How to fulfill only the first order, and auto-fulfill recurring subscription orders?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Goal: Configure a subscription product so the first purchase is treated as a normal physical shipment requiring standard fulfillment, while all subsequent recurring orders require no shipping and are automatically marked as fulfilled.

Details: The poster seeks guidance on how to set this up in Shopify—specifically, how to distinguish the initial order from recurring subscription orders for fulfillment behavior.

Status: No solutions, configurations, or app/workflow recommendations are provided yet. The question remains open with no resolution.

Key question: What settings or automation can mark only recurring subscription orders as fulfilled while keeping the first order in standard fulfillment?

Summarized with AI on December 10. AI used: gpt-5.
1

Hi everyone,

I’m setting up a subscription product where:

  • The first order is a physical product and needs normal fulfillment

  • All recurring subscription orders do not need shipping and should be automatically marked as fulfilled

Thanks in Advance