Shopify order tracking without an app

You can run order tracking on Shopify with no app at all. Fulfil the order, add the tracking number and carrier, and Shopify sends the customer a shipping confirmation email and shows the tracking on their order status page. This guide walks through each step, then covers what the built-in tools cannot do and when it is worth adding something on top.

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What Shopify tracks for you out of the box

Shopify does not follow parcels around the world by itself, but it does give you the pieces needed to hand a customer a tracking link. When you mark an order as fulfilled and attach a tracking number, three things happen with no extra software. The order record stores the number and carrier, the customer gets a shipping confirmation email, and the customer's order status page shows the shipment with a link to the carrier's tracking.

That covers a surprising share of what small stores need. A customer who wants to know where the parcel is can click the link in the email and land on the courier's own page. You do not need a plugin for that. What you do not get is a single view of every open parcel, a warning when something stalls, or live status changes pushed to the customer. Those gaps come up later in this guide.

How to add a tracking number to a Shopify order

The labels in the Shopify admin change slightly from time to time, so treat the wording below as a guide rather than an exact script. The flow itself has stayed the same for years.

In your Shopify admin, open Orders and click the order you are about to send.
Click the button to fulfil the items. If you are sending only part of the order, adjust the quantities so they match what is in the box.
In the tracking section, paste the tracking number from your courier. Copy it straight from the waybill or label rather than typing it, because one wrong digit gives the customer a dead link.
Choose the carrier from the list. If your courier is not listed, pick the option for another carrier and enter the courier's tracking URL if Shopify asks for one.
Leave the box ticked that sends the shipment details to the customer, then confirm the fulfilment.
Open the order again and check that the tracking number now shows on the fulfilled items. If you sent a test order to yourself, click the link to confirm it opens the right courier page.

The shipping confirmation email

The email the customer receives when you fulfil an order is the shipping confirmation. It is a template, and you can change it under Settings, then Notifications, in the customer notifications list. Open the shipping confirmation and you can edit the subject line and the body.

Small edits are worth making. Add a sentence that tells the customer how long a courier usually takes to scan a parcel after dispatch, so nobody panics when the link shows no movement for a day. Add your support email address and one line on what you will do if the parcel does not arrive. Keep the tracking button and link in the template, because removing it defeats the point.

If you fulfil an order without ticking the notification box, the email is not sent. The most common cause of a customer writing in asking where their order is, is a fulfilment done in a hurry with that box unticked. Make it a habit to check.

The order status page and what customers see

Every order has a status page that the customer reaches from the link in their order confirmation or shipping emails. It shows the items, the delivery address and, once you have fulfilled the order, the tracking number with a link out to the carrier.

Be clear about what that page is. It is a record of what you told Shopify, with a link to the courier. It is not a live feed that Shopify updates as the parcel moves. If the courier marks a parcel delivered or delayed, the status page does not change by itself. Customers who want the current position still have to click through to the carrier.

Handling split shipments and multiple parcels

Orders that leave in more than one box are where manual tracking gets messy. Shopify lets you create more than one fulfilment on a single order, and each fulfilment can carry its own tracking number. Fulfil the items in the first box, add that number, then return to the order and fulfil the rest with the second number.

The customer receives a separate shipping confirmation for each fulfilment. Mention in your template that parcels may arrive on different days, otherwise customers assume the first one is the whole order. If one box holds items from several orders going to the same address, check how your courier issues numbers before you paste the same one into more than one order.

Where the built-in tracking falls short

The native tools work for a store sending a handful of parcels a day. They start to strain when volume grows or when customers expect more than a link.

No central list of open shipments with their current status. You find out about a stuck parcel when the customer emails you.
No alert when a parcel has not moved for several days, so problems are found late.
The customer sees a link to the courier, and each courier's page looks different and is not branded as yours.
No view of how each courier is performing for you, so it is hard to tell whether the slow ones are costing you repeat customers.
Tracking numbers are entered by hand or through your label tool, which means typing mistakes and forgotten orders.

Free ways to make manual tracking work better

Before you add any tool, tighten the process. Fulfil orders in one batch at a set time each day so none are forgotten. Keep a shared sheet of open orders for the first few weeks and tick them off, then look at which ones needed chasing. Use Shopify's order filters to list orders that are fulfilled but not yet delivered, and review that list each morning.

Write down your own rule for what counts as late, for example a parcel with no scan for a set number of working days. A rule you have actually written down gets applied. A vague sense that something looks slow does not.

If you use a courier booking platform or your courier's own portal to create labels, check whether it can push tracking numbers back into Shopify. That removes the copy and paste step, which is where most errors start.

When a dedicated tracking tool makes sense

A separate tracking tool starts to pay for itself when you ship enough that checking couriers by hand takes real time, when you use several carriers, or when customers keep asking where their order is. The signs are practical ones. You are opening courier websites in tabs all day, you hear about delays from customers first, or you cannot say which courier is slowest.

Also think about what your customers want. Some are happy with one email and a link. Others like to see the parcel moving without having to open a courier site, and a branded update from your store feels better than a generic courier page.

Be realistic about the choice, too. If you send a few parcels a week, the native emails are enough and an extra tool is a cost without a payoff. Measure how many customer messages are about delivery status before you decide, because the share varies a lot between stores.

Adding tracking to Shopify with TrackIt For Business

TrackIt For Business tracks parcels across more than 3,000 carriers while you keep using your own couriers. There is no TrackIt app in the Shopify App Store, so a Shopify store connects in one of two ways. You can export your fulfilled orders and import them as a CSV, or you can send shipments from your own systems through the REST API.

Once shipments are in, you get a dashboard with status, at-risk and delay alerts, and delivery performance per courier. Customers can get a branded Apple Wallet or Google Wallet pass with your logo and colours that updates as the parcel is scanned. The plan is $14.99 a month, with R1.50 per package the first time its Wallet passes are generated, billed monthly. Tracking-only packages cost nothing extra, and you can cancel any time.

Common questions

Does Shopify send tracking emails automatically?

Shopify sends a shipping confirmation email when you fulfil an order and leave the box ticked that notifies the customer. If a tracking number is attached, the email carries a link to track the parcel. It does not send further emails as the parcel moves.

Can customers track their order without an account?

Yes. The link in the order confirmation and shipping emails opens the order status page without a login. From there the customer can follow the link to the carrier's tracking page.

What if my courier is not in the carrier list?

Choose the option for another carrier when you fulfil the order and add the tracking URL if prompted. The customer will still get the number and a working link, as long as the URL is correct.

Does Shopify update the order status when the parcel is delivered?

Not by itself. The status page shows what you entered and links out to the carrier. Delivered, delayed and returned events live on the courier's system unless you use a tool that reads them and shows them to you.

Is there a TrackIt app for Shopify?

No. TrackIt For Business does not have a Shopify app. Shopify stores add shipments by CSV import or through the REST API, and the rest of the dashboard, alerts and Wallet passes work the same way.