Split Shipment
A split shipment is one order arriving in multiple deliveries, shipped from different places or times.
What a split shipment is
A split shipment is one order arriving in multiple deliveries: items shipped from different warehouses, at different times, or separated because one product was delayed or oversized.
Why split shipments matter
The split is often the right call, ship what’s ready instead of holding everything for the slowest item, but it multiplies cost and confusion: more boxes, more labels, and a customer wondering where the rest of their order is.
When orders get split
- Stock spread across warehouses or a 3PL network
- Backordered items shipping when they land
- Oversized or hazmat items traveling separately
- Marketplace orders fulfilled by different sellers
Frequently asked questions
How should stores communicate a split?
At the split, not after the confusion: separate shipping confirmations naming what’s in each, tracking per parcel, and the packing slip noting items arriving separately. Silence turns a service into a complaint.
Who absorbs the extra shipping cost of splits?
Almost always the store: charging the customer twice for one order reads as a penalty. That cost pressure is why inventory placement, putting stock where the orders are, pays for itself.