Bulk Ship is a picking and packing method designed to process large quantities of the same product(s) as efficiently as possible. It is ShipHero's fastest workflow for high-volume order fulfillment, allowing your team to generate labels, pick, and pack up to 1,000 orders in a single batch.
This article covers Bulk Ship requirements, batch statuses, and shipping notification settings. For step-by-step processing instructions, see How to Process Orders via Bulk Ship. For error help, see Troubleshooting: Bulk Ship Errors.
Table of Contents
- Before You Begin: Requirements
- Bulk Ship: Batch Statuses Defined
- Bulk Ship: Customer Shipping Notifications
Before You Begin: Requirements
- Batch Size: Each batch supports up to 1,000 orders.
- Platform: Bulk Ship must be completed on a PC or Mac using the Packing App or Shipping.ShipHero.com. It is not supported on mobile devices.
- Picking: Items can be picked manually or via the mobile app using the Bulk Ship QR code printed with the labels and invoices PDF.
- Serial Number SKUs: SKUs with the Serial Number setting enabled are omitted from Bulk Ship and must be processed using another order processing flow (i.e., MIB, SIB, Single order flows, etc.)
Important Best Practice
Batches for the same item(s) should not be generated simultaneously by multiple people. If multiple people are generating batches, they should do so for different products to prevent errors like inventory being pulled from the wrong location.
Bulk Ship: Batch Statuses Defined
After generating a Bulk Ship batch, the status field shows where your team is in the fulfillment process. Batches are sorted first by Batch Status (Error → Generating Labels → Ready to Print → Ready to Pack → Shipped) and second by Creation Date (oldest to newest).
| Status | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Error | Errors occurred during label generation, or some orders were put on hold/canceled. See Bulk Ship Troubleshooting for resolution steps. |
| Generating Labels | The batch is actively generating labels. No action needed — wait for it to complete. |
| Ready to Print | Labels have been generated. You can now open and print the PDF. |
| Complete | All orders have labels generated and the PDF has been printed/opened. Orders are automatically marked as shipped. Applies when Delayed Notifications is disabled (default). |
| Ready to Pack | All orders have labels generated and the PDF has been printed/opened, but orders are not yet marked as shipped. Your team must manually mark them complete. Applies when Delayed Notifications is enabled. |
| Shipped | All orders have been manually marked as shipped. Applies when Delayed Notifications is enabled. |
Complete vs. Ready to Pack: The key difference is whether Delayed Notifications is enabled on your account. With Delayed Notifications off, batches move directly to Complete when the PDF is opened. With Delayed Notifications on, batches move to Ready to Pack and require a manual "mark as shipped" step before becoming Shipped.
Bulk Ship: Customer Shipping Notifications
Bulk Ship gives you control over when ShipHero sends the shipping notification webhook to your ecommerce platform — either the moment labels are generated, or at a time your team chooses. There are two modes:
- Instant Notification (Default): When labels are generated, orders are immediately marked as complete and tracking notifications are sent to your ecommerce platform.
- Delayed Notification (Enabled by request): Orders are not marked as shipped until your team manually triggers it. This lets you pick and pack on weekends or outside carrier pickup hours and notify your store only once the carrier has actually collected the package — preventing customers from receiving a tracking number before the package ships.
Delayed Notifications only affects Bulk Ship. Orders shipped outside of Bulk Ship are not impacted. To enable this feature, contact ShipHero's Support team.