Overview
Shipments in Order Desk store tracking and shipping details for fulfilled orders. A shipment typically includes the tracking number, shipping carrier, shipping method, and the items that were shipped.
Shipments are usually added automatically when fulfillment services send tracking information back to Order Desk, but they can also be added manually or through the API.
Once a shipment is added, Order Desk can send tracking updates to your sales channels and trigger email notifications if your store is set up to do so.
This guide explains how shipments work in Order Desk and how to manage them.
Automatically Adding Shipments to Orders
From a Fulfillment Integration
Most commonly, shipments are created when a fulfillment service ships the order and sends tracking information back to Order Desk. The shipment is then attached to the order automatically.
Some integrations include a Check for Shipments setting that lets you choose how often Order Desk checks for shipment updates from your fulfillment service.
Other integrations may require you to copy a Notification URL from Order Desk and add it to your fulfillment service dashboard so it can notify Order Desk automatically when orders are shipped.
From Shipping Integrations
Order Desk integrates with several shipping services that let you create shipments and purchase labels directly from the order page or automatically with rules.
TIP:
You can view our list of shipping service integrations here. Each integration guide includes details on how to create and manage shipments when using that service.
From the Order Desk API
For developers working with custom integrations, the Order Desk API lets you add shipments to orders programmatically.
You can check out our API documentation here.
From a Dropship Vendor
Order Desk allows you to send orders to non-integrated vendors using dropship email templates. These emails include a link your vendor can use to submit shipment details for the order.
Once the vendor adds the shipment details through that link, the shipment information will automatically be added to the order in Order Desk.
If you’re interested in working with dropship vendors for fulfillment, you can learn more about the setup process here.
Adding Shipments Manually
Within an order, you can quickly add a shipment by entering a tracking number in the Tracking field beneath the order totals and clicking Add.
This creates a shipment with only a tracking number and no carrier details. The shipment date will be set to the current date.
If you’d like more control over the shipment information, you can use the Add More Fields to Shipment option and fill out the additional details below:
Shipment Fields
You can add or edit the following information when creating shipments in Order Desk.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Tracking # | The tracking number for the shipment. Required. A shipment cannot be created without one. |
| Carrier Code | The carrier code for the shipping carrier used. |
| Shipment Method | The specific shipment method used by the carrier. |
| Weight | The weight of the shipment package. |
| Cost | The shipment cost. |
| Status | The status of the shipment. |
| Tracking URL | The tracking link. If left blank, Order Desk will try to generate a tracking link based on the carrier and tracking number. |
| Date Shipped | The date the shipment was sent. |
| Order Items | By default, a shipment applies to all items in the order. To assign a tracking number to specific items for partial shipments, untick the All Items option and select the relevant items and quantities. |
Using the Add Shipments Tool
Order Desk includes an Add Shipments Tool that lets you quickly add shipments to multiple orders at once.
This tool is useful if you have a list of tracking numbers from a fulfillment partner or shipping provider and want to apply them to orders without opening each one individually.
To access the tool, go to Tools in the left sidebar of your Order Desk account and select Add Shipments. From there, enter the order numbers and tracking information in the format shown below and click Import Now to create shipments in bulk.
The expected format for each line is:
[Order Source ID] [Tracking Number] [Optional Carrier Code]
For example:
12235574324 1Z51451549564657 UPS
12235574214 1Z51451547452147 UPS
Importing Shipments with a Spreadsheet
Shipments can also be added in bulk by importing a spreadsheet into Order Desk. This option is especially helpful when working with large numbers of orders or when your fulfillment partner provides shipment data in spreadsheet format.
To import shipments, prepare a spreadsheet with the order numbers and tracking numbers for each shipment, then upload it through an Import Template.
Managing Shipments
Shipments are displayed directly on the order page. Click any tracking number to view the full shipment details. Shipments can also be edited or deleted from the order page.
NOTE:
If a shipment has already been synced to your cart, updating or deleting it in Order Desk will not automatically update or remove it from your cart. You’ll need to make that change manually there as well.
Sending Tracking Updates Back to Your Cart
Automatic Sync
In many integrations, Order Desk can send shipment and tracking information back to your cart automatically, marking the order as shipped as soon as tracking information comes in. To enable this, turn on the Sync Tracking Numbers setting in your cart integration settings.
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The exact location of this setting varies by integration. Check your cart integration guide to learn where to find it.
What If I enable Automatic sync after orders have already shipped?
If you enable automatic sync after shipments have already been added to orders, those earlier shipments will not be synced automatically. You can sync them manually using the steps in the Manual Sync section below.
Manual Sync
You can manually sync a shipment to your cart if automatic sync was not enabled at the time, or in rare cases where an automatic sync fails.
To set up manual sync, create a rule using a Custom Button.
- Rule Type: Order Rule
- Event: Select or create a Custom Button
- Action: Process Shipments Manually
You can then open the order page and click your Custom Button to manually sync the shipments on the order back to your cart.
IMPORTANT:
The Sync Tracking Numbers setting must be enabled in your cart integration settings for manual sync to work.
Directly Sending Tracking Updates to Customers
When a shipment is added to an order, you can automatically notify customers with their tracking information directly from Order Desk. Check out this guide to learn how to set it up.
Handling Shipments Without Tracking Numbers
IMPORTANT:
This workaround may not work for all carts. Some services require valid tracking numbers on shipments, and others may penalize sellers for using invalid tracking numbers. It’s best to confirm first with your cart service before using this workaround.
Order Desk can only store shipments that include a tracking number. If you need to mark an order as shipped without one, you can use N/A as the tracking number and then save the shipment.
This allows Order Desk to create the shipment and mark the order as shipped in your cart.
Notes and Limitations
The following notes cover shipment behaviors that may vary depending on your cart or fulfillment setup.
Partial Shipment Support
Some cart platforms do not support partial shipment updates. When these carts receive a shipment update from Order Desk, they may mark the entire order as fulfilled even if the shipment only includes some of the items.
If you plan to ship items separately, keep this behavior in mind when working with carts that do not support partial shipments.
For carts that do support partial shipments, you can optionally force the cart to mark the entire order as fulfilled by adding the following checkout data field to the order:
fulfill_entire_order = 1
When this field is present, Order Desk will try to submit the shipment in a way that tells the cart to mark the entire order as fulfilled.
NOTE:
Not all carts support this behavior. Check your cart integration guide to see if this option is available.
Extra Options
The following options give you additional control over how shipment updates are handled.
Delaying Shipment Updates Sent to the Cart
Order Desk normally sends shipment updates to your cart as soon as a shipment is added to an order.
If you would like to delay when shipment information is sent back to your cart, add the following order metadata field:
shipment_delay_hours
Set the value to the number of hours Order Desk should wait before sending the shipment update.
For example:
shipment_delay_hours = 2
In this case, Order Desk will wait two hours after the shipment is added before sending the shipment update to the cart.
TIP:
You can set order metadata automatically using rules. See the How to Work with Rules guide for more details
Related Guides
The following guides cover additional topics related to shipments and shipping setups.
Shipping Method Match
Order Desk integrates with several retail middleware platforms such as DSCO Supplier, Logicbroker, SPS Commerce and CommerceHub. These services connect retailers to multiple vendors and often require shipments to use specific supported shipping services.
Because of this, the shipping method sent with a shipment must match one of the services supported by the retailer.
If the shipping method on your shipment does not match the format required by the retailer, you can use Shipping Method Matches to map your shipment details to the format expected by your vendors.
For more details, check out the Shipping Method Match guide.
Shipping Class Match
Shipping method names on orders often do not match the shipping methods used by fulfillment services. Shipping Class Matches let you translate the shipping method on an order into the method your fulfillment service recognizes.
NOTE:
Shipping Class Matches are used to translate methods between Order Desk and your fulfillment service. They are not related to sending shipment updates back to your cart. Learn more about this here.