Creating and managing shipments for inventory transfers

After you create a transfer and mark it as ready to ship, you need to create a shipment for your transfer. A shipment is a process of moving items from one location to another and is a part of your transfer. You can have multiple shipments within a transfer. You might need to move items to replenish stock at another location, fulfill customer orders, or transfer inventory between different branches of your business.

You can create shipments, add tracking information for a shipment, receive, and delete shipments for transfers.

Shipment statuses

Your shipments can have different shipment statuses that indicate the shipment state. Review the following table to learn about the different shipment statuses.

Inventory shipment statuses and their decsriptions

Shipment status	Description
Draft	A shipment hasn't shipped yet, but your inventory is reserved at the origin location.
In transit	A shipment has been marked as in transit and shipped to the destination location. Your inventory is displayed as incoming in your destination location and is reserved in the origin location.
Partially received	Only some of the items in a shipment have been received. The inventory that you accepted is displayed as available in your destination location, and the inventory that you rejected is displayed as incoming in your origin location.
Received	The inventory that you accepted is displayed as available in your destination location, and the inventory that you rejected is displayed as incoming in your origin location.

Create a draft shipment for a transfer

You can create a shipment only for a transfer that's ready to ship. You can't create a shipment for draft transfers. You can create multiple shipments for a transfer.

When you create a shipment you can add additional shipment details, such as the estimated arrival date, tracking number, or shipping carrier.

Tip

You can also create and manage shipments using a barcode scanner. This allows you to quickly scan products when creating shipments and receiving inventory. Learn more about using barcode scanners with transfers.

If your carrier is supported by Shopify and you add a tracking number, then the carrier is automatically selected for you. If your carrier isn't fully supported by Shopify or you select Other from the Shipping carrier drop-down menu, then you can enter the tracking URL manually. Make sure to enter the complete URL including the digits that your carrier provided to track the shipment.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that you want to create a shipment for.

3. Click Create shipment.

4. Select the products and their quantities that you want to add to a shipment.

5. Optional: In the Shipment details section, add additional information about your shipment:

   • In the Estimated arrival date field, select or enter an estimated arrival date for your shipment.
   • In the Tracking number field, add a tracking number for your shipment.
   • In the Shipping carrier field, add a shipping carrier for your shipment. Shopify might recognize the tracking number format and select a shipping carrier for you automatically.

6. Click Save.

Mark a shipment as in transit

After you give your items to a shipping carrier, you need to mark your shipment as in transit.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that you want to mark a shipment as in transit for a shipment.

3. For the shipment that you want to mark as in transit, click Mark as in transit.

4. Click Done.

Add or edit tracking information for a shipment

You can add or edit shipment tracking information, such as a tracking number, shipping carrier, or an estimated arrival date, for a shipment.

If your carrier is supported by Shopify and you add a tracking number, then the carrier is automatically selected for you. If your carrier isn't fully supported by Shopify or you select Other from the Shipping carrier drop-down menu, then you can enter the tracking URL manually. Make sure to enter the complete URL including the digits that your carrier provided to track the shipment.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that you want to add or edit tracking information for a shipment.

3. Add or edit tracking information for your shipment:

   • To add shipment tracking information, click Add shipment information.
   • To edit shipment tracking information, click ..., and then click Edit tracking.

4. Optional: In the Estimated arrival date field, select or enter an estimated arrival date for your shipment.

5. Optional: In the Tracking number field, add a tracking number for your shipment.

6. Optional: In the Shipping carrier field, add a shipping carrier for your shipment. Shopify might recognize the tracking number format and select a shipping carrier for you automatically.

7. Click Save.

Receive a shipment for a transfer

You can receive a shipment for a transfer in your Shopify admin. Receiving inventory means that the item has arrived, you have evaluated the item, and decided to accept or reject it. You can also receive a shipment for a transfer with a barcode scanner.

When your transfer inventory arrives, you need to review the shipment and make sure that you receive everything that you're expecting. You can accept and reject in bulk for all items or for specific item quantities in a shipment.

If you receive extra quantity for existing items on a shipment, then you can specify a greater number of items in the Accept column.

When you accept and reject items in a shipment, you can view the total received items in the Summary section.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that you want to receive a shipment for.

3. For the shipment that you want to receive items for, click Receive shipment.

4. Accept and reject items in a shipment:

   • To accept all items in a shipment, click Accept all.
   • To accept specific item quantities, in the Accept column enter the item quantities that you accept for each item.
   • To reject all items in a shipment, click Reject all.
   • To reject specific item quantities, in the Reject column enter the item quantities that you reject for each item.

5. Click Save.

Edit item quantities in a received shipment

You can come back to a received shipment and edit the accepted or rejected item quantities to make corrections. For example, if you find an item that was initially lost in transit, then you can adjust the item's quantity in a received shipment.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that you want to edit a received shipment.

3. For the shipment that received items, click ..., and then click Receive shipment.

4. Accept and reject items in a shipment:

   • To accept specific item quantities, in the Accept column enter the item quantities that you accept for each item.
   • To reject specific item quantities, in the Reject column enter the item quantities that you reject for each item.

5. Click Save.

Delete a shipment from a transfer

You can delete shipments that are in the Draft status. You can't undo this action.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that you want to delete a shipment for.

3. For the shipment that you want to delete, click ..., and then click Delete shipment.

4. Click Delete shipment.