This is part 3 of our 'Anatomy of a Shopify POS Implementation' series, in which we aim to help de-risk your ecommerce store’s POS setup and integration. 

Read part 1: Hardware, Integration & Middleware Guide

Part 2: CRM, Clienteling, Gift Cards & In-Store Experiences

Managing orders and fulfillment is often where omnichannel dreams go to die. When you rely on disconnected systems, a single sale can trigger a maze of duplicated data, manual reconciliation and frantic calls between stores and warehouses. 

Shopify’s point‑of‑sale (POS) platform aims to tackle this problem by turning each retail store into a mini fulfillment centre and by offering a built‑in order‑management system (OMS) that synchronizes data across online and offline channels

In part three of our Shopify POS implementation series, we’ll dig into what makes the Shopify POS tick, especially around fulfillment workflows and OMS choices, and highlight where you might hit roadblocks so you can plan ahead for the best possible results.

Shopify POS Fulfillment Considerations

When getting started with integrating the Shopify POS into your order fulfillment process, there are a few things to keep in mind as you start to work out your implementation/integration plan. 

How Shopify POS Makes Fulfillment Better

Shopify POS transforms your stores into mini-fulfillment centers. Staff can print labels and pack orders for shipment from all enabled locations. Since each POS can monitor stock levels across all locations, it has built-in endless aisle capabilities. You can also create showrooms where customers can visit to view and test items, but purchase online, either on the spot using POS or from home.

The POS can display orders awaiting fulfillment to your store associates and send push notifications when a new order requires action (e.g., “New BOPIS,” “New Ship from Store”). The “Order” tab of the POS will also display a badge with the number of unfulfilled orders. 

Store associates can fulfill or reassign a shipment or an item in a shipment through the order screen if the only stock in a location is damaged or the store is too busy to handle packing the order. This makes it easier to split the workload across stores and stay efficient across the board.  

If a BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store) order must be rejected or an item must be removed, associates can return these items(s) from the order screen. In contrast, cancelled orders can include cancellation reasons to keep both customers and staff in the loop. Select the closest reason for cancellation from the drop-down menu that includes the following options:

1. Customer cancelled the order

2. Staff error

3. Items unavailable 

4. Payment declined 

5. Other (associates can elaborate in the “notes” section of the order)

When orders are cancelled, the system sends automatic emails to customers with details and confirmation of the refunded funds. 

Pick and Pack: Tools and Processes

Picking orders is also easy and straightforward. Associates can pick items for orders with barcode scanners or by entering the SKU/name in the POS app. Orders marked as “ready for pickup” trigger a notification via email or SMS to the customer to come to collect their items, reducing wait times (customers are informed of a pickup window when placing their order). Merchants can add custom data to the location object and expose this custom data via Liquid templates, including the BOPIS notification email.

When orders are marked for pickup, the POS reserves that inventory across all channels to prevent overselling. When shipping labels are created, orders are automatically updated with tracking numbers and ETAs, and shipping labels can be easily cancelled if they are incorrect or created in error.

Shopify Shipping Carriers and Options

Shopify offers the following shipping options to North American merchants: 

Canada: 

• Canada Post (domestic and international)

• DHL Express Canada (domestic and international)

• Purolator (domestic only)

• UPS (domestic only)

USA:

• USPS

• UPS (not available in Puerto Rico)

• DHL Express (continental United States only)

• DHL eCommerce (continental United States only)

• FedEx

You can also connect any third-party carrier accounts to your Shopify admin to display carrier-calculated shipping rates to customers at checkout. This includes shipping costs from accounts with UPS, USPS, Canada Post, and FedEx. 

Scenarios that may require an alternative solution or workaround

These features/workflows are not currently available but are on the roadmap for future POS updates:

• If you require associates to include a reason for rejecting an order or reassigning a shipment to another location. There is no drop-down menu for applicable reasons; however, you can include more information in the “notes” section of the order. 

• If you need to set timeframes to fulfill orders before they timeout. The Shopify POS will keep orders open until an action is taken (such as fulfillment, cancellation, etc.).

• If you wish to send orders where no inventory is available for a BOPIS order or to ship from the store, to your customer service team for review/handling/cancellation, instead of simply cancelling the order or removing items without contacting the customer first.  

• If you require automatic emails to be sent when associates have removed/modified items in an order, including a reason or note. Customers will still receive an email, but they will only see their new total, and that the order has been changed. If they wish to learn more about the order, they will need to speak to customer service or someone with access to the order notes (or be preemptively notified by someone on your team).

Fulfillment questions you will need to consider: 

• How do my fulfillment choices relate to my OMS decisions? If you rely on Shopify as your sole system of record, a unified POS‑plus‑OMS workflow can reduce integration overhead. However, if you need advanced features like parcel consolidation or returns management, an external OMS might still be necessary.

• How do these options and features stack up against my must-haves and nice-to-haves? Engage departments such as customer service and logistics to ensure the POS supports their processes and to identify any missing features early.

• Do I need features like automatic expiry windows, rejection reasons or more granular notifications? If so, plan whether custom development or third‑party extensions are required.

Shopify POS OMS Considerations

Many merchants believe that they still need to use a separate order management system (OMS) for their operations, but Shopify’s Smart Order Routing functionality actually does a really good job at standing in for many third-party OMS applications. 

Using Shopify as your OMS offers benefits such as lower setup costs, seamless integration with your Shopify store, and access to discounted shipping rates in the US and Canada. However, it may lack the advanced features that businesses with complex fulfillment operations require, such as multi-location inventories or complex product setups (e.g., bundles, dropshipping).

Should you let Shopify be your OMS? - OMS Limitations and Benefits 

Choosing whether or not to use Shopify’s built-in OMS feature set (Shopify Order Routing) is an important decision for merchants integrating the POS into their stack. Here’s a breakdown of the most important pros and cons to consider when making this choice. 

Pros: 

• Built into Shopify, it requires less upfront configuration and setup, especially if you aren’t migrating your store to Shopify itself at the same time as you set up the POS. 

• Shopify allows you to purchase/print up to 100 shipping labels in bulk from top global carriers.

• You gain access to the lowest shipping rates in the US and Canada markets through Shopify. 

• Scalability: Track, move, and manage inventory across as many as 1,000 fulfillment locations and warehouses.

• Shopify automatically recommends the best shipping service and packaging for every order.

• Print manifests and schedule pickups with select shipping carriers directly in Shopify.

• Automate fulfillment with Shopify Flow workflows. Create your own or benefit from pre-existing templates. 

• Ability to integrate with third-party logistics solutions, where order and inventory details are shared between Shopify and the 3PL’s warehouse management system. 

Cons: 

• Shopify, as an OMS, may be limited for organizations with multi-location inventories, dropshipping, or specific fulfillment constraints (e.g., by weight or product category).

• It may struggle with real-time updates, multi-warehouse locations, complicated inventory kinds (kits, bundles), or advanced forecasting.

• Switching to a dedicated OMS later on, as you scale beyond what Shopify can support, can be costly and disruptive during the transition. 

• Shopify primarily reports sales and order statistics. Businesses with complex fulfillment demands may need more detailed inventory movement, fulfillment performance, and cost analysis than Shopify can provide.

What are the native Shopify Routing Rules? 

The default order routing strategy includes the following rules in this order:

1. Ship from the closest location.

2. Stay within the destination market.

3. Minimize split fulfillments.

4. Use ranked locations (based on the group-based ranking that you set).

5. Use location metafields (e.g., defining a boolean metafield such as has_capacity to prioritize based on which location can fulfill your order).

Shopify also allows for the creation of more customized rules through custom order Functions or Shopify Flow. You can customize the following: 

Minimize Split Fulfillments

Optimize to fulfill the order in the fewest number of packages. Locations with all items in stock are prioritized over those without. When none of your locations have all the items in stock, this rule will prioritize the locations that result in the fewest packages.

Stay Within The Destination Market

Locations in the same market as the shipping address will be prioritized over those that aren’t.

Ship From The Closest Location

The location closest to the shipping address (measured in a straight line using the Haversine formula) will be prioritized. The “ship from closest location rule” functions as a tiebreaker, always selecting the location closest to the destination address. 

For best results, this rule should always be the last rule applied. If two locations share the same address, the one added earlier (by date added to Shopify) will be prioritized.

Use Ranked Locations

Prioritize locations using a group-based ranking that you define for your business. Locations in the same location group share the same rank. For example, all locations in the topmost location group share a ranking of 1, whereas all locations in the second group share a ranking of 2.

When to Explore Alternative OMS Solutions

If your business has complex fulfillment requirements like multiple sales channels, bundles or kits, subscription products or a high volume of returns, then Shopify’s Smart Order Routing capabilities might not suffice. Dedicated OMS platforms often offer advanced features such as real‑time inventory forecasting, dynamic order splitting, and deeper integrations with ERP and warehouse‑management systems. 

These systems also provide more robust reporting, enabling you to analyze fulfillment costs by carrier or location. Another consideration is scalability; if you expect to exceed Shopify’s limit of 1,000 locations or need to route orders based on cost, speed and capacity, third‑party OMS solutions can help you avoid bottlenecks. When looking at an external OMS, weigh the trade‑off between the convenience of Shopify’s all‑in‑one approach and the flexibility of a specialized platform.

Questions you will need to consider: 

• Does my existing OMS integrate with Shopify? If so, evaluate whether it can handle unified data across both online and in‑store sales without duplication.

• Will I lose any features if I do not switch to Shopify for OMS? For example, some third-party systems offer advanced forecasting, dropshipping support, or complex bundling that Shopify may not handle well.

• What are my long‑term scalability requirements? Think about the number of locations, warehouses and sales channels you plan to support in the next five years.

• What is my budget and technical capacity? Factor in the cost of implementing and maintaining an external OMS versus the potential productivity gains and cost savings that come with advanced features. 

Conclusion

Implementing Shopify POS for fulfillment requires careful consideration of how orders flow through your business. With built‑in ship‑from‑store and BOPIS workflows, Shopify POS lets store staff pick, pack and ship orders efficiently while keeping inventory levels accurate across channels. 

As long as you understand both the strengths and weaknesses of Shopify’s fulfillment and order routing capabilities, you can choose the right blend of native features, custom workflows, and third-party systems to support your store’s omnichannel experience. 

As a Shopify Plus Partner agency, we at Blue Badger have the skills and experience you need to get your brick-and-mortar store set up with a point of sale system that not only processes payments but also helps build and maintain customer relationships by providing excellent customer service without leaving all the extras from your online store on the table. Get in touch with us today to learn more about the Shopify POS.