Short answer
A split shipment is a single order delivered in two or more packages, each shipped separately with its own tracking number and often its own carrier. The order is complete only when every package arrives.Stores split orders for practical reasons. One item is in stock and another is on backorder. Products sit in different warehouses or come from a dropship supplier. An oversized item needs freight while the small ones go by post. Shopify records each package as its own fulfillment, so the store sees the order clearly. The customer often does not.
What the customer sees is one box. Maya opens order #1052, finds the candles but not the teapot, and writes "you forgot half my order." Or she checks the tracking link from her shipping email, sees "delivered", and has no idea a second parcel is still in transit with a different carrier. Split shipments generate missing-item, partial-delivery and duplicate where-is-my-order tickets, all from orders that are actually fine.
The common reply makes it worse: pasting one tracking link, usually the first shipment's, and calling the question answered. The customer already has that link. What they need is the list: which items came, which are still coming, with which carrier, and when.
What a good split-shipment answer covers
| Question in the customer's head | What the answer should include |
|---|---|
| Did you forget something? | which items are in which package |
| Where is the rest? | the second carrier and its tracking number |
| When will it arrive? | the expected delivery for each package |
| Do I need to do anything? | usually no, and what to do if it does not arrive |
Aide reads each package of a split order separately, with its own carrier and contents, and its replies list all of them rather than only the first. Each parcel's expected date comes from current carrier data, so it stays accurate as the boxes move. If one package is genuinely stuck, a person picks it up with the full order in view. A ready-made split shipment reply template shows the wording.