Split Shipment: What It Is and Why It Matters

Split shipment is when parts of the same order are shipped out separately instead of arriving together.

You might have an idea about it. But your customers often don’t, and that can cause some problems with their post-purchase experience. 

They might think, “Where’s my other order?” or “Did the store forget about it?” 

We put together this post to help you understand split shipment in detail and handle issues (like the one above) that it can bring… even before they happen. 

Let’s get started with the definition.

What is a Split Shipment?

Split shipment is when one customer order gets delivered in multiple packages, even if all the items were placed in a single checkout and headed to the same destination.

This logistic process isn’t new. And huge retailers (like Amazon) have been doing it for years. But it became more common during the pandemic because of shipping restrictions and inventory delays.

Here’s how a split shipment usually goes. Imagine that you have a customer named Mia who moved into a new place. She bought a lamp, a coffee table, and a bookshelf from you. The lamp and table arrived together three days later. But she received the bookshelf the following week.

Why Do Split Shipments Occur?

Split shipments happen for many reasons, and some of them are inventory availability, size or packaging constraints, diverse delivery times of items, order routing, and customs regulations.

Let’s talk about them (and other common reasons) in detail:

Inventory Availability Across Multiple Warehouses

If your store keeps inventory in different locations, split shipments will surely happen. It’s the best way to shorten the delivery time and for your customers to get their items ASAP.

Let’s say you offer kitchenware. One of your customers from California ordered a pan and a knife set. The pan is available in your New York warehouse, while the knives are stocked in L.A., so the order was split due to their availability.

Third-Party Supplier Fulfillment

Split shipment is the usual process if you’re doing dropshipping or using third-party suppliers. Because somebody else (or another company) handles the warehousing, packing, and shipping for your store, you have no control over where and when the items will come. 

Imagine you ran a general merchandise online store. Your suppliers were in Texas, New Jersey, and Guangdong. When Richard (a U.S. buyer) bought multiple products from your store, each one came from a separate location. And they arrived at different times as well.

PRO-TIP: Add a simple note during checkout like “Some items may arrive in separate packages due to multiple shipping locations,” just to give a heads up.

Size or Packing Materials Constraints

Some items simply can’t be shipped together. Especially when your customer bought a regular item with something fragile, oversized, or hazardous.

You’ll experience this issue if you sell a mix of home goods (lamps and glassware), furniture (coffee tables and cabinets), or hygiene products (nail polish remover and disinfectant sprays).

Here are a few reasons why some of your items might require separate shipments:

• Fragile goods need at least three inches of cushioning and must survive a 4-foot drop test
• Oversized items often exceed carrier size or weight limits and need freight shipping
• Aerosols like Lysol are classified as hazardous and have special shipping requirements

Promotional Items or Pre-Order Items Included

Promotional or pre-order items take longer to ship because producing them takes time, and they are usually limited.

Let’s say that one of your customers ordered three phone cases that come with a customized pop socket. Since the pop socket isn’t ready, you sent the phone cases first instead of waiting to send them in a single package.

Funko (a brand for collectibles) also does this… with pre-orders. Their normal items take 2-4 days to ship. But if a customer adds a pre-order item to their cart, they’ll see a different estimated date for it.

Customs and Import/Export Regulations

Split shipments can also happen when your product has to be inspected or cleared by customs. Your items might be delayed for extra review or held if it doesn’t meet the requirements.

So, if you run a gourmet food store and one customer orders a ceramic cheese board and a pork pâté (which is an animal byproduct), they might not get them together.

Some other items that can cause split shipment in the U.S. include:

• Electronics that contain lithium-ion batteries
• Skincare products with animal-derived ingredients
• Supplements or wellness items with restricted ingredients

Faster Delivery Times for In-Stock Items

About 66% of shoppers now expect their online orders to arrive within 24 hours. That’s a lot of pressure, right? So it makes sense why store owners choose to go for multiple shipments instead of waiting.

As a seller, it’ll help you meet customer expectations, avoid complaints, and reduce WISMO emails. But also remember that split shipment can be bad for customer experience… if you don’t know how to communicate it.

Order Routing and Fulfillment Optimization

Another reason why split shipment occurs is because of your fulfillment system.

Some platforms now have the power to check your customer’s location, the nearest warehouse with stock, available carriers, and shipping costs. They pick whatever is most efficient (for you), and that can end up with your customer receiving multiple packages.

Imagine you owned an online store for camping equipment. Ralph (from Colorado) ordered a tent, sleeping bag, and portable stove. The system then checked where the items were in stock. And since it’s automated, the software splits the order between your Utah and New Jersey warehouses.

What Is the Difference Between Partial Shipment and Split Shipment?

Partial shipment happens when only part of an order is ready to go, so that’s what gets sent first.

Split shipment is when all items are in stock but stored in different locations, so they ship separately.

Take this example. One of your customers bought five products from your store. You have two items available now, and the rest will arrive next week. So, you sent the first two, and the order is partially shipped.

Now, let’s say all five were in stock, but they’re stored in separate locations. Multiple deliveries from different sources would happen in this case… and that’s clearly a split shipment.

But here’s the thing: These two are switchable because you’re sending separate shipments either way. You could also see other articles claiming that they are one thing. So, don’t be surprised if you meet someone who uses them vice versa.

Okay. Done with this comparison. Now, it’s time to see the good and the bad side of split shipments.

The Impact of Split Shipments on Businesses and Customers

Advantages of Splitting Shipments

The biggest advantages of splitting shipments include faster partial deliveries, lower shipping costs, and better inventory management:

1. Faster Partial Deliveries

Getting some items to customers quickly is much better than waiting days or weeks for a complete single order.

One study shows that 88% of consumers are willing to pay more for same-day or faster delivery options. Just from this number, we already know how important speed is to buyers.

One of our clients increased their customer satisfaction scores by 34% after implementing the split shipment option during peak season.

They used to wait for everything to be ready and send it in one shipment. But after they looked at the cancellation reasons, they found out that some of their customers got impatient because of the long wait time.

Now that they ship available items first, their customers feel like they’re getting better service even when some items take longer to arrive.

2. Potential Cost Optimization

Shipping from the closest location can save you money (and lower wait time) instead of moving everything to one spot first. Why? Because you skip the whole step of moving stuff around between warehouses.

Imagine you had warehouses in Chicago and Atlanta. And a customer in Miami, Florida, ordered multiple items. One item is in Chicago, and the three others are in Atlanta.

If you had shipped each directly to Florida, you would have paid $9 from Chicago and $12 from Atlanta (for the three items). That’s $21 total.

But if the Chicago item had gone on a road trip to Atlanta first, you would’ve paid $6 for an internal transfer and $18 to ship everything from Atlanta to Miami. That’s $24 total… plus an extra 2-3 days for transit times.

The final cost often works out better when you avoid the internal shuffle, even if it means more than one package to the customer.

3. Increased Inventory Flexibility

Did you know that stockouts cost sellers around $1 trillion globally each year? You may think it’s only scary because it’s collective.

But the effect that it has, like upset customers, damaged reputation, and lost sales, can directly hurt your business.

One great advantage of split shipment is the flexibility in inventory management. It helps you avoid stockouts and improve how products flow through your business.

Let’s say you sold wireless earbuds and had 10 units split between your New York (5 units), Dallas (3), and L.A. (2) warehouses. When your New York stock ran out after a busy week, you could have shown “out of stock” on your website. But with split shipments, you kept selling from Dallas and L.A. until all locations were empty. That meant 5 more sales, and it gave you enough time to restock your inventory.

Did you see what happened there? You saved yourself from an “uh-oh” moment, protected your profit margin, and made at least five more customers happy.

TIP: Set up your inventory system to check stock across all warehouses before showing “out of stock” on your website.

Disadvantages and Challenges of Split Shipments

It’s not always rainbows and butterflies for split shipments, as they can also cause increased shipping costs, customer confusion, and a bad environmental impact.

1. Higher Shipping Costs

Sending split shipments can increase your expenses. You have to pay for each package’s handling fee, base shipping rate, and processing charges (and those fees don’t care how small your package is).

Let’s say shipping one package costs you $8. If you split an order into three packages, you now have to pay $24 instead of maybe $12-$15 for one larger box.

I know that we mentioned “cost optimization” as one of the pros. But that only applies when moving inventory between warehouses… and not when you’re simply splitting orders that could have shipped together from the same location.

Some carriers (like USPS) offer volume discounts that you lose when you split orders. Plus, you’ll need more packaging materials, labels, and staff time to process each separate shipment.

2. Potential Customer Confusion

Your customers can get confused (and upset) if their packages arrive on multiple days without any warning. They might think part of their order is missing and immediately contact your support team.

They may also cancel orders and worse… leave negative reviews because they think you messed up their order.

We heard about the “horror of split shipments” from one of our clients who owns a footwear store. They said that during the pandemic, they had to start splitting orders because of supply chain issues. But they didn’t communicate the changes to their customers, and that increased the inquiries.

You can easily avoid this con by adding notes on your shipping information, product page, and home page (if there’s a worldwide shipping delay).

3. Environmental Impact

With split shipments, you use multiple containers, packaging materials, and shipping labels when everything could have fit in one box. And it creates extra packaging waste that’s bad for the environment and your brand image.

Online shopping already generates almost 5 times more waste than buying stuff in stores. And when you and more stores practice split shipments? That number can double in the next few years.

Managing and Optimizing Split Shipments

Split shipment can work (without you having to pull your hair out) if you set up the right systems.

You can manage and optimize split shipments by applying best practices, using technology, and working on your customer communication.

Best Practices for Effective Split Shipment Management

The best way to manage split shipments is to prevent them when possible. And communicate them clearly when they’re necessary.

For example, you can place your most popular products in multiple locations. So, customers can get their entire order from one fulfillment center.

If you can’t avoid split shipments, tell customers during checkout. A simple notification like “Some items may ship separately for faster delivery” prevents post-purchase issues.

Also, make sure each package has its own tracking number. Because they allow precise delivery monitoring and give your customers peace of mind.

When your buyer can track both their phone case and screen protector separately, they know exactly what’s coming and when. And you know what that means? You’ll get fewer emails asking “where’s the rest of my order.”

If you want to make your life easier, use order tracking tools like ChannelWill ParcelPanel. It handles split shipments by generating separate tracking numbers for each package and sending real-time updates to your customers.

Everything stays on one branded tracking page, so your buyers know what to expect, minus the never-ending follow-ups. Plus, you can try it for free.

Leveraging Technology for Split Shipments

Did you know that poor routing decisions can cost you around 23% of your order value? And for every misrouted shipment, you could lose around $40-50 per incident.

Let’s say you process 500 orders monthly at $80 average order value. You can lose $2000 to $2500 in profit even if your routing is only wrong 10% of the time (ouch).

What we recommend is to use an order routing software that looks at your inventory across different locations and picks the cheapest, fastest way to get orders to customers.

It checks shipping distance, stock levels, and carrier performance to decide whether your business should split shipments or keep everything together. A total win for your team because they won’t have to always figure out which warehouse should ship what.

Real-time inventory is another plus because it prevents those awkward moments when you promise something you don’t actually have.

One of our clients used to spend 3-4 hours daily figuring out how to split shipments across their warehouses. After implementing automation, they cut that time down to 15 minutes of review work.

Their system now generates shipping labels automatically (and their team could focus on growing the business instead).

Enhancing Customer Communication for Partial Shipments

One of the most effective steps you can take is to tell your customers that their order might arrive in multiple packages.

They’ll likely understand you and be more accepting if one of their orders gets split into separate deliveries.

Imagine that your customer Anna ordered two perfumes but only received one first. Without warning, she’d probably email you asking, “Where’s my other perfume?” But if you told her during checkout that items might ship separately, she’d just wait for the second package.

Give each package its own tracking number and send separate confirmation emails. Some businesses use an order tracking portal like ParcelPanel, where customers can see all packages in one place.

Consider offering customers a choice when you have enough stock in one location. You could offer a small discount for waiting extra days to get everything in a single box instead of split orders.

Conclusion: Simplify Split Shipment Tracking

Split shipments can be stressful for you and your customers only when they’re not communicated properly or managed well.

So make sure to set clear expectations during checkout, use separate tracking for more accurate and transparent updates, and streamline your fulfillment process to minimize confusion while maximizing efficiency.

Ready to simplify tracking, cut WISMO, and deliver a smoother post-purchase experience? Book a free demo with ParcelPanel and see how it can improve your split shipment management.

FAQ about Split Shipment