Questions for the Fulfillment Q&A 9/24/25

Ask Me Anything Q&A Peak Season Prep Q&A

Topic summary

A merchant seeks guidance on fulfilling fresh and frozen food orders through Shopify, covering multiple operational aspects.

Shipping Fresh/Frozen Items:

  • No refrigerated shipping options available on Shopify
  • Recommended workaround: next-day delivery with ice packs

Platform Choice:

  • Suggested approach: test native Shopify features first, then evaluate Zapiet if needed

Automation & Efficiency:

  • Bulk order processing tools available to accelerate self-fulfillment workflows
  • Video tutorial provided for handling multiple orders simultaneously

Curbside Pickup:

  • In-store pickup functionality can be configured through Shopify settings

Local Delivery:

  • Shopify does not provide drivers or native local delivery
  • Third-party services (DoorDash, Instacart) require manual order fulfillment marking in admin

Shop App Integration:

  • Product availability on Shop app can be controlled individually through product settings in Shopify Admin

The discussion remains open for further clarification on specific business needs.

Summarized with AI on October 24. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

1. Best process for shipping fresh and frozen food

2. Stay within Shopify or use Zapiet? Pros & cons

3. How do we automate the process when we still are fulfilling the items ourselves.

4. Best process for curbside pickup of fresh and frozen food with limited store hours?

5. How do we do local delivery through Shopify? Does Shopify provide the drivers? Link with DoorDash or Instacart?

6. How to integrate fulfillment of fresh and frozen food with Shop (or how do we limit that)?

2

Lots to unpack here!

  1. Shipping fresh and frozen food can be tricky. We don’t have any refrigerated shipping options on the platform, however you could consider using a next day delivery option and shipping with ice packs.

  2. It really depends on your needs. My advice is to try using Shopify first to see if it works for you, then test out Zapiet if that doesn’t work. Without knowing your business it’s hard to be much more precise here.

  3. You can accelerate your fulfillment process using a few of our tools. This video shows you how to work with multiple orders at once to accerate your workflow: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/fulfillment/fulfilling-orders/shipping-labels/buying-labels/buying-labels-in-bulk

  4. You can set up in store pickup. Here’s more info: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/fulfillment/setup/delivery-methods/pickup-in-store

  5. We do not have local delivery options on the platform today. If you do use DoorDash or Instacart then you can manually mark the orders as fulfilled within your Shopify admin. That way you can keep track of what you have shipped and what hasn’t been shipped yet.

  6. For each product, you can go into the product description page in your Shopify Admin and then select whether it’s available on Shop app or not.

I hope that helps!