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Dispatch to a fulfillment provider

When a warehouse doesn't ship its own orders, you hand the fulfillment order to a provider — a carrier or 3PL. Push providers (ShipStation-style) receive the order from SKU.io; download-style 3PLs pull it themselves through SKU.io's 3PL API. Either way, dispatch starts on the fulfillment order.

Before you begin​

  • A provider connection must exist under Apps & Integrations (push providers like Shipfusion or Trackstar), or a 3PL API connection provisioned for a download-style partner.
  • A shipping method must exist and be set on the order — the submit dialog blocks until one is ("No shipping method is set for this order, and D3 needs one").
  • The provider can come from the warehouse default or be set per order.

Set the provider and method​

  1. Open the fulfillment order and click Edit Details.
  2. Under Shipping provider, pick the connection — or keep Warehouse default. The dialog notes these details travel with the order when it's submitted and stay editable until it's sent.
  3. Pick the Shipping method (and optionally a Requested ship date and Notes).
  4. Click Save Changes. The order's lifecycle updates to match the provider — push connections show the push journey, D3-style connections the pull journey.

Submit the order​

Click Submit (top right). The dialog spells out what's about to happen — "This hands Fulfillment Order #N to the provider for dispatch using the details configured on it" — with the fulfillment journey (Pending → Submitting → Submitted → Shipped), the ship-from warehouse, method, date, and every line going. Submit partial… lets you send only some lines.

  • Push providers: the order moves Submitting → Submitted — it's with the provider, who picks, packs, and ships. As the dialog notes, the shipment is recorded when the provider actually ships — until then the order sits "Submitted — awaiting shipment", and the provider may return one or several shipments.
  • Pull (download-style) 3PLs: submitting releases the order. The provider polls SKU.io's 3PL API on its own schedule, downloads the order (it moves to Accepted), and reports the shipment back — tracking number included — which records the shipment and closes the fulfillment order automatically.

Fixing and reversing​

  • Details are editable until the order is sent; after that, changes go through the provider.
  • Cancelling is deliberately conservative: only never-submitted or provider-rejected orders cancel (releasing their reserved inventory). For anything already with the provider, cancel it with them and void the shipment.
  • A rejected submission lands the order in the board's Needs attention column — fix the details and resubmit, or cancel.

Next steps​

Video transcript

To hand an order to a provider, open the fulfillment order and click Edit Details. Pick the shipping provider — or keep the warehouse default — and a shipping method. Click Submit. The dialog shows the journey and exactly what's going — submit partial if you need to. Push providers take the order from here. Download-style 3PLs work in reverse: submitting releases the order, and the provider pulls it through the 3PL API on its own schedule. When the provider ships, the shipment flows back automatically — tracking and all — and the fulfillment order closes itself.

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