Partial Fulfillment: How do I use split shipping?

In this article

• Do I need split shipping?
• I've determined I need split shipping. Now what?
• What fulfillment options do I have for split shipping in BackerKit?
• Once you're ready to ship.

Do I need split shipping?

We recommend shipping whole orders whenever possible. Split shipping can cause logistical headaches and can cost more money (think: buying postage twice instead of once). However, if you need to split up single orders into multiple shipments (in order to ship certain SKUs out first), then you need "split shipping."

Example 1: My backers are all getting one mug and one notebook. The notebooks are ready to ship now, and the mugs won't be ready for another year. To keep my backers happy, I want to ship out all of the mug SKUs in my project and then ship all of the notebook SKUs next year. 

Example 2: I'm a board game creator. My warehouse in the US is sending out all of my expansion packs. I am shipping all of the base games myself. I need to get my warehouse a file that includes only expansion pack SKUs only, and I need to ship the remaining items myself. 

You DO NOT need split shipping if you are fulfilling complete orders, i.e. one package per backer. If you are shipping the same item to different backers at different times (for example, you plan on shipping US complete orders first), you can do that by using our segmenting tool on the sidebar of your dashboard. This lets you isolate the different waves of backers you wish to ship to and move them through the fulfillment flow separately from each other.

I've determined I need split shipping. Now what?

Contact your success manager (or contact us here). They will enable this advanced feature for your project. When you're given the link for split shipping, you'll be able to set up fulfillment channels, which are essentially groups of products that will ship at different times. Click "create a new channel" in the top right corner. Then you can select the SKUs that you are sending in your first fulfillment channel.  

For example, if a print on demand fulfillment center is sending out all my t-shirts and I am shipping out all of the other items myself, I would set up fulfillment channels like this:

After you save your first channel you will now see a Fulfillment Channels link in the left column which will give you easy access to the page.

You can repeat the process until you are done setting up all necessary fulfillment channels. There is not a limit to the number of channels you have, but make sure that you have clearly named the channels to make them easy to find when you are ready to fulfill.

What fulfillment options do I have for split shipping in BackerKit?

If you're using split shipping (fulfillment channels) you can either use BackerKit Postage, ShipStation, EasyShip, Shopify, or exports to fulfill your orders. You cannot use other integrations (such as Whiplash, Amplifier, etc.).

Once you're ready to ship:

1. Click the Fulfillment Channels link on the side bar
2. Create or Locate the channel you want to use and select your fulfillment method (this can be BackerKit Postage, Exports, or a Fulfillment Integration)
   1. Option 1: (Handle Any Ready to Fulfill Backer in the "Start Shipping" Status)
      1. BackerKit Postage integrates with Fulfillment Channels seamlessly. If you need more information on setting up BackerKit Postage please check out How do I use BackerKit Postage.
      2. If you export from the Fulfillment Channels page you will only export the SKUs that are included in the specific channel. You can use that report with the shipping software you are using to generate tracking numbers. Once you have tracking numbers you can then upload them back into BackerKit through the Fulfillment Channels link to mark only the items in that channel as fulfilled
      3. If you are using a Fulfillment Integration, the SKUs in the channel will be pushed into the integration partner. Once the SKUs have tracking assigned, this information will be pulled back into BackerKit and the items will be marked as shipped
   2. Option 2: Handling Specific Backers in the "Start Shipping" Status Using Segments
   3. For Fulfillment Integration Users: (Fulfillment Integrations Help Doc)
      1. Use the Segment Tool to identify the specific group of backers you want to handle for your upcoming fulfillment export. For example, you can create a segment to locate United States backers in the 'Ready to Fulfill' status. Once the segment is saved:
      2. Click into the ‘Segment Actions’ tab within the segment.
      3. Locate the "Push Segment to Fulfillment Channel" option.
      4. Select the fulfillment channel, then click the RED "Push" button to send the segment to the channel.

         1. Example:

            

   4. For BackerKit Postage Users: (BackerKit Postage Help Doc)
      1. Navigate to “Fulfillment Channels” in the left-side dashboard. Find the fulfillment channel with the relevant SKUs for the upcoming fulfillment push. Then:
      2. Click on the “Use BackerKit Postage” link next to the fulfillment channel.
      3. In the By Packages section, select “Not Purchased” to view unfulfilled packages.
      4. Choose the fulfillment channel and the segment you’ve created.
      5. Click the ‘Refresh Package Groups’ button. This will update the segment so you can purchase postage and download it later for this group of backers.

         1. Example: