Fullfill order with nearest inventory location based on the customer shipping address

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Goal: Automatically fulfill orders from the inventory location nearest to the customer’s shipping address.

Current capability:

  • Shopify fulfills by location priority, not proximity. Merchants can manually change the fulfillment location per order or split fulfillments across locations.
  • No native setting to link customer geolocation, shipping zones, or Markets to fulfillment locations.

Status/update:

  • Shopify Support has logged a feature request; no timeline or changes announced. Latest reply reiterates no update and points to the Changelog for future news.

App options mentioned:

  • Suggested: Advanced Shipping Manager, Easyship, Location Based Fulfilment, Product Inventory Information (shows multi-location inventory and geolocation for pickup).
  • Community feedback: Mixed/poor reviews; apps don’t reliably automate proximity-based fulfillment or handle multiple warehouses as needed.

Merchant pain points/use cases:

  • Global warehouses (e.g., US/EU/Thailand/Belgium) need zone-to-location mapping to avoid costly cross-border shipping.
  • Shopify can accept orders using stock from a different region, causing local inventory to go negative and forcing expensive international fulfillment—even when no cross-border shipping rates exist. It may also choose a primary location with higher rates over a local one with free shipping, increasing cart abandonment.

Workarounds and sentiment:

  • Multiple stores (often Shopify Plus), costly IMS (Skubana, Cin7, BrightPearl), or manual updates; dissatisfaction persists. 3PLs (third‑party logistics) commonly used.

Outcome: Unresolved; feature request remains open; one user’s app promotion was challenged; a technical question about location selection without defined rates remains unanswered.

Summarized with AI on January 13. AI used: gpt-5.
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Hi @Elias ,
Thank you for the reply, let me tell you my understanding on your comment! correct me if i was wrong.

Fulfilment based on nearest location of order is not possible in shopify but we can do manually. if i am right, is there any apps which can do this job?