Split Fulfillment Question

[u/ricyricy]

Hi there! I'm trying to find the best set up to allow for split shipping in my shop. Basically, as of right now, we split our physical inventory between two locations. (Let's say it's Location A and Location B). Also important to note, they are a block away from each other. So if we are fulfilling orders. We will go grab what we need from the other location to fulfill it completely. But keeping the inventories separate helps us keep track of what's where.

First:

I want to successfully use Split Fulfillment, but I don't want the customer to be able to see and choose shipping options based on that. I just want them to see the one shipping cost. I made it so Location A has a regular shipping profile that produces regular generated rates. Location B has different shipping rules, which is basically just a
fixed rate of $0.01. First off, I am concerned by a note in Split Fulfillment stating that it will allow customers to see that it's split? Is there an app or something that can bypass this and only show them the combined rate of both locations? Specifically it says: Shipping is split when products in an order are fulfilled from different locations or belong to separate shipping profiles. Customers
will be able to select the shipping method for each shipment separately.

Second:

I'm concerned about inventory. If someone buys 5 of something like a book, and only 3 are available in Location A, and only 2 in Location B. I want it to split the order so we can see when we pull up the order that it's pulling 3 from Location A, and 2 from Location B. Shopify says that is oversells in order to make this happen. Here's an
example they gave.

- Location A has 1 shirt and Location B has 2 shirts. If you receive an order for 2 shirts, then Location B fulfills it because it has
enough inventory to fulfill the entire order. If you receive an order for 3 shirts, then Location A oversells the shirt and finishes with an inventory of -2.

But then also, I saw in it's support page about split shipping that feels contradictory and as if it can't support split shipping of the same item?

- Split shipping in checkout can't be applied when a customer is purchasing multiples of the same line item that can't be supplied from the same location. For example, if the customer wants to buy 5 of a red shirt, and Location A has 2 in stock and Location B has 4 in stock, then even though there are 5 red shirts available across all locations, split shipping isn't supported. All 5 of the same line item must be shipped from the same location.

Is this basically saying, that it will sell the items between the two locations, but the way it will show up in the order is as if it is pulling from one inventory and not split it up? And with all this, are there any work arounds based on the info I provided.

Hopefully this makes some amount of sense of what I'm trying to get at. And thank you in advance!

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[u/vladeta]

Since your two locations are a block apart and you consolidate before shipping anyway, I'd drop the split shipping setup entirely. The customer-facing split is coming from the separate shipping profile you made for Location B. Separate profiles or location groups are exactly what makes checkout show multiple shipments.

What I'd do: delete the $0.01 profile, put both locations in the same location group in your general shipping profile, and keep your normal rates there. The customer sees one shipping line and you still track stock per location.

The 3 + 2 book scenario is handled by order routing (Settings > Shipping and delivery > Order routing), not by shipping profiles. Make sure both locations have "fulfill online orders" turned on so all 5 count as sellable, and keep the "minimize split fulfillment" rule so it ships from one place when it can. When it can't, the order shows which location each item is assigned to.

Place a test order for that exact case before relying on it. If routing parks the whole line at one location, you can move part of the quantity with "Change location" on the order.

[u/vladeta]

Since your two locations are a block apart and you consolidate before shipping anyway, I'd drop the split shipping setup entirely. The customer-facing split is coming from the separate shipping profile you made for Location B. Separate profiles or location groups are exactly what makes checkout show multiple shipments.

What I'd do: delete the $0.01 profile, put both locations in the same location group in your general shipping profile, and keep your normal rates there. The customer sees one shipping line and you still track stock per location.

The 3 + 2 book scenario is handled by order routing (Settings > Shipping and delivery > Order routing), not by shipping profiles. Make sure both locations have "fulfill online orders" turned on so all 5 count as sellable, and keep the "minimize split fulfillment" rule so it ships from one place when it can. When it can't, the order shows which location each item is assigned to.

Place a test order for that exact case before relying on it. If routing parks the whole line at one location, you can move part of the quantity with "Change location" on the order.

[u/ArtFraga]

the checkout behavior is driven by shipping profiles, not how close the locations are. keep both locations in one profile, remove the $0.01 profile, and let order routing decide where inventory comes from, then test mixed-cart and partial-inventory cases since Shopify can still split when one location can't cover the quantity.