Checking orders

Checking is the core Scanpacker workflow for packing an order. You scan each item to confirm it’s going in the box, then finish the order — either by creating the Shopify fulfillment in Scanpacker, or by leaving the order for Shopify or your shipping app to fulfill as usual. Which of those happens is set by your fulfillment mode. You can start from the order queue or from a Shopify admin order details page.

The workflow

Every order goes through two steps:

  1. Check — Scan each item to confirm it is being packed
  2. Finish — Hand the order off for fulfillment, or create the fulfillment in Scanpacker, depending on your fulfillment mode

Step 1: Check items

Start an order from the order queue or by opening an order directly. You’ll see a list of items that need to be packed.

Scan each item’s barcode with your scanner. Each scan increments the quantity by one. When an item shows the correct quantity, move on to the next item.

Once all items are scanned, Scanpacker finishes the check and moves on automatically.

Buttons and options:

  • Reset — Clears all scanned quantities so you can start over
  • Ship partial pick — Available in the dropdown menu if you need to ship only some of the items (see partial shipping)
  • Unstart — Releases the order so another team member can work on it

Step 2: Finish the order

What happens once the check is complete depends on your fulfillment mode.

In check-only mode

The order is left unfulfilled and Scanpacker shows a “Checked” confirmation screen. Buy the label and create the fulfillment wherever you always have — Shopify’s own label purchase, or another shipping app. Scanpacker doesn’t change anything about that flow; the check just confirms the right items went in the box.

From the Checked screen you can open the order in Shopify, jump straight into checking the next order (or have that happen automatically after every check — see auto-advance), reopen the check if something needs fixing, or fulfill this one order in Scanpacker after all.

When Scanpacker creates the fulfillment

The fulfillment page shows what you checked and lets you add tracking information before creating the fulfillment.

Add a tracking number if you have one, then click Create fulfillment. Scanpacker creates the fulfillment in Shopify and marks the items as shipped.

If you need to go back and re-scan items, click Reopen for checking.

Orders with multiple fulfillment groups

Some Shopify orders contain more than one fulfillment group. This happens when items in a single order are assigned to different locations, or when Shopify splits the order for other reasons.

When you open an order with multiple fulfillment groups, Scanpacker shows each group as a separate panel with its own list of items. You check and finish each group independently.

Checking a fulfillment group

  1. Open the order. You’ll see a panel for each fulfillment group showing the items it contains.
  2. Click Start checking on the group you want to check.
  3. Check and finish that group as normal.

How fulfillment groups work with teams

Each fulfillment group gets its own session. Different team members can check different groups from the same order at the same time. Each group appears as a separate row in the order queue.