Updated September 2026
Split shipping is how Shopify checkout handles a cart that can't go out in one box. If some items ship from your store and others from a warehouse, or one of them is a preorder, the order is split into separate shipments. With split shipping shown in checkout, the customer sees each shipment with its own shipping method, delivery estimate and rate, and can pick the cheapest or fastest combination before they pay.
Shopify rolled this out to stores in 2024 (it was one of the headline checkout features in the Summer '24 Edition). This guide covers when an order splits, how to switch the checkout display on or off, what your customer pays, and what to check when it doesn't behave the way you expect.
The short version
- Split shipping only comes into play if you have more than one shipping profile or more than one shipping location.
- Go to Settings → Shipping and delivery, open Split shipping in the Shipping section, and check Show split shipping in checkout. Click Save.
- At checkout, a split order shows Lowest price and Fastest options, plus More shipping options for choosing a method per shipment.
- If your store has been upgraded to shipping options by market, there's no setting: split shipping is already on.
What is split shipping on Shopify?
Shopify's own definition is simple: if a cart includes items that can't be fulfilled in a single shipment, fulfillment splits into multiple shipments. Split shipping in checkout is the part the customer sees. Instead of one combined line called “Shipping”, they see that their order will arrive in more than one package, what each package costs to send, and roughly when each will arrive.
It is still one order, one payment and one shipping address. Nothing about the customer's address changes, and you fulfill the shipments from the locations that hold the stock, the same way you would any multi-location order.
When does a Shopify order split into multiple shipments?
According to Shopify's help center, an order splits when it contains:
- Items stocked at different fulfillment locations, for example a shop and a separate warehouse, when no single location can fulfill everything.
- Products in different shipping profiles, such as oversized furniture on its own freight profile next to small items on your general profile.
- Preorder items alongside items that are in stock now.
- Subscription products alongside one-time purchases.
- Buy with Prime items, if you use that integration.
If every product in the cart lives in one profile and one location can fulfill it all, the order won't split, and the setting makes no difference.
How to turn on split shipping in Shopify checkout
The setting is only offered to stores with more than one shipping profile or shipping location. On desktop:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Shipping and delivery.
- In the Shipping section, click Split shipping. If you don't have fulfillable inventory settings set up, the link is Manage instead.
- Select Show split shipping in checkout.
- Click Save.
In the Shopify mobile app the path is the same (Settings → Shipping and delivery → Shipping → Split shipping), with a toggle instead of a checkbox.
To turn it off, clear the same checkbox. Orders still split for fulfillment when they have to; the customer just sees combined shipping instead of individual shipments.
Stores on shipping options by market
Shopify is gradually moving stores from shipping profiles to shipping options set per market. If your Shipping and delivery page shows your shipping organized by market in a Shipping options section, your store has been upgraded. On upgraded stores split shipping is always active, so the setting no longer applies, and what the customer pays for a split order depends on the rate types you use (more on that below).
What customers see at checkout
When an order splits, the shipping method step groups the choices for all shipments into two options by default:
- Lowest price picks the cheapest method for each shipment. This is selected by default.
- Fastest picks the quickest method across all shipments.
Below them, More shipping options lists every available method for each shipment, so the customer can, say, pay for express on the small parcel they need this week and keep standard freight on the heavy one. Each choice shows the method name, delivery estimate, rate and how many items are in that shipment.
How shipping is charged on a split order
This is where most confusion comes from. The short answer: each shipment is priced separately and the results are added up, but how that plays out depends on the kind of rate.
| Rate type | What happens on a split order |
|---|---|
| Weight-based rates | Calculated for each shipment's weight, then added together. |
| Carrier-calculated or app rates | Requested for each shipment, then added together. |
| Flat rates across locations in the same location group | One flat rate is charged, even if the items ship from several locations in that group. |
| Rates across different profiles or location groups | Each one's rate is charged and they're combined. |
If you've been charging a single flat rate for years, the first split order can come as a surprise to you and to the customer. Before you switch the display on, add a product from each profile to a cart and go to checkout to see the real total. If it looks too high for your market, consider a lower rate on the secondary profile, or a free shipping threshold that covers both.
With the display turned off on a store that still uses shipping profiles, Shopify combines the rates for the customer: rates with the same name in each profile are added together, and if the names differ, the cheapest options are added together and shown as “Shipping”.
Built-in split shipping vs an app
People searching for “split shipments” often mean one of three different things. Here's which tool does which:
| What you want | Built into Shopify? | What to use |
|---|---|---|
| One address, items that ship from different places or at different times | Yes | Split shipping in checkout (this guide) |
| Some items shipped, some picked up in store | Plus and Enterprise, as a feature test drive | Ship and pickup in one order |
| Items going to different addresses, like gifts for several people | No, checkout takes one shipping address | A multi-address app |
Split shipping is the right answer for the first case and you don't need an app for it. For the third, we build Multi Ship, our app that lets customers send items to multiple addresses in a single checkout, with a child order created per destination so each can be fulfilled on its own. It's on the Shopify App Store, and we walk through the setup in how to ship to multiple addresses in one Shopify checkout.
Split shipping not showing? Troubleshooting
- You only have one profile and one location. The setting isn't offered, and nothing can split. That's expected.
- The customer used an express button. Split shipping doesn't work with accelerated checkouts or dynamic checkout buttons. Test through the regular checkout.
- Local delivery is active. If you have local delivery activated, checkout won't display multiple shipments.
- It's a draft order. Draft orders with shipping lines already set, and B2B draft order checkouts, don't use split shipping.
- Same item, two locations. Multiple units of the same item coming from different locations aren't shown as separate shipments.
- You use Shipping Scripts. Shipping Scripts can't access split shipping in checkout. If you rely on them, test carefully before switching the display on.
- An app or 3PL doesn't recognize the split. Some third-party fulfillment apps aren't compatible. Place a test order and check what reaches the app, or ask its developer.
If rates look wrong rather than missing, the cause is usually in your profiles or rate names, not in split shipping itself. Our guide to Shopify's simpler shipping setup covers how profiles, locations and rates fit together.
Is it worth turning on?
For most stores that genuinely ship from more than one place, yes. The customer sees why shipping costs what it does and when each item will arrive, instead of a single total and an unexplained second parcel a week later. It matters most when:
- you sell preorders or backordered items next to in-stock products;
- bulky items go out by freight while accessories go by mail;
- you sell subscriptions and one-time products together;
- delivery speed is part of your pitch and you want customers to be able to pay for the fast option on what matters to them.
If most of your orders ship from one place, leave it as it is. Nothing changes until a cart actually splits.
Common questions
Is split shipping available on every Shopify plan?
Shopify's help center doesn't limit it to particular plans. What decides it is your setup: the setting appears once you have more than one shipping profile or shipping location, and it's always on for stores upgraded to shipping options by market.
Does split shipping cost the customer more?
It can. Each shipment is priced separately, so weight-based and carrier-calculated rates are added together. The display doesn't create those costs, it shows them. Test a mixed cart to see your real totals.
Does split shipping mean shipping to different addresses?
No. A split order still goes to one address. Shopify checkout takes a single shipping address per order, so sending items to several people needs an app.
Why does my customer only see one shipping price?
Either the order didn't need to split, the setting is off, they used an express checkout button, or local delivery is active. Work through the troubleshooting list above.
Can I control which location ships which item?
Indirectly. Stock levels and your fulfillment priority decide where each item comes from, and shipping profiles decide which rates apply. Split shipping just shows the result to the customer.
Need a hand?
If you're adding a warehouse, preorders or freight products and want your shipping to make sense before customers see it, talk to us. We look after Shopify stores on monthly care plans and set this up regularly. For the rest of the checkout, see how to customize the checkout page on your Shopify store.