If you have a storefront, you may offer a pickup option on your selling channel so that local customers can come get their orders in person. While ShipStation was built primarily for orders you'll ship, you can still process pickup orders through ShipStation so your customers can get branded emails and your marketplace can be updated to a fulfilled status.
Most of the time, you'll be able to identify pickup orders based on the Requested Service field on an order.
This field is displayed in the Configure Shipment Widget available in the sidebar and Order Details window, and it can be displayed on the Orders Grid by enabling the Requested Service column.
It can also be used for Filters or Custom Views so you can quickly view any pickup orders that are still pending.
Process Pickup Orders in ShipStation
Since these orders do not need to be shipped you won't be creating a shipping label, but there are some things you can do in ShipStation to make these orders easier to process.
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Print packing slips
Packing Slips contain the items in the order as well as basic customer information and can make it easy to identify the customer's order when they arrive to pick up the order.
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Place the order On Hold
Putting the order On Hold allows it to still be accessed as a pending order in ShipStation, but keeps it out of the way of orders in Awaiting Shipment that need to have labels created. This is a good status to use for pickup orders that are ready but haven't been picked up by the customer yet.
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Mark the order as Shipped
After the customer has picked up their order, mark the order as shipped to send out a confirmation email as well as update the original selling channel that the order has been completed. When marking the order as shipped, we recommend you use the carrier option Other and do not include a tracking number.
Magento Pickup Orders Require Tracking Number
Magento will not update the order as shipped if there is no tracking number attached to the order. We recommend entering a dummy tracking number such as 0 or the order number to change the order status.
Use Automation to Better Manage Pickup Orders
The Requested Service field is also a field you can use as criteria for Automation Rules, which can greatly improve your workflow for handling pickup orders. When setting up any Automation Rules using that criteria, you'll choose the Requested Service (Marketplace Value) option and enter the text based on whatever your selling channel sends to ShipStation.
Here are a few of the actions you can use to improve your workflow:
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Add a Tag
You may want to create a tag for your Pickup orders so you can more easily identify Pickup orders on the Orders tab. Tags can also be used for filters or as criteria in other automation rules so you don't have to rely on the Requested Service (Marketplace Value) field.
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Hold the Order for
This action can move an order to the On Hold status, so it won't get in the way of the Awaiting Shipment orders that need to have labels created.
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Send an email
This action will send an email to a customer when the order imports into ShipStation. For Pickup orders, you could create a custom email template that informs the customer of their order number, how many business days they have to pick up the product, as well as provide the physical address they need to go to, or any other details they should know.
You can also use this action to send an email to storefront staff to let them know there's an order they need to prepare for pickup.
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Use a specific Packing Slip
You may want to create a custom packing slip template for your Pickup orders. The ShipStation default packing slip template includes some details that are not necessarily relevant for a local pickup customer, so you may want to make some adjustments so you can include the document with the customer's order. This action will automatically assign the template to the order so you don't have to.
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Use email template for Shipment Notification
You may want to create a custom email template to be used for the shipment confirmation email ShipStation sends when an order is marked as shipped. The ShipStation default shipment confirmation email template includes a line for tracking information and the shipping carrier that was used, so a custom email template can be helpful in making it clear to the customer that the order is for pickup. This action will automatically assign the template to the order so you don't have to.
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Don't Import the Order
If you don't want to process pickup orders through ShipStation at all and would rather not even see those orders, this action will prevent ShipStation from displaying any pickup orders in the Awaiting Shipment status.
Example Rule