Putting fulfillments on hold during the editing window

If you’re using a 3PL integration or shipping/fulfillment apps such as ShipStation or ShippingEasy, it may be desirable to place a fulfillment hold on an order while a customer might make changes using Customer Portal. This can be accomplished using Shopify’s fulfillment “on hold” status.

When an order’s fulfillment status is “on hold,” it signals to apps such as ShipStation and to your fulfillment team that the order should not be fulfilled yet in case the customer makes any changes to it. When the hold is released, the order can be fulfilled.

This article will show you how to use Shopify Flow to set up an automated workflow that does the following:

  1. When an order is created, immediately place the order’s fulfillment status to “on hold”
  2. After the editing window has elapsed, release the fulfillment hold on the order

Set up a fulfillment hold workflow with a delayed release in Flow

If you’re using Customer Portal to allow your customers to edit their orders during a specific time window, you may want to add a waiting period before releasing the order’s fulfillment.

Steps

  1. Go to Apps > Flow.
  2. Click Create Workflow.
  3. Start with Order Created
  4. Click the (+) icon and select Action
  5. Select Flow > For each loop (iterate) > List

  1. Click Order > FulfillmentOrders

  1. Click on "Do this for each item" and select Action > Shopify Admin API > Hold fulfillment order

  1. Click the (+) icon next to Then and select Action > Flow > Wait.

  1. Enter the duration. Ensure that this “wait” duration matches the duration that an order can be edited by a customer in Customer Portal. See the “Allow customers to make changes to their orders up to” setting in your Customer Portal Settings
  2. Click the (+) icon next to Then and select Action.
  3. Select Flow > For each loop (iterate) > List

  1. Click Order > FulfillmentOrders

12. Click on "Do this for each item" and select Action > Shopify Admin API > Release fulfillment hold

  1. Click Turn on workflow.

On hold status and fulfillment release in Shipstation

Once the first action of your workflow has run, your order will appear On Hold in Shopify and will be found in the On Hold section of your dashboard in Shipstation.

On Hold status in Shopify

On Hold status in Shipstation

Note: When an order has an On Hold in Shopify, your products' quantity will appear as 0 in Shipstation.

Unfulfilled status after fulfillment release in Shopify

After the set duration selected in the Wait action of your workflow has elapsed, the fulfillment will be released. You will see on your order page an Unfulfilled status, which will allow the order to get fulfilled.

Awaiting Shipment status after fulfillment release in Shipstation

Once the fulfillment is released, your order will appear in the Awaiting Shipment section of your Shipstation dashboard. You should see this order with an "Awaiting Shipment" status and your current products' quantity should be reflected.


Any questions? Don't hesitate to reach out at support@editorder.net!