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Creating and Managing 3PL Fulfillment Orders

In the 3PL fulfillment flow, orders are submitted to the 3PL warehouse for processing. Once the warehouse fulfills an order, Goflow pulls shipment details, and relays tracking to the stores.

Creating a 3PL Fulfillment Order

Orders assigned to a 3PL warehouse have the status Ready to Fulfill. You can find these orders under the Fulfill bucket in the left sidebar. Orders can be submitted for fulfillment individually, in bulk, or automatically.

Understanding Fulfillment Request Options

The following is a generalized overview of the 3PL fulfillment request options. Visit the respective 3PL warehouse page for options particular to that 3PL warehouse type:

Submitting a Single Order for Fulfillment

To create a fulfillment request for one order, follow these steps:

  1. From the left sidebar, go to Orders › Fulfill.
  2. Click on an order to open the Create Fulfillment Order page.
  3. Review the fulfillment request options.
  4. At the top of the page, click on Send.

Click Send & Next to submit this order and proceed to the next one. To submit only this order, click Send Order.

Submitting Multiple Orders for Fulfillment

To create fulfillment requests for multiple orders in bulk, follow these steps:

  1. From the left sidebar, go to Orders › Fulfill.
  2. Optionally, use filters to display specific orders.
  3. Select the orders you wish to fulfill.
  4. Click Actions › Submit External Fulfillment Orders.

When submitting orders in bulk, the default request options will be applied to create the fulfillment orders.

Bulk submission is not available for Amazon MCF due to the requirement of selecting a shipping service level for each order.

Automatically Submitting Orders for Fulfillment

Goflow can automatically send orders to the 3PL warehouse for fulfillment, eliminating the need for manual review and submission. Automation also ensures that orders are immediately processed as soon as they are imported from the store.

Automatic fulfillment is available for these 3PL warehouses types:

To enable automatic fulfillment, follow these steps:

  1. In the left sidebar, go to Directory › Warehouses and open the 3PL warehouse.
  2. Locate the Auto Fulfill Orders setting in the side panel.
  3. Click the pencil icon to edit.
  4. Set the option to Enabled.
  5. Choose the stores for which you want orders to be automatically fulfilled.
  6. Click Save to confirm your settings.

Orders are automatically submitted as soon as they are ready. This would normally be upon importing an order to the 3PL warehouse, or when the order's warehouse is manually updated. When orders are submitted automatically, the default request options are applied to create the fulfillment orders.

Orders under Review must first satisfy certain requirements before they are ready for automatic submission. These requirements include:

Orders that cannot be submitted will remain in the Fulfill bucket. Even with automatic fulfillment enabled, it’s important to regularly check the Fulfill bucket to stay on top of orders that could not be processed automatically. Common auto-fulfillment errors include:

Managing 3PL Fulfillment Orders

Orders submitted to a 3PL warehouse have the status Awaiting Confirmation. You can find these orders under the Fulfilling bucket in the left sidebar. To view the details of a fulfillment order request, open the order and click View Fulfillment Order. This page shows the order as submitted to the 3PL, including the selected fulfillment options.

Cancelling a 3PL Fulfillment

If you choose not to proceed with 3PL fulfillment, you can cancel the fulfillment request. To cancel, click the Cancel Fulfillment button inside the order. Make sure the Notify Warehouse option is checked. When you click Save, a cancellation request is sent to the 3PL warehouse. The outcome depends on the warehouse's response:

Forwarding Store Cancellations

If the customer or the store cancels an order, Goflow will automatically attempt to cancel the fulfillment with the 3PL as well. The outcome depends on the warehouse's response:

Completing 3PL Shipments

Goflow automatically retrieves shipment from the 3PL warehouse, and updates the store with tracking and shipment details. Depending on the 3PL warehouse type, the following details are applied to the order:

When multi-box shipments are shipped by the 3PL using different carriers, Goflow will automatically split the order and apply the shipping method, cost, and tracking number to each order split. The store will then be updated with multiple tracking numbers from the respective carriers. If the order cannot be split — such as when a single group product is fulfilled by multiple carriers, or if the channel does not support partial shipments— only the first carrier and tracking number will be applied to the entire order. However, all tracking numbers remain accessible by opening the order and clicking View Fulfillment Order.

Handling Errors in 3PL Shipments

If there are fatal errors with a 3PL shipment, the order cannot be updated with shipment details. Goflow will wait up to three days for the 3PL to provide updated valid shipment details before marking the shipment as unprocessable. Orders with fulfillment errors are placed On Hold. Common errors include: