Store fulfillment software is a cloud-based solution that lets businesses use retail locations for order-fulfillment options like pickup of online orders, local delivery, and ship-from-store. It automates the management of picking, packing, and shipping online orders from local retail inventory.
U.S. Census Bureau data from 2025 shows ecommerce sales reached 16% of total retail trade for the year. With so many purchases completed online, competitive retailers are finding new ways to win customers. Giving shoppers options like picking up their online order at a nearby store so they can save on shipping costs can be a great strategy, but incorporating new fulfillment workflows into a busy retail operation can be challenging without the right tools.
This guide explains how store fulfillment software helps retailers manage fulfillment workflows like local delivery and buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS).
What is store fulfillment software?
Store fulfillment software lets store owners use inventory from retail locations to fulfill ecommerce and in-store orders.
The software supports workflows for tasks including:
- Curbside pickup
- Local delivery
- Ship-from-store and ship-to-customer orders
- Endless aisle orders
Shopify has native tools for local pickup, local delivery, order routing, inventory by location, and ship from store for eligible POS Pro locations.
Store fulfillment software versus related software tools
Store fulfillment software has some overlaps with other related operations software tools, but each category has a different primary role:
| Type | Role |
|---|---|
| Store fulfillment software | Helps retailers use stores as fulfillment locations |
| Order management systems (OMS) | Helps retailers route and manages orders |
| Warehouse management systems (WMS) | Helps retailers manage warehouse operations |
| Point of sale (POS) | Handles in-store selling |
| Third-party logistics (3PL) software | Interfaces with 3PL providers for retailers who outsource fulfillment operations |
Why store-based fulfillment matters in 2026
Store-based fulfillment can help retailers route orders from inventory closer to the customer, offer pickup options many customers prefer, and reduce reliance on centralized warehouse stock, which can also reduce warehouse costs.
Customers want flexible fulfillment options
Flexible options like in-store pickup and local delivery give customers control over how they receive and return purchases. These methods help retailers make local inventory more accessible.
Ryder’s "2025 E-commerce Consumer Study" compiled data from three shopper surveys conducted in January, March, and May 2025, and its findings shed some light on customers’ enthusiasm for flexible fulfillment.
The study found that 71% of shoppers who picked up online orders in-store did so to avoid shipping costs. Shoppers used in-store pickup 29% of the time during the 2024 holiday season because it was faster than standard delivery.
Pickup can reduce shipping fees for customers who are willing to visit a store. Ship from store and local delivery give retailers more ways to fulfill nearby orders when inventory and staff are available.
Store inventory can become online inventory
When ecommerce availability only pulls from warehouse inventory, a retailer can lose potential sales as well as customers. Shoppers in your online storefront may find the products they want listed as out of stock, while the very same products are sitting on the shelf in your brick-and-mortar location. Store fulfillment software can connect those customers and products by making retail inventory available for online demand.
Shoe brand Allbirds faced a challenge in which warehouse inventory limited their online sales, despite retail stores having stock. They implemented ship from store on Shopify POS to solve this. Now, 31 of their stores fulfill omnichannel demand, and more than 50% of products shipped from stores are slower-moving inventory.
Shopify’s ship from store option allows eligible POS Pro locations to fulfill orders. Store owners can manage these tasks in their admin:
- Print packing slips
- Buy and print shipping labels
- Assign tracking numbers
- Ship from retail locations
Better inventory visibility reduces waste and missed sales
Inventory visibility helps retailers manage stockouts and overstocks. Accurate location-level data helps store owners see where products are available before they route orders, enable pickup, or expand ship-from-store workflows.
IHL Group estimated the global retail inventory distortion from out-of-stocks and overstocks at $1.73 trillion in 2025. This represents 6.5% of global retail sales. Store owners use accurate data to minimize these losses and ensure products are available where shoppers want them.
Apparel brand Paige improved their inventory accuracy from 85% to 98% to address these issues. Improved accuracy enabled them to offer customers BOPIS and ship-from-store options during peak holiday periods.
Core types of store fulfillment software workflows
Before deciding what fulfillment software you need, review these operating models to determine which ones fit with your store staffing, inventory accuracy, and fulfillment capacity—as well as your customers’ needs.
Ship from store
Ship from store means a store fulfills an online order instead of a warehouse or 3PL. This model requires the store to have the product in stock and staff available to pick, pack, and ship orders.
To fulfill these orders, store owners follow these steps:
- Route the order to the best store.
- Send a fulfillment task to a store associate.
- Pick and pack the items.
- Create the shipping label and tracking number.
- Send a shipping confirmation to the customer.
During their busiest holiday months, Paige fulfilled 17% of online orders through ship-from-store. “Being able to ship customer orders from store locations closest to them that have the inventory was amazing for our business,” says Sofie Kuehnen, Paige’s head of global retail operations.
Shopify has ship from store capabilities for locations on Shopify POS Pro. Staff with the right permissions can fulfill shipped orders from the POS app without accessing the Shopify admin.
Buy online, pick up in-store and curbside pickup
BOPIS and curbside pickup let customers buy products online and collect them from a retail location.
Standard workflows include:
- Showing accurate store availability
- Providing pickup time estimates
- Sending ready-for-pickup notifications
- Transferring inventory when it isn't available at the selected pickup location
- Providing clear pickup instructions
Paige had to delay implementing BOPIS for years because their previous systems lacked store visibility. After they moved ecommerce and 20 retail locations to Shopify, inventory accuracy improved and BOPIS became possible.
“We feel confident showing customers what's available in stores because we know the data is accurate,” says Sofie.
Shopify has in-store pickup settings that require the entire order to be in stock at the pickup location. The platform supports store transfers and shows pickup options at checkout. Store owners can also show pickup availability on product pages.
Local delivery from stores
Local delivery lets store owners deliver orders directly from a nearby retail location.
Before enabling local delivery, confirm:
- Delivery area: Define the specific ZIP codes or radius boundaries where drivers can operate.
- Driver and courier processes: Choose between using store staff or hiring third-party services to transport orders.
- Minimum order values: Set a price floor to help keep delivery fees aligned with order economics.
- Delivery windows: Set clear timeframes so customers know when to expect their items.
- Customer notifications: Plan how the store will send updates when orders leave the location or arrive at the destination.
Shopify local delivery lets store owners activate delivery from specific locations. They can set a delivery radius, minimum order prices, and conditional pricing rules.
The platform has tools to customize delivery messaging for customers and set specific delivery instructions.
Ship-to-customer and endless aisle
Ship to customer lets store associates sell products that aren’t currently available in the store, then route fulfillment from another store or warehouse. Endless aisle expands what a store can sell beyond the products on the shelf.
After moving five stores to Shopify POS, Bared Footwear teams could ship products to customers from any location with stock. Ship-to-customer orders grew to 4% of total store orders. Bared Footwear was also able to reduce staff onboarding by one hour on the first day.
“Shopify allows our in-store service to be what we want it to be without forcing store teams to jump through hoops,” says Alexandra McNab, Bared Footwear’s chief operating officer. “Ship to customer makes it so straightforward for staff to fulfill those orders, which means they’re more likely to offer it as an option to customers.”
Key features to look for in store fulfillment software
Here are some of the key features to look for in a store fulfillment software platform:
Real-time inventory by location
Store fulfillment software helps manage inventory across multiple fulfillment locations. Inventory is tracked by location, which supports online fulfillment, in-store pickup, and local delivery workflows.
When evaluating order fulfillment software, look for tools that support:
- Inventory by location so each store, warehouse, or fulfillment center can fulfill from its own stock
- Pickup availability on product pages so local shoppers can see whether an item is available nearby
- Stock-aware fulfillment so orders are assigned only to locations that can fulfill them
- Flexible location setup for controlling which stores fulfill online orders
Order-routing rules
Order-routing rules determine the most efficient path for every shipment, reducing shipping costs for both customers and retailers. Store owners should be able to configure and prioritize rules based on their fulfillment strategy.
When choosing a solution, ensure the system can:
- Use ranked locations to prioritize specific stores or warehouses to fulfill orders from locations with the most surplus stock
- Ship from the closest location when proximity matters most to reduce transit times and shipping costs
- Minimize split fulfillments to reduce per-order shipping costs and simplify associate workloads
Store associate workflows
Make sure staff can fulfill shipping orders from retail locations using the same system they use for in-store selling.
These workflows can include:
- Picking and packing items for shipment
- Printing packing slips
- Purchasing shipping labels
- Assigning tracking information
- Managing pickup orders for customers collecting items in store
Look for software that keeps fulfillment tasks inside the POS workflow and supports location-based order handling.
Pickup, delivery, and customer notifications
These tools let store owners offer in-store pickup and local delivery, with customer-facing messaging that helps set expectations at checkout and on product pages.
These experiences can include:
- Pickup availability on product pages
- Expected pickup times to help customers choose between pickup and shipping
- Ready-for-pickup notifications after staff prepare the order
- Detailed pickup instructions
- Local delivery settings such as delivery zones, fees, minimum order values, and checkout instructions
When reviewing fulfillment software, look for tools that help merchants keep delivery options clear and communicate next steps to customers.
Reporting and profitability controls
Consider retail fulfillment tools that provide visibility into fulfillment activity across locations. For stores using retail staff for fulfillment, POS-connected reporting can show how fulfillment activity affects store operations and sales performance.
When comparing options, look for reporting that helps you understand:
- Which locations are fulfilling orders
- How fulfillment activity is distributed across stores and warehouses
- How store fulfillment contributes to sales performance
- Where operational changes may be needed
Fulfillment software tools should also track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:
- Fulfillment time by location: This identifies bottlenecks in store operations that delay customer deliveries.
- Shipping cost per order: Higher costs indicate inefficient routing or excessive packaging use.
- Stockout rate: High rates at the store level lead to canceled orders and missed sales.
How to set up store fulfillment with Shopify
A store fulfillment rollout needs clear location settings, routing rules, staff permissions, and pickup-or-delivery workflows.
These steps show how to use Shopify to route orders, equip store teams, and add pickup or delivery:
- Audit store locations and inventory. Identify which retail locations should fulfill online orders, which SKUs should be eligible, and the inventory thresholds each location must maintain.
- Configure locations. Set up your fulfillment locations in your admin, assign inventory to each one, and configure order routing.
- Set up order routing. Shopify uses inventory availability and routing rules to decide where online orders should be fulfilled. If one location can’t fulfill the entire order, Shopify can split it across locations.
- Enable Shopify POS workflows for store teams. Set staff permissions, device access, and in-store fulfillment processes for picking, packing, tracking, and label creation. If you want stores to ship orders directly through POS, the participating location must be on Shopify POS Pro.
- Turn on local pickup where stores can support it. Enable local pickup for eligible locations, define pickup instructions and processing expectations, and make sure store teams can prepare orders and send ready-for-pickup notifications. Pickup options generally appear at checkout only when all items are available at the selected location.
- Configure local delivery for eligible locations. Set delivery zones using a radius or postal codes, configure delivery pricing conditions, and add clear checkout messaging so nearby customers understand how and when delivery works.
- Pilot before rolling out everywhere. Start with a small group of stores, test routing and store operations, then expand once inventory accuracy and team workflows are stable.
- Measure and optimize. Track fulfillment speed, shipping cost, split shipments, cancellations, inventory accuracy, pickup readiness time, and store labor impact.
How to evaluate store fulfillment software
Compare how different tools handle orders and inventory across locations.
Store owners using Shopify can start by comparing native Shopify fulfillment and POS tools against their operational requirements.
- Smaller stores can manage pickup, delivery, and ship-from-store workflows with Shopify’s native tools before adding a warehouse management system or third-party logistics software.
- Larger retailers may integrate enterprise resource planning, warehouse management, third-party logistics, or returns systems when they need more specialized workflows.
The following checklist can help you compare software options:
| Evaluation area | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Inventory visibility | Does the software show accurate inventory by store and channel? |
| Routing | Does the software route orders by proximity, cost, availability, and fulfillment capacity? |
| Store workflows | Can associates pick, pack, print labels, assign tracking, and handle exceptions? |
| Pickup and delivery | Does the software support BOPIS, curbside pickup, and local delivery? |
| Integrations | Does the software connect POS, ecommerce, ERP, WMS, 3PL providers, and returns systems? |
| Reporting | Can teams measure fulfillment cost, speed, stockouts, and store performance? |
| Scalability | Can retailers pilot in a few stores before they expand? |
Store fulfillment software FAQ
How is ship-from-store different from BOPIS?
Ship-from-store sends an online order from a retail location to the customer. It’s different from buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), which lets customers collect orders from a physical location. Both processes require accurate store inventory and clear staff workflows.
Does Shopify support store fulfillment for online orders?
Yes. Shopify supports store fulfillment through locations, order routing, Shopify POS, local pickup, and local delivery. Ship from store is available for POS Pro locations.
What tools does store fulfillment software have?
Effective software helps staff manage orders across different physical locations. Retail fulfillment tools have these features:
- Real-time inventory tracking
- Order routing
- Pickup and delivery options
- Pick-pack-ship workflows
- Shipping labels and tracking
- Returns support and reporting
How does store fulfillment reduce shipping costs?
Store fulfillment routes orders from locations closer to customers to reduce shipping distances. Jewelry brand Mejuri, for example, streamlined global fulfillment with Shopify and cut monthly shipping costs by over $100,000.
How do retailers roll out store fulfillment software?
To roll out store fulfillment software:
- Start with a pilot program.
- Choose stores with reliable inventory and trained staff.
- Set clear workflows.
- Limit fulfillment volume.
- Measure results.
- Expand in phases.
