Fulfilling your orders in batches

You can speed up your order fulfillment by organizing orders into batches. Batches let you group up to 250 fulfillments based on criteria such as product type or shipping destination, so you can pick, pack, purchase labels, and print documents in a way that matches your workflow. You can create and manage batches from the Orders page in your Shopify admin.

Batch workflows

Batches have a customizable workflow to match your fulfillment process. You can add, remove, or reorder steps. Steps are made up of a series of actions that are performed together.

By default, your batch workflow contains the following steps and actions:

• Step: Pick
  • Action: Create documents (Pick list)
• Step: Print
  • Action: Buy shipping labels
  • Action: Create documents (Packing slips)
  • Action: Create documents (Shipping labels)
  • Action: Create documents (Customs forms)
• Step: Pack
  • Action: Scan to verify

You can add steps and actions in any order that matches your workflow.

Create a batch

You can batch unfulfilled orders in bulk, or manually select specific orders to include in a batch. When you batch in bulk, you can batch up to the 250 most recent orders.

Batch unfulfilled orders in bulk

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click .

3. Turn on Group by batch.

4. Click Batch unfulfilled orders.

Create a batch manually

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Select the orders to include in your batch. You can filter and select orders for your batch in bulk.

3. Click Create batch.

Rename a batch

By default, batches are named according to the date on which they were created. For example, 2026-06-04. You can change the name of your batches at any time.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click .

3. Turn on Group by batch.

4. Click a batch.

5. Click More actions, and then click Edit name.

6. Enter a name for the batch, and then click Save.

Manage batch workflow

After you create a batch, you can manage your batch workflow from your Orders page.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click .

3. Turn on Group by batch.

4. Click a batch.

5. Click More actions, and then click Edit workflow.

6. Customize the steps and actions in your batch workflow by doing any of the following actions:

   • Add a step or action.
   • Delete a step or action.
   • Reorder your steps or actions.

7. Optional: If you add the Create documents action, then by default all available documents are activated. Select which documents you want to print:

   1. Click .
   2. Deselect any documents that you don't want to print, leaving only the documents that you want activated.
   3. Click Done.

8. Click Save.

Add steps and actions

To add a new step, click Add Step. Click to edit the name for your new step.

To add a new action to an existing step, click Add action and select an action from the drop-down menu.

Delete steps and actions

To remove a step, hover your mouse over the step and then click . This deletes the step and all actions within that step.

To remove an action, hover your mouse over the action and then click .

Reorder steps and actions

To reorder steps, click and drag it to the order that you want.

To reorder actions within a step, click the action and drag it to the order that you want.

Fulfill a batch

After you create and customize your batch, you can fulfill the orders by working through each step in your batch workflow.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click .

3. Turn on Group by batch.

4. Click the batch that you want to fulfill.

5. For each step, complete the actions in that step:

   1. Optional: Assign a staff member to a step. Click the drop-down menu at the top of a step, and then select the staff member to assign. By default, this assignment carries over to following steps, but you can change the assigned staff member at any step.
   2. Click the button to perform the displayed action. For example, Create documents.
   3. In steps with multiple actions, click to access those actions.
   4. In steps that create documents, such as a packing slip, click the name of the document to open a PDF file for printing.

6. After you complete all the actions in a step, click the button to move all orders to the next step. For example, Move all to Pack & Ship.

7. Optional: You can move orders back a step if needed. Select the orders, and then choose whether to move them back a step, remove them from the batch, or move them to a different batch.

8. Proceed through the steps in your batch workflow to the final step, Done. Click Close batch to complete your fulfillment and archive orders in the batch.

Batch actions

Actions occur within steps, and let you customize your workflow when fulfilling orders in batches. Review the following actions to determine which are useful for your workflow.

Buy shipping labels

The Buy shipping labels action lets you purchase shipping labels for all orders in the batch. Refer to Buying shipping labels to learn more.

Scan to verify

You can add the Scan to verify action to ensure the correct products are packed for each order. When you activate the Scan to verify action during your fulfillment process, a dialog is displayed with the items included in the order. To verify, scan the displayed items. When you scan the correct items, an audible tone plays and the checkmark icon on the item turns green. If you scan an incorrect item, or if you scan a product too many times, then an error tone plays and a red error icon is displayed.

When all items for an order have been verified, the Scan to verify step automatically proceeds to the next order. When all the orders in the batch are verified, the dialog closes and you can proceed to the next step or action in your fulfillment workflow.

Create documents

The Create documents action lets you create printable documents to use during the fulfillment process. When you add this action to your workflow, you can select which documents to print.

Packing slips

Packing slips are documents that list the items included in a package. Packing slips include shipping and billing addresses in addition to product information, such as SKU, weight, and quantity. Refer to Printing and editing packing slips to learn more.

Shipping labels

You can print your shipping labels at any time after you complete a step that includes the Buy shipping labels action.

Customs forms

Customs forms are documents that detail the contents and value of goods being shipped internationally. It's recommended to include this document for international shipping. Customs forms are printed only if they're available for a fulfillment, and can only be selected for the Create documents action if Shipping labels are also selected.

Refer to Order fulfillment and shipping terminology to learn more about customs forms.

Invoice

If the order is not yet paid, then you can create an invoice to send with the order.

Pick list

A Pick list is a document that lists all products included in an order for every order in the batch, to assist in picking the correct products for packing. By default, the pick list contains the following information:

• Order number
• Product Title
• Variant
• Product image
• Quantity of each product
• Product SKU
• Bin name
• Order tag
• Product tag