Plans: All plans | Platforms: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and other connected stores, CSV import and API
Overview
Fulfillments is where your team does its shipping work in the AfterShip Shipping admin. It replaces the earlier Orders Dashboard.
Each row in Fulfillments is a shipment rather than an order. A shipment holds the items you are about to send, along with the addresses, package, carrier service, and label details that belong to it. One order can produce more than one shipment when its items ship from different locations.
Fulfillments follows the way your team actually works. You open Awaiting shipment, work through the queue, and every shipment you handle moves to the next stage on its own. You no longer move between pages that describe billing states or label states.
What has changed from the Orders dashboard
If you used the earlier Orders Dashboard, here is what has changed in the recent update.
Orders dashboard (Legacy) | Fulfillments dashboard (New) |
Five statuses, including Pending payment and Label generated | Four statuses: Awaiting shipment, Shipped, On hold, and Canceled |
Pending payment status page for unpaid orders | Removed. AfterShip Shipping no longer syncs unpaid orders, so you do not need to move them forward manually. |
Label generated status page | Removed. Label state is now a sub-status on the shipment, and shipments with a purchased label appear under Shipped. |
Void a label from Label history | Void the label from the shipment itself, either from the Shipped list or the shipment details page. Label history remains available for viewing and exporting label records. |
Split order | Renamed to Split shipment and rebuilt. See Combine and Split Shipments. |
Canceled orders grouped under Others | Dedicated Canceled menu, with a Restore action |
Create orders manually in the admin | Not available. Shipments come from store sync, CSV import, or the API. |
Navigate the Fulfillments menu
Fulfillments in the left navigation contains four sub-menus, one for each stage of the shipment lifecycle:
Submenu | What you find here |
Awaiting shipment | Every shipment that still needs work before they can be shipped. Treat this as your fulfillment to-do queue.
|
Shipped | Shipments with a purchased label, plus shipments you |
On hold | Shipments you put on hold yourself. The system never places a shipment on hold.
|
Canceled | Shipments you canceled, plus shipments whose source order was canceled or refunded. |
Understand shipment statuses
Every shipment holds exactly one main status. The table below shows how a shipment enters and leaves each status.
Status | How a shipment enters | How a shipment leaves |
Awaiting shipment | A synced order, a CSV import, or the API creates it. A shipment also returns here when you void a label, release a hold, or restore a canceled shipment. | Create label or Mark as shipped moves it to Shipped. Hold moves it to On hold. Cancel moves it to Canceled. |
Shipped | You purchase a label, or you select Mark as shipped. | Void label returns it to Awaiting shipment. |
On hold | You select Hold. | Release hold returns it to Awaiting shipment. Cancel moves it to Canceled. |
Canceled | You select Cancel, or the source order is canceled or refunded in your store. | Restore returns it to Awaiting shipment. |
Sub-statuses
Sub-statuses add details to a shipment without changing its main status.
1. Action required applies to shipments that sit in Awaiting shipment and need your attention before you can process them. A shipment requires action when:
Required information is missing
The source order was updated after the shipment was created
A shipping label purchase failed
These shipments appear on the Action required tab, and each affected shipment carries a Missing info indicator in the row.
2. Label status applies after you run a label operation. The different values applied to your shipping labels are:
Created: you purchased a label for this shipment
Voided: you voided a label that you created under the Awaiting shipments tab
Manually shipped: you marked the shipment as shipped without buying a label in AfterShip Shipping
Voided labels do not appear in Awaiting shipment.
3. Tracking status applies after the shipment ships. AfterShip Shipping maps this value from AfterShip Tracking, and it shows one of the following:
Pre-shipment
In transit
Delivered
Exception
The Tracking status filter lists only the values that currently exist in your data.
Understand which orders become shipments
AfterShip Shipping syncs paid orders that still have items to ship. Use the table below to see what happens to each order state in your store.
Order state in your store | Syncs to fulfillments? |
Draft | No |
Unpaid | No |
Paid, not shipped | Yes. AfterShip Shipping creates one shipment that holds all unfulfilled items, with the status Awaiting shipment. |
Paid, partially shipped | Yes. AfterShip Shipping creates a shipment that holds only the unfulfilled items. |
Paid, fully shipped | No |
Two rules also apply:
When an order assigns items to different store locations, AfterShip Shipping creates one shipment per location automatically.
When you cancel or refund the source order later, any shipment in Awaiting shipment or On hold moves to Canceled with the reason Source order canceled or refunded. A shipment that already reached Shipped stays as it is.
Each submenu uses the same list layout, so the tools below work the same way across Awaiting shipment, Shipped, On hold, and Canceled.
Work with the Shipments list
Each submenu uses the same list layout, so the tools below work the same way across Awaiting shipment, Shipped, On hold, and Canceled.
Every list page holds the same set of controls:
The page title, with CSV import and Export at the top right
View tabs, each with a count
The search bar, with Bulk search, Add filters, and the Columns sorting icon to its right
Active filter chips, which appear below the search bar once you apply a filter
The shipments table with the list of active shipments under that stage of shipping lifecycle
Page controls at the bottom, which show your position in the results,
Switch between view tabs
Awaiting shipment offers three tabs:
All: every shipment in the synced from your eCommerce platform, CSV imported, or created via API.
Ready to ship: Shipments with no missing information, which makes this tab safe for one-click label runs.
Action required: Shipments you need to fix before you can ship them
A blue banner appears above the tabs when AfterShip Shipping finds shipments that you can merge into one, for example two shipments that go to the same address. Select Combine now to review them, or close the banner to dismiss it for now.
Shipped, On hold, and Canceled each offer an All tab, and you narrow those lists with filters.
Search for shipments
The search bar matches any of the following:
Order number
Tracking number
Recipient
Product title
SKU
To look up many shipments at once, select Bulk search. Then:
Choose the field you want to search, such as Order no. or Product SKU.
Enter up to 200 terms, either one per line or separated by commas.
Select Search to filter the list to those terms.
Apply filters
Select Add filters to narrow the list. AfterShip Shipping offers 27 filters, grouped below by the kind of detail they match.
Each filter you apply becomes a chip below the search bar, such as Label status is any: Created.
To adjust a filter, select its chip and change the values in the panel that opens.
To remove a filter, select the close icon on the chip.
To clear the values without removing the filter, select Clear in the panel.
The Combine/Split filter accepts Combined or Split.
Group | Filters |
Store and order source | Store, Source platform, Order total, Tags |
Dates and timing | Age, Updated date, Ship date, Label purchased date, Est. delivery date, Delivery date |
Destination | Ship-to country, Ship to state/province, Ship to city |
Origin and shipment structure | Ship from location, Combine/Split |
Items and packaging | Variant, Quantity, Total weight, Package |
Carrier and cost | Carrier, Carrier service, Carrier account name, Shipping cost |
Status and exceptions | Label status, Tracking status, Hold reason, Exception type |
Sort the list and edit columns
Every list sorts by Created date, newest first, by default.
To change which details you see, select the columns icon to the right of Add filters. The Edit columns dialog opens with two panels:
Available columns lists the 35 fields you can show. Use Search columns to find a field, then select its checkbox to add it. Order no. stays selected because every row needs an identifier.
Displayed columns lists the columns currently in your table. Drag the handle beside a column to move it.
3. Select Save to apply your changes, or Cancel to close the dialog without saving.
4. Each submenu keeps its own column set, so a change in Awaiting shipment does not affect Shipped.
5. Typical starting columns are:
Awaiting shipment: Order no., Age, Ship-to, Product, Package, Carrier service, Shipping cost, Est. delivery date, Tags, and Ship date
Shipped: Order no., Carrier service, Tracking no., Tracking status, Ship-to, Ship date, Est. delivery date, Delivery date, and Tags
Read a Shipment row
Each row carries several indicators that tell you what state the shipment is in before you open it.
Select any row to open the shipment details page.
What you see | What it means |
Platform icon before the order number | The source of the shipment, such as your Shopify store or a CSV import |
(1 of 2) or (2 of 2) after the order number | The order produced more than one shipment, and this row is one part of it |
(Combined) after the order number | You merged this shipment with one or more others |
Red alert icon after the order number | The shipment needs attention. Open it or hover over the icon to see what is missing or what failed. |
Age in red, orange, or green | How long the shipment has waited. Red marks the shipments that have waited longest. |
Missing info in the Ship-to column | The recipient address is incomplete, so you cannot buy a label yet |
Not selected in the Carrier service column | No service is chosen yet. Open the shipment to get rates and pick one. |
Expired in the Ship date column | The ship date on the shipment has already passed. Open the shipment and choose a future date before you buy the label. |
Multiple in the Tracking no. column | The shipment moves in more than one package, each with its own tracking number |
A pill in the Tracking status column |
|
A dash in any column | No value exists for that field yet |
Run bulk actions
When you select one or more rows, an action bar replaces the tab row and shows the actions available for that status. On Awaiting shipment you see:
Create label: get rates and buy labels for the selection
Print: print labels, packing slips, and other documents
Hold: pause the selection
Bulk update: change shared shipment details in one pass
The overflow menu, which holds Mark as shipped, Combine shipments, Split shipment, Cancel shipments, Add tags, and Remove tags
An action appears dimmed when your current selection does not support it. Split shipment, for example, applies to one shipment at a time.
When your selection mixes shipments that support an action with shipments that do not, AfterShip Shipping skips the shipments that do not apply and shows the count on the button as (x of y selected).
Import and Export Shipments
CSV import creates shipments from a file, and Export downloads the current list for reporting or review. Both buttons sit at the top right of every list.
A. Import shipments from a CSV file
Select CSV import.
Download the sample CSV template and fill in your shipment details. To learn what each field refers to, see the article on importing orders via CSV files.
Select Upload CSV file, or drag your file into the upload area. The file must not exceed 10 MB.
Select Import.
An order that already exists in AfterShip Shipping is overwritten by the version in your file, so review your data before you import.
B. Export Shipments
Select Export.
Under Shipment range, choose what to include:
All shipments: every shipment in the current submenu
Based on the filters you applied: only the shipments in your filtered view
Under Columns range, choose which fields to include:
All fields: every available field
Visible columns in the view: only the columns currently in your table
Custom: the fields you pick
Under File type, select CSV or Excel.
Under Recipient email, keep your own address or search for teammates to add.
Select Export orders.
AfterShip Shipping emails a link to the finished file to every recipient you listed.
Things to Know
Only you can place a shipment on hold. The system never holds a shipment automatically.
You cannot hold a shipment after it reaches Shipped.
You can cancel a shipment that sits in On hold without releasing the hold first.
When you restore a canceled shipment, it keeps the carrier, service, and rate you selected earlier.
Need Help?
If you have any questions, contact our support team through live chat or email us at [email protected].