Fulfillment modes

Scanpacker can work in two ways once you’ve finished checking an order: it can create the Shopify fulfillment for you, or it can leave the order unfulfilled so another app or Shopify handles that step. This setting is called your fulfillment mode. This page explains both modes and how to choose between them.

You’ll find the setting in Settings > Scanning & Fulfillment, near the top of the page.

[Screenshot: The Fulfillment mode setting in Settings > Scanning & Fulfillment, showing the two mode options as selectable cards]

The two modes

Every order in Scanpacker starts the same way: you open it, scan each item’s barcode, and Scanpacker checks the items against what the customer ordered. The fulfillment mode decides what happens after that check is complete.

Create the fulfillment with Scanpacker

In this mode, Scanpacker handles shipping and fulfillment for you. After you finish checking an order, Scanpacker takes you to the shipping step, where you can buy a label or enter tracking details. When you’re done, Scanpacker creates the fulfillment in Shopify and marks the order as fulfilled.

Choose this mode if you want to buy shipping labels or record tracking numbers inside Scanpacker.

Check only

In this mode, Scanpacker checks the order but doesn’t fulfill it. After you finish checking, the order is left unfulfilled in Shopify so that your existing setup—Shopify’s own label purchase, or another shipping app—can fulfill it instead. Your current label and tracking flow keeps working exactly as it did before.

Choose this mode if you already buy labels and create fulfillments somewhere other than Scanpacker, and you only want Scanpacker to check that the right items go in the box.

What you’ll see after checking an order

The mode you choose changes the screen you land on once all items are scanned.

Create the fulfillment with Scanpacker: You move straight to the shipping step to buy a label or add tracking, then create the fulfillment.

Check only: You see a “Checked” confirmation screen. From here you can:

  • Check next order — move on to the next order in your queue.
  • View in Shopify — open the order in your Shopify admin.
  • Return to picking — go back and re-check the order if something needs fixing.
  • Fulfill in Scanpacker — buy a label and create the fulfillment in Scanpacker for this one order, even though you’re in check-only mode.

[Screenshot: The “Checked” confirmation screen shown in Check only mode, with the available next-step buttons]

How to change your fulfillment mode

  1. Go to Settings > Scanning & Fulfillment.
  2. Under Fulfillment mode, choose the option you want.
  3. Save your settings.

You can switch modes at any time, and the change applies to orders you check from then on.

Which mode should I use?

  • You handle shipping inside Scanpacker (buying labels or entering tracking). Use Create the fulfillment with Scanpacker.
  • You already buy labels and fulfill orders in Shopify or another app, and just want a packing check. Use Check only.

If you’re not sure, start with Check only. It leaves your current fulfillment process untouched and only adds the barcode check on top.

Another way to use Scanpacker: checking existing fulfillments

The two modes above both assume you pick and check orders in Scanpacker. But some teams do their picking and create their fulfillments somewhere else entirely—in the Shopify admin, or in a separate warehouse or shipping app—and only want Scanpacker for a final barcode check.

Fulfillment Checking is built for that. Instead of picking an open order, you scan a fulfillment that has already been created and confirm its contents item by item. Scanpacker never picks the order or creates the fulfillment; it only checks what someone else has already fulfilled.

See Fulfillment Checking for the full how-to, including availability and permissions.