Ship and Pickup in One Checkout: Who Can Use It

For years, Shopify merchants have managed a frustrating checkout limitation: customers couldn't mix items for local pickup and shipping in the same cart. A shopper who wanted a shippable item and a pickup item had to place two separate orders, a point of friction that risked cart abandonment. Now, a new Shopify feature allows customers to do both in a single transaction.

This update, currently in a feature test drive, lets a customer choose different delivery methods for different items within one checkout session. It’s a significant operational shift, especially for retailers with both a strong online presence and physical store locations. Here’s a detailed look at who can use it, how it works, and how to prepare your store.

What is ship and pickup in one checkout?

Ship and pickup in one order is a Shopify feature that allows a customer to select both shipping and in-store pickup for different items within a single order. Previously, a customer had to create two separate orders if they wanted one item shipped to their home and another picked up from a retail location.

This feature streamlines the customer experience by combining what would have been multiple transactions into one. For example, a customer can now buy a large coffee machine to be shipped to their house and a bag of coffee beans to pick up at a local store, all within the same checkout process and with a single payment. The result is one order for the customer but multiple fulfillment tasks for the merchant, managed within the Shopify admin.

From the merchant’s perspective, a single customer order is now split into multiple fulfillment jobs. This surfaces the operational complexity that was always there but previously handled by forcing the customer to place two orders. Now, the system manages the split, requiring your internal processes for shipping and retail to be in sync. Your warehouse team and your in-store staff must handle their parts of the order correctly.

The core benefit is reducing checkout friction. Forcing a customer to place two orders to accommodate two delivery methods increases the chances they will abandon the purchase altogether. By removing this barrier, Shopify aims to improve conversion rates, increase average order value, and drive more foot traffic to physical stores for additional purchasing opportunities.

Who can use it today?

Currently, the ship and pickup in one order feature is available exclusively for merchants on the Shopify Plus and Enterprise plans. It is offered as a "feature test drive, " which allows these higher-tier merchants to access and test the functionality before its full release.

This limitation to Plus and Enterprise plans is intentional. These merchants are more likely to operate the complex, multi-location business models that benefit most from mixed fulfillment. They often have multiple retail stores, dedicated warehouses, and the operational maturity to handle split fulfillment workflows, making them ideal testers for the feature's initial rollout.

To be eligible to use the feature, a Plus or Enterprise store must have at least one location activated for shipping and at least one location activated for in-store pickup. If a store only offers shipping or only offers pickup, this feature will not change its checkout process. The functionality is designed specifically for businesses that manage both types of fulfillment.

Merchants on Basic, Shopify, or Advanced plans cannot access this feature at this time. The early access period for Plus and Enterprise users allows Shopify to gather feedback and data from high-volume stores, helping to refine the feature and prepare for a wider rollout.

Where do you turn it on under Feature test drives?

For eligible Shopify Plus and Enterprise organizations, activating the feature is a straightforward process within the Shopify admin. The setting is located in the "Feature test drives" section, which is designed for opting into upcoming platform changes.

Here are the steps to activate it:

1. From your Shopify admin, navigate to Settings.
2. In the Organization section, click on Feature test drives.
3. Find Ship and pickup in one order in the list of available features and click Activate feature on stores.
4. A dialog box will appear, listing all the stores in your organization. You can select individual stores or all of them.
5. Click Save to enable the feature for the selected stores.

Before activating on your live production store, it is best practice to enable the feature on a staging or development store first. This allows you to test the entire customer journey and internal workflows without affecting real customers or orders. A broken checkout on your live site can cost you sales and damage customer trust.

Once activated, it's crucial to test the checkout experience thoroughly to ensure everything works as expected before customers begin using it. You can deactivate the feature at any time during the testing period from the same menu.

What should you check in locations and delivery profiles first?

Before enabling mixed fulfillment, it’s essential to review your store’s setup for locations and delivery. The new feature relies entirely on your existing configurations for inventory, shipping, and pickup. Misconfigured settings can lead to a poor customer experience or fulfillment errors.

First, ensure you have at least one location activated for shipping and another for local pickup. In your Settings > Shipping and delivery, confirm that your pickup locations are active and have accurate processing times. If you offer store transfers, moving inventory between locations to fulfill a pickup order, verify that the estimated pickup times account for this transfer period.

Audit Your Shipping Rate Logic

A critical area to audit is your shipping rate structure, especially rules based on order value. For example, a "Free Shipping over $100" offer could cause problems. By default, Shopify might apply this rule to the total cart value, including the items a customer intends to pick up in-store. This is a named trade-off: simplicity for the customer can create a costly loophole for you.

Imagine a cart worth $120. It contains an $80 jacket for shipping and a $40 scarf for pickup. The total value exceeds your $100 threshold, so the customer might get free shipping on the jacket. You intended for the threshold to apply only to shippable items. The cost of getting this wrong is lost revenue on every order that exploits this gap in your logic.

To prevent this, you may need to adjust your shipping rules or use a third-party app to create more granular conditions. For instance, you could create rules based on the total weight or price of only the items assigned to the shipping profile, rather than the entire cart. Thorough testing with different cart combinations is the only way to be sure your rates are correct.

Test Your Inventory Visibility

Accurate, real-time inventory levels at all locations are non-negotiable. When a customer places a pickup order, they trust that the item is waiting for them. If your inventory count is wrong and the product isn't actually in stock at that store, you've created a deeply negative experience. The customer wastes a trip and leaves empty-handed and frustrated.

The cost of this error is immense. It's not just one lost sale. It’s the damage to your brand’s reputation, the potential for a negative public review, and the loss of that customer’s future business. To prevent this, ensure your inventory syncs reliably between your e-commerce platform and any point-of-sale (POS) systems or other sales channels you use.

Next, audit your shipping profiles. These profiles determine which shipping rates apply to which products and locations. Since shipping costs for mixed orders follow your existing rules, you should check that your rates make sense when a customer only ships part of their order. Also, be aware that local delivery and third-party pickup points are not supported as options in a checkout with mixed delivery methods.

Finally, test your app compatibility. Any third-party apps that interact with delivery, fulfillment, or order logic, such as order management systems (OMS) or shipping insurance apps, need to be tested. App developers have been notified to prepare, but it's the merchant's responsibility to confirm their specific tools work correctly with split orders.

The goal is to reduce complexity for the customer, even if it reveals the operational complexity behind the curtain. One order should feel like one order, no matter how many boxes it arrives in.

How are fulfillments split between shipping and pickup?

When a customer completes a purchase with mixed delivery methods, Shopify creates a single order that contains multiple fulfillment orders. Each fulfillment order represents a group of items to be fulfilled using the same method from a specific location. This is the core trade-off: `Customer Simplicity vs. Operational Complexity`.

In your Shopify admin, you will see one overarching order number. Within that order, there will be separate fulfillment cards: one for the items to be shipped and another for the items to be picked up. The fulfillment order for shipped items will contain the customer's shipping address and chosen shipping method. The fulfillment order for pickup items will specify the pickup location and note that the customer will collect them.

This distinction is critical for your fulfillment team. Each fulfillment order should be treated as a separate task. This requires a concrete step: training your staff. Warehouse employees must learn to process only the shipping portion of a mixed order. Retail staff need a clear process for receiving and preparing pickup orders, which may now be part of a larger online transaction.

This system routes tasks to the correct locations based on your inventory and location settings. For example, a warehouse team might handle the shipping portion, while retail staff at a different location prepare the pickup portion. It's important to note that a customer can only select one pickup location per order, even if items are available at multiple stores.

Handling Returns and Exchanges

An edge case that breaks usual advice is how to manage returns. If a customer buys a shipped item and a pickup item in one transaction, how do they return the shipped item? Your standard online return process might say "mail it back, " but the customer may prefer to bring it to the store when they pick up their other item. You must have a clear, documented policy for this.

Deciding whether to accept in-store returns for online orders is a major operational choice. If you allow it, your retail staff must be trained to process a return for an item that wasn't part of their store's inventory. This can complicate your accounting and inventory management, but it offers a much better customer experience. This is another concrete step you must take before enabling mixed checkout.

When does it reach all Plus stores?

The ship and pickup in one order feature is scheduled to be fully released and automatically activated for all eligible Shopify Plus organizations on July 1, 2027. After this date, the feature will become a standard part of the checkout for these stores and can no longer be deactivated.

This timeline gives merchants on Plus and Enterprise plans a window to test the feature using the "Feature test drives" option. By opting in early, stores can adjust their operational workflows, test third-party app compatibility, and train their staff on handling split-fulfillment orders before the change becomes permanent.

Waiting until the deadline to prepare is a significant risk. Any unresolved issues with app compatibility, shipping rate calculations, or staff training will directly impact your live checkout process once the feature is mandatory. Using the test drive period proactively ensures a smooth transition instead of a reactive scramble to fix problems.

For merchants on other Shopify plans, there is no official date for when this feature might become available. The initial rollout focuses on Plus and Enterprise, likely because these businesses are more likely to have the multi-location, hybrid retail-and-ecommerce models that benefit most from this functionality.

The introduction of mixed checkout is a powerful tool, but it also highlights how customer needs can change even after an order is placed. A customer might select pickup for an item, then realize they can't make it to the store and need it shipped instead. Or they might add an item to the shipped portion of their order.

This is where post-purchase flexibility becomes crucial. Tacey's order editing tools work on the order status page after checkout, allowing customers to make changes within the rules you set, helping to resolve these issues without creating a new support ticket.

Frequently asked questions

Can a customer choose more than one pickup location in a single order?

No, a customer can only select one pickup location per order. Even if different pickup items are available at multiple stores, all items designated for pickup within a single order must be collected from the same location.

Does this feature work with local delivery?

No, local delivery is not supported as an option in a checkout with mixed ship-and-pickup delivery methods. The checkout will only offer standard shipping and in-store pickup options when this feature is active.

What happens if an item for pickup is out of stock at the nearest location?

If you have enabled store transfers, Shopify can show the item as available for pickup but with a longer estimated pickup time to account for moving the inventory from another location. If transfers are not enabled, the item will not be available for pickup from that location.

How are shipping costs calculated on a mixed order?

Shipping costs are calculated based on your existing shipping profiles, applied only to the items being shipped. However, be careful with order-total-based rates, like "Free shipping over $100." By default, this may be calculated on the entire cart value, including pickup items. This could mean you give free shipping based on a $120 order, even if only $80 of it is being shipped. Test your rules to prevent this.

How do returns work for a mixed-fulfillment order?

This is a policy decision for the merchant. You must decide if you will allow customers to return items that were shipped to one of your physical store locations. While this provides a better customer experience, it requires training your retail staff to handle returns for items not in their local inventory system and can complicate your reverse logistics process.

How does this affect sales reporting and analytics?

In Shopify, a mixed order is still a single order. However, it contains multiple fulfillment groups (e.g., one for shipping, one for pickup). Standard reporting may not automatically attribute revenue between your online channel and your retail channel correctly. You may need custom reports or to adjust your analytics process to properly credit the retail location for the pickup portion of the sale.

Do I need to update my email notification templates?

Yes, it's highly recommended. Your default templates might confuse customers. A single order confirmation email now needs to clearly separate the items being shipped from the items for pickup. It should show the shipping address for one set of items and the full pickup location address and hours for the other. Unclear instructions will lead to customer service tickets.

What happens if my third-party fulfillment app isn't compatible?

If an app that handles fulfillment logic isn't updated, it can cause severe errors. For example, an incompatible app could cause your 3PL to automatically ship an item that a customer is already driving to your store to pick up. This creates an unsalvageable customer service disaster, costing you the sale, the shipping fee, and that customer's trust.

Can I disable the feature after I turn it on?

During the feature test drive period, you can activate and deactivate the feature as needed. However, after the full release on July 1, 2027, it will be automatically enabled for all eligible Plus stores and can no longer be turned off.