to your Shopify store. It then pulls tracking numbers and SKU inventory and sends them back to the marketplaces where your OMS is connected. This makes sure that all other marketplaces have the most current inventory level for each SKU.
Why do companies choose to work with a 3PL provider?
If you’ve never worked with a 3PL before, it might sound like an expensive solution to an albeit annoying workflow. After all, picking, packing, and shipping orders from your warehouse or brick-and-mortar store can be a cheaper option than hiring third-party help.
However, it’s sensible to choose a 3PL before you’re overwhelmed by order growth. Not just a solution for enterprise-sized brands, 3PLs are designed for merchants of any size with the intention to scale. Suppose you have a flash sale or one of your products goes viral. It’s not always feasible (or cost-effective) to handle that surge of orders in-house.
The best 3PL logistics companies are experts in fulfillment and can help set up automatic fulfillment processes to increase customer satisfaction and decrease time spent picking and packing. When an order is placed, your 3PL provider will have the order fulfilled automatically so your package is ready to be shipped in a timely manner.
Key questions will help you determine whether it’s time to enlist the services of a 3PL Company
- Are you fulfilling more than 10 to 20 orders per day?
- Running out of inventory storage space?
- Can your existing infrastructure handle a surge in demand?
- How quickly are orders synced and fulfilled after a customer checks out?
- Do you support real-time inventory updates and tracking back to Shopify?
- Am I spending to much time on fulfillment?
- Am I struggling to keep up with order volume?
- Are my shipping costs or delivery times hurting the customer experience?
- Am I ready to scale but fulfillment is holding me back?
Do what you do best and allow others to do what they do best. 3PLs are specialists in logistics. By allowing them to manage your shipping and fulfillment, you’ll have more time to invest in a big-picture strategy.
Why Choose MAI Fulfillment to Fulfill Your Shopify Orders?
MAI Fulfillment is built for Shopify brands that demand precision, speed, and scalability. Our tech-driven fulfillment network integrates seamlessly with your Shopify store, automating everything from order import to final delivery. With same-day shipping, real-time inventory updates, and support for over 100 ecommerce platforms, we eliminate the lag and manual work that slow down growth. Every order is picked, packed, and shipped with accuracy, supported by dedicated in-house customer service located right inside the warehouse. That means faster resolutions, fewer errors, and a fulfillment experience that actually strengthens your brand.
Whether you’re shipping 50 orders a month or 5,000, MAI scales with you. We offer transparent flat-rate pricing, eco-friendly packaging options, and custom kitting all under one roof. As your business evolves, our fully customizable WMS keeps you in control while we handle the logistics. From flash sales to subscription boxes, we optimize every step of fulfillment to help you move faster, ship smarter, and focus fully on growth. With MAI, your Shopify fulfillment isn’t just outsourced it’s upgraded.
