Shopify order tracking: how it works and how to set it up

Shopify order tracking runs through one page: the order status page. It's the last page of your checkout, and once you add a tracking number to an order, customers can come back to it and check on their shipment without contacting you.

This guide covers how that page works with tracking numbers, shipping emails, and the Shop app, how your customers find their orders, and how to set it all up in your Shopify admin. It also covers the gaps native tracking leaves, so you can tell when an app or AI is worth adding.

How Shopify order tracking works

Order tracking is included with Shopify, so there's nothing to install. It all starts when you add a tracking number to a fulfilled order. Shopify uses that number to update the order status page and send the customer shipping emails, and if the customer uses the Shop app, the order shows up there too.

Tracking numbers and carriers

Shopify recognizes tracking numbers from hundreds of carriers worldwide, including DHL, UPS, FedEx, Canada Post, and Australia Post. If you buy shipping labels in your Shopify admin, tracking is added automatically, and which carriers you can buy from depends on your default shipping location. Some services don't come with a tracking number at all, such as USPS First Class Mail, and orders sent that way can't show tracking updates.

The order status page

For orders sent with a supported carrier, the order status page shows updates on where the shipment is. You can change how the page looks in the checkout and accounts editor.

Shipping notification emails

When you add tracking to an order, Shopify can email the customer a shipping confirmation with a link to their order status page. Customers also get notification emails at key points during delivery. You can edit all of these templates under Settings > Notifications > Customer notifications.

The Shop app

Orders from your store sync automatically to your customers' Shop accounts, so anyone who uses Shopify's Shop app can follow their delivery there with status updates, push notifications, a live map, and estimated delivery dates. Your order status page can show a Track with Shop link on mobile, but you have to turn it on first (it's step 7 in the setup below).

How customers track a Shopify order

Your customers can reach their order status page in any of these ways:

• Click the tracking link in their shipping confirmation email.

• Sign in to their customer account on your store.

• Enter their order number along with the email address or phone number they used at checkout.

Customers who use the Shop app can follow the order there too. Nobody needs the app to track a Shopify order, though, since every option above works in a browser.

How to set up order tracking in Shopify

Native tracking needs a few settings checked and one habit: adding a tracking number to every order you ship. Here's the setup from start to finish.

1. Ship with a trackable service. Confirm that each carrier and service you use gives you a tracking number. If it doesn't, the order can't show tracking.

2. Add the tracking number. Enter it when you mark the order as fulfilled, or add it later from the order's Fulfilled section with Add tracking. Shopify might recognize the format and pick the carrier for you. If you add more than one tracking number later, they all have to come from the same carrier.

3. Use Other for unsupported carriers. If your carrier isn't listed, choose Other and enter the full tracking URL so the customer's link still works.

4. Notify the customer. When you mark an order as fulfilled, select "Send a notification to the customer" so they get an email with their tracking link. If you add tracking later, the option is already checked, so leave it on.

5. Edit your shipping emails. Go to Settings > Notifications > Customer notifications to change the wording and branding of your shipping updates.

6. Customize the order status page. Open the checkout and accounts editor to match the page to the rest of your store.

7. Turn on Track with Shop. Go to Sales channels > Shop > Settings, then click Manage in checkout settings in the Track with Shop section to add the link to mobile order status pages.

8. Mark untracked orders delivered. If you ship without a tracking number, open the order and click Mark as delivered once it arrives so it doesn't sit at On its way.

Shopify order tracking checklist

Use this list to check your store's setup:

• Every shipping service you use gives you a tracking number

• Every shipped order gets a tracking number, with Other and a full tracking URL for unsupported carriers

• "Send a notification to the customer" is selected when you fulfill

• Shipping notification emails match your brand

• The order status page is customized in the checkout and accounts editor

• Track with Shop is turned on

• Orders shipped without tracking get marked delivered once they arrive

Where native order tracking falls short

Even with every item on that list checked off, there are a couple of things native tracking can't do:

• There's no carrier masking. Shopify's built-in tracking can't hide the carrier's name, which some brands want so customers stay on a branded tracking page.

• A tracking page can't answer follow-up questions. Customers who want to change an address, ask why a package is late, or start a return still have to contact you, and those messages land on your team.

When to add an app or AI to Shopify order tracking

If the gap is the tracking page itself, such as branding, carrier masking, or a dedicated Track your order page, an order tracking app is the usual fix. We compared the options in our guide to the best order tracking apps for Shopify.

If the gap is the stream of questions that keeps coming in after the tracking email goes out, you're dealing with a customer service problem, and our guide to cutting down WISMO questions walks through how to handle them.

How Gladly handles order status questions on Shopify

Gladly AI installs from the Shopify App Store and connects to your Shopify catalog and orders. It handles post-purchase questions like order status and returns, and when a customer needs a person, it hands off to your team with the full context of the conversation. It's free for 30 days, and you can read more about Gladly for Shopify on our site.