Manage payment requests for each partial shipment in Shopify

Author

Klaus

Published

February 20, 2026

Updated

March 23, 2026

Classification of the feature

Shopify Plus allows you to, within a single order separate invoices for each partial delivery to send. This is particularly relevant when an order consists of multiple fulfillment shipments—for example, because one part is available immediately and another part will arrive later. Buyers can view the outstanding payment requests either in the Customer Account view or via the Payment link in the email pay. In practice, this means that incoming payments can be linked more closely to shipping without teams having to manually “add up” partial payments.

What the feature is—and what it isn't

The feature is a Shopify Admin Featureto create an invoice or payment request for exactly one fulfillment to send an order. Each invoice covers the items included in that partial shipment, plus the applicable taxes.

It is not automatically “we collect the payment upon shipment.” That would be a different model: automatic payment processing (capture) after fulfillment. Here, the focus is specifically on “please pay” via a link—that is, an active action on the part of the customer.

It is also No comprehensive billing/installment plan for accounting, collections, or partial invoices. Shopify provides the payment request and payment allocation; whether this results in legally compliant documents, partial invoices, or accounts receivable processes depends on your systems and policies.

Requirements & Data Set

To ensure that payment requests for each partial delivery work reliably, a few basics need to be in place:

Schedule and Availability

Laut Shopify ist „Payment requests per fulfillment“ Shopify Plus subject to change.

Order and Payment Process

The feature is turned on Payment Terms „Due on fulfillment“ linked and sets multiple fulfillment orders in advance.
Payment requests can only be made for fulfillments that have already been created. If no fulfillment exists yet, there is nothing for Shopify to link the payment request to.

Data Quality

A valid customer email address is practically a must if you work via email.
Tax and billing information should be accurate, as the invoice shows the amounts including taxes.

Deliverability (particularly relevant internationally)

Even the best feature is of little use if the email doesn’t reach its destination. Technically speaking, this means: a consistent sender domain, proper authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), and concise, clear subject lines. These aren’t specific to Shopify, but they’re often the reason behind the question, “Why didn’t the customer pay?”

Here's how to use it in the Shopify admin (step-by-step)

The process is similar to the familiar "Send Invoice" option, but with the key choice of "which fulfillment":

Open the relevant order in the Shopify admin.
In the payment section (typically: "Payment pending"), the function to Sending a payment request/invoice Select.
Shopify displays the fulfillment options for the order: select the fulfillment option, for which payment is now due.
Add a short message (one sentence is usually enough).
Review the preview (items/taxes) and send.

Important to note: Individual payment requests will only appear as separate entries in buyers' customer accounts if those requests have actually been sent.

Practical logic that determines cost and quality

For large online stores, costs and quality are determined less by a single click in the admin panel and more by the underlying logic:

What's in the payment request

Shopify assigns a unique ID to each payment request Line Items fulfillment and the associated applicable taxes to.
Shipping costs, fees, and customs duties According to the documentary, they will only be available starting with the final fulfillment included. This is technically correct, but it requires an explanation: Many customers expect shipping costs to be included in the first payment “every time.”

Discounts and Deposits

Item discounts are included in the respective line items.
Order discounts are distributed across fulfillment shipments (not "all in the first partial shipment").
Deposits are applied to the first payment request; if a deposit is still "pending," it must first be marked as paid before further requests can process correctly.

Operational limits that you must set for yourselves

What is the maximum number of payment requests per order?
Minimum amount per payment request?
When are orders split (e.g., only if the second delivery is more than 7 days away)?
Who is authorized to initiate the process (Ops, Support, Sales)?

Deliverability vs. Support Tickets

Two emails might be reasonable. Five emails per order almost always end up in the support inbox. Your rules are the most important tool.

Typical practical applications

Pre-order + In-stock items in a single order
If some items are available immediately and others will be available later, you send the payment request for the order that’s being shipped now. Result: Inventory isn’t tied up, and cash flow aligns better with shipping dates.

Backorders for sizes/variants
When individual items become available, you can have partial deliveries billed without having to postpone the entire order or create separate invoices.

B2B progressive Billing
If your B2B customers are contractually required to pay “upon delivery,” you can issue a payment request for each partial delivery instead of managing partial amounts internally.

Multi-location shipping
When two warehouses ship two packages, two fulfillment processes are created. Sending payment requests for each package can be helpful—but only if you keep the communication very clear.

Segment Recipes

Active segment: predictable split
If an order has multiple fulfillment orders and the first fulfillment order is shipped within 48 hours, then the payment request on the day of shipment sent for this order. If the second partial shipment arrives more than 7 days later, please specify a timeframe (“starting in week 14”) or a date in the text.

VIP segment: minimal friction
If a customer is marked as a VIP or has placed at least three orders in the past year, then the maximum oneA payment request is sent per order—unless there is a clear contractual reason to split the payment. If the payment must be split, a brief personal note explaining this is included.

Reactive Segment: Clear Backlog
If an order is marked as "Payment pending" and no payment has been received within five days, only the payment request for the fulfillment that can be shipped immediately will be sent. All other fulfillments will remain "on hold" until the first payment is received.

Text/Template Examples

Note on character limits: Shopify does not specify any "hard" limits for your message here—in practice, many email clients truncate the subject line and the first line. Rule of thumb: Keep the subject line under ~60 characters and the first line under ~90 characters.

Partial delivery now
"Your package is ready to ship – please pay for this partial shipment here: {{payment_link}}"

Pre-Order transparent
“Part 1 is being sent out today; Part 2 will follow starting on {{date}} – Payment for Part 1: {{payment_link}}”

B2B: A Sober Look
"Payment request for shipment {{shipment_id}} – please pay via: {{payment_link}}"

When it makes sense and when it doesn't

It makes sense when …

Orders are frequently split across multiple fulfillment centers (pre-orders, backorders, multi-location).
you currently track partial payments outside of Shopify manually (using Excel, internal notes, or ERP workarounds).
The B2B payment terms "upon delivery" should be technically implemented.

It doesn't make sense if …

Your customers expect a straightforward "pay once and you're done" experience, and additional payment emails regularly result in support tickets.
If you rarely have multi-fulfillment orders—then you’re creating unnecessary complexity without any tangible benefit.
your accounting/ERP processes can't properly reconcile partial payments (in which case the workload just shifts from the shop team to the finance department).

Mistakes to Avoid

Send a payment request before the fulfillment order is created. Then Shopify won't be able to map the request correctly.
"List" shipping costs in the initial quote, even though Shopify doesn't charge them until the end. This leads to the question, “Why is the amount incorrect?”
Do not test the discount logic. In particular, order discounts that are distributed across fulfillment centers can seem “unexpected” to customers, even though they are mathematically correct.
Too many requests per order. More requests mean a higher risk of delivery issues, more follow-up inquiries, and more instances of missed payments.
Ambiguous text (“Please pay for the order”). If only a partial delivery is intended, this must be clearly stated in a single sentence.

Technical implications for larger online stores

Data Flows and Integrations

Multi-fulfillment is modeled in Shopify using fulfillment objects or fulfillment orders. If OMS/ERP/WMS or 3PL apps control the split, you need to understand, when Fulfillments must be created—because only then can a payment request be sent for each fulfillment.
For data warehouses and ERP systems, it is crucial to note that multiple payments per order result in more payment events. Without proper mapping (order → fulfillment → payment), analyses of revenue recognition, contribution margin, and accounts receivable will be inaccurate.

Governance

Clarifies responsibilities: Who is authorized to initiate payment requests? At what stage? Which text templates should be used for each market?
Define audit flags: tags, internal notes, or a simple status so that Support/Finance can later understand why the transaction was split.

Test cases (that you really should run)

Order discount vs. item discount with two fulfillment methods.
Shipping discount: Verify that the logic only takes effect at the end.
Deposit available: Check how it will be applied to the first payment request.
Multi-location: Ensure that fulfillment processes are clearly separated and that the text remains consistent.
Customer Account: Verify that individual requests are visible as soon as they are sent.

API: Is it possible to trigger payment requests for each partial shipment via the API?

What is well documented

Shopify provides a mutation in the Admin GraphQL API to Send the order invoice by email(orderInvoiceSend). Essentially, this is the API equivalent of “Send Invoice” at the order level: an email containing payment/checkout information sent to a specified address.

What is crucial when it comes to “partial deliveries”

The new feature is explicitly "per fulfillment"—meaning it is based on the selection of a specific fulfillment as the basis for the payment request.
As of today, the following information can be found in official sources none a clearly documented API function that allows you to a payment request specifically for a particular fulfillment order (i.e., “Fulfillment A now, Fulfillment B later”). Shopify primarily describes the fulfillment split as an admin workflow.

What this means for automation

If by "automation" you mean "automatically sending email invoices," then this is generally possible via API or Shopify Flow—but according to the official documentation at the order level, not strictly “fulfillment-selective”.
If you really want to automate “partial shipments,” this usually leads to the following process design: A fulfillment order is created → an employee sends the appropriate request in the admin interface, or you use a flow logic that triggers an order invoice if that’s sufficient for your use case.

API and Shopify Plus: Do You Need Plus?

For payment requests per partial shipment (the feature itself): Yes, Shopify Plus. That's how it's listed in the changelog.
To send an order invoice via API (orderInvoiceSend): In the API reference, this is not marked as "Plus-exclusive." In practice, scope permissions and order conditions are the limiting factors here—not necessarily the plan.
In practice, this means that a non-Plus shop may be able to send an order invoice via API, but not use the new, explicit "pro Fulfillment" behavior, because this feature is tied to Plus.

10-Point Checklist Before Shipping/Go-Live

Is the shop on Plus, and is the feature visible in the admin panel?
Does the order have "Due on fulfillment" as its payment terms and multiple fulfillments?
Have fulfillment orders already been created (otherwise, shipping per partial delivery is not possible)?
Are the positions and taxes plausible (sample check)?
Is it clear internally that shipping costs, fees, and duties are only charged at the end?
Have discount scenarios been tested (item-based vs. order-based discounts)?
Have deposit-related issues been tested, if you use deposits?
Have the texts been approved for each market/language (one sentence, clearly "partial delivery")?
Are the basics of deliverability in order (sender, authentication, no "spam words")?
Are the Finance/ERP/BI systems capable of handling multiple payments per order (mapping, reconciliation)?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it possible to trigger payment requests for each partial shipment via API?
Sending an order invoice via API is officially documented. As of today, there is no clear, officially documented API interface for triggering this process on a "per fulfillment" basis; Shopify primarily describes the admin workflow for this purpose.

Is Shopify Plus required for this?
Yes, for the "Payment requests per fulfillment" feature. However, for simply sending an order invoice via API, this is not marked as a Plus requirement in the API documentation.

What is the minimum amount of data I need?
A valid customer email address (for email communications) and accurate shipping and tax information. In practice, you’ll also need a well-organized fulfillment structure so it’s clear what’s included in each partial shipment.

Why are shipping costs sometimes missing from the first payment request?
Because, according to the documentation, Shopify doesn't collect shipping costs, fees, and duties until the final fulfillment stage. This is normal, but it needs to be explained in the message.

When is this inappropriate?
If your customers find additional payment emails annoying (resulting in a high support workload) or if your financial processes are unable to accurately reconcile partial payments.

How can I automate this effectively if "per fulfillment" isn't documented via API?
A hybrid approach is often the most stable: clear split rules + admin-initiated processing per fulfillment. For order invoices (order level), flow actions or admin API updates are an option if that’s sufficient for your use case.

Summary in bullet points

Shopify Plus allows separate payment requests for each partial shipment within an order.
That’s “Request & Pay” via a link, not “automatic payment upon shipment.”
The prerequisites are "Due on fulfillment" payment terms, multiple fulfillments, and scheduled fulfillments.
Invoices include line items plus taxes; shipping, fees, and duties are added at the end.
Discounts and deposits follow a distribution logic that should be tested in advance.
The benefits are particularly evident in pre-orders, backorders, multi-location operations, and B2B delivery billing.
Process rules (maximum number of requests, minimum amount, trigger time) are more important than the click path.
Common mistakes include sending emails too early, unclear content, unrealistic expectations regarding shipping costs, and sending too many emails.
From a technical standpoint, clean fulfillment data flows, ERP/BI mapping, and governance are key.
The process of sending an order invoice via API is documented; however, the specific trigger "per fulfillment" is not currently clearly described in official sources.
The "pro Fulfillment" feature requires Plus; for order-invoice updates, Plus is not marked as required in the API documentation.