# Fulfillment service

> A fulfillment service is a third party connected to Shopify that holds your stock and ships your orders automatically.

- Source: https://storestandards.com/glossary/fulfillment-service/
- Updated: 2026-08-14
- Author: Priya Raghunathan, Founder, engineer, Store Standards

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It shows up in Shopify as a [location](https://storestandards.com/glossary/shopify-location/) like any
other, and behaves nothing like one.

## What is different about it

- Orders route to it and are fulfilled without anyone in your team touching
  them
- Stock levels are reported by the provider, not counted by you
- You cannot adjust the quantity from the Shopify admin
- You cannot walk to the shelf and look

That last one is the real change. Every question about a number becomes a
support ticket with a third party.

## Ask before you sign

How often do they count, and do they share the results? What happens to a
delivery that arrives with no
[advance shipping notice](https://storestandards.com/glossary/advance-shipping-notice/)? Who pays when
they ship the wrong size?

The answers vary far more between providers than the price does.

## Where it goes wrong

Their number and your number drift and nobody owns the difference. Your
[stock accuracy](https://storestandards.com/glossary/stock-accuracy/) is now theirs, reported at
whatever interval they choose, and you find out at the year end.

The other one is splitting a line across a
[3PL](https://storestandards.com/glossary/third-party-logistics/) and your own stockroom. Shopify will
fill from one location, so a customer ordering three when each side holds two
gets an order that cannot be filled from either.

## Related terms

- [3PL](https://storestandards.com/glossary/third-party-logistics/): A 3PL is a company that stores your stock and ships your orders, so you do not run a warehouse yourself.
- [Location](https://storestandards.com/glossary/shopify-location/): A location is a place Shopify holds stock, such as a shop, a stockroom, a warehouse or a third party who ships for you.
- [Fulfillment](https://storestandards.com/glossary/fulfillment/): Fulfillment is the step where you tell Shopify an order has been picked, packed and sent, which closes it and releases the stock.