Shipping / Fulfillment / New feature

Fulfill orders in batches
Pick, print, and pack up to 250 orders in one batch

Group orders by criteria such as product type or destination, then run picking, label purchasing and document printing, and scan verification in bulk. You can customize the steps in the workflow and assign staff to each batch.

On this page
  1. What's changing (30-second overview)
  2. How it works: from creating a batch to shipping
  3. The 3 default steps
  4. Customizing the workflow
  5. One at a time vs. batches
  6. Getting started
  7. 5 key points for developers
  8. 3 business use cases
  9. One-line summary for proposals

1What's changing

Fulfillment work that used to be done one order at a time can now be processed in"batches" that group up to 250 fulfillmentsas a single unit.
Picking, label purchasing, document printing, and packing verification can all be done per batch.

Before: process each order individually

Fulfillment work was done order by order (the article doesn't describe the previous steps in detail).

Now: process orders together in batches

Group orders by criteria such as product type or destination, then pick, buy labels, print documents, and pack all at once.

2How it works: from creating a batch to shipping

Orders page Select orders, or auto-select recent unfulfilled Create batch Up to 250 fulfillments Product type / destination and more as grouping criteria ① Pick Pick list printing ② Print Bulk label purchase Packing slips, labels, and customs forms printed in bulk ③ Pack Scan to verify Correct Wrong Add, remove, rename, and reorder steps / assign staff to each step
The limit is 250 fulfillments, not 250 orders. The grouping criteria mentioned in the article are product type and shipping destination(the article says "such as," so other criteria may exist, but no full list is given).

33 default steps

Pick

Print pick list

Print a pick list of the products in every order in the batch.

Print

Buy labels & print documents

Buy shipping labels for every order in the batch at once, and print packing slips, shipping labels, and customs forms together.

Pack

Scan to verify

Correct items get a sound and a green check. Wrong or extra items get an error sound and a red icon.

4Customize the workflow

Add, remove, and rename steps
You can also add actions to each step
Drag to reorder
Both steps and actions
Choose documents to print
Set per step
Assign staff
Assign someone to each step

5One at a time vs. in batches

ItemPer-order processingBatch processing
Unit of work 1 order Up to 250 fulfillments
Picking Per order All at once One pick list for the whole batch
Buy & print labels Per order All at once Labels, packing slips, and customs forms together
Packing verification Not specified Scanning Sound plus green/red icons indicate correct or incorrect items
Task assignment Not specified By step Staff assignment
Pricing & eligible plans Not specified

6Getting started

1

Open the Orders page

Go to the Orders page in the Shopify admin.

2

Select the orders you want to ship

You can also automatically batch your most recent unfulfilled orders.

3
Create batch

Click "Create batch"

The batch is created, and work begins following your workflow.

The article doesn't specify eligible plans, supported countries, or which carriers support label purchases. Check the Shopify Help Center for details.

75 key points for technical teams

250

1. The limit is 250 per batch, counted in fulfillments

If an order has multiple fulfillments (for example, split shipments), the order count and the limit count won't match. On high-volume shipping days, plan how to split your batches.

2. Group by product type, destination, and more

Grouping by product type streamlines picking routes, while grouping by destination keeps label and customs document handling consistent. This assumes your product type data is well maintained.

API ?

3. No mention of API or webhook support

The article only describes the admin feature. It doesn't say whether batches can be created or retrieved through the Admin API, or whether they integrate with an external WMS. If you plan to automate, verify this separately.

4. Packing assumes scan-based verification

Because correctness is indicated by sounds and icons, products likely need scannable codes. Supported scanner hardware and required product attributes (such as barcodes) aren't specified.

5. Workflows are built from steps × actions × documents × assignees

You can add, remove, rename, and reorder steps, and set the printed documents and assigned staff for each step.It can mirror your actual warehouse operations (inspection steps, packing-station assignments) as-is, so start your rollout by mapping out your current on-the-floor workflow.

83 practical use cases

SALE
USE CASE 1

Handle high-volume shipping on sale and launch days in waves

Challenge
Orders spike on sale days and pre-order release dates, and generating labels, printing, and packing one order at a time causes shipping backlogs.
Solution
Batch orders of the same product type in groups of up to 250 fulfillments → pick everything at once using a pick list → buy labels and print documents in bulk.
Impact
Consolidated picking routes and printer work shorten shipping lead times on peak days.
Technical notes
The limit applies per fulfillment. Grouping won't work well if product types aren't set up, so clean up your product data beforehand.
USE CASE 2

Process customs documents for cross-border orders in bulk

Challenge
Shipping labels and customs documents are issued one by one for each international order, so missed prints and packing mix-ups are common.
Approach
Create batches grouped by destination, then print shipping labels, packing slips, and customs documents together in the Print step.
Impact
Documents are grouped by destination, so printing and matching paperwork is much easier.
Technical notes
You can choose which documents print at which step. Supported countries and carriers aren't specified, so confirm them in advance.
Pick Print Pack
USE CASE 3

Dividing warehouse work and preventing mis-shipments

Challenge
In small warehouses, it's unclear who handles which step, and wrong or extra items get packed.
Approach
Assign staff to each Pick / Print / Pack step, and make scan verification a required part of Pack. Add or rename verification steps as needed.
Impact
Each step has a clear owner, and wrong or extra items are caught on the spot with an error sound and a red icon.
Technical notes
Scan verification likely requires scannable codes on products (supported devices and required attributes aren't specified).

9One-line summary for proposals

"Shopify's built-in batch fulfillment feature that groups up to 250 fulfillments by product type or destination,
picking → bulk label purchase and bulk document printing → scan verificationand lets you run them in a way that fits your own workflow.
"