Every Shopify order ends with the same question from the customer: where is it now? Shopify tracking covers the basics out of the box. You add a tracking number, Shopify emails a link, and the customer follows the parcel on the order status page.
This guide explains how Shopify order tracking works, what you get without an app, where it falls short, and five practical ways to make tracking work harder for your store, whether you ship across the US or from the UK, Canada, Australia or Ireland.
How Shopify tracking works out of the box
Shopify order tracking starts when you fulfill an order. You can add a tracking number while you fulfill it, or later from the order page if your carrier gives you the number after the parcel leaves (Shopify Help Center).
Here is what happens next:
- Carrier detection. Shopify usually recognises the carrier from the format of the tracking number. Some carriers share formats, so check the carrier it picks. If you choose one yourself, your choice wins.
- Unsupported carriers. If your carrier isn’t in the list, choose Other and paste the full tracking URL your carrier gave you.
- Shopify Shipping labels. When you buy a label with tracking through Shopify Shipping, the tracking number is added to the order for you.
- The shipping email. Tick “Send a notification to the customer” and Shopify sends the shipping confirmation email with a tracking link. The option only appears when you have the customer’s email address.
From there, customers can follow the parcel in four places:
| Where customers track | What they see |
|---|---|
| Shipping confirmation email | A tracking link to the order status page or the carrier |
| Order status page | Shipment updates, plus a map for supported carriers |
| Customer account | Their orders and the same order status page |
| Shop app | Live map tracking, push notifications and estimated delivery dates |
Customers can also open the order status page by entering their order number and verifying their email or phone number (Shopify Help Center).
Shopify tracking without an app: what you get and what’s missing
You can run Shopify order tracking without installing anything. For a new store with a handful of orders a week, the built-in tools are often enough. They start to strain as volume grows, or when you ship with several carriers across borders.
These are the gaps merchants run into most:
- No tracking number, no updates. If you fulfill an order without a tracking number, its status stays at Confirmed. You have to mark it as delivered yourself.
- Links that leave your store. Some smaller carriers’ links don’t open the specific shipment, so customers land on a carrier site and type the number in again.
- Reused tracking numbers. In busy periods, carriers sometimes reuse numbers, and the page can show events from an older shipment. Shopify can’t clear these for you.
- No date before the sale. Shopify’s tracking starts after the order. A shopper deciding whether to buy doesn’t see when it will arrive.
- Little room for your brand. The order status page follows Shopify’s layout, so there’s limited space for your own content or product recommendations.
- Problems surface late. You often hear about a failed delivery when the customer writes in.
A tracking app fills most of these gaps. The table below shows the typical difference.
| Capability | Shopify built-in | Most tracking apps |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking link in the shipping email | ✓ | ✓ |
| Order status page with updates | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tracking page in your own design | Limited | ✓ |
| Delivery date before checkout | Limited | ✓ |
| Product recommendations on the tracking page | Limited | ✓ |
| Alerts for delayed or failed deliveries | Limited | ✓ |
What shoppers expect after checkout
Tracking isn’t only about logistics. It shapes how customers feel about your store, and expectations are high in every market you sell to.
| Finding | Source |
|---|---|
| 80% of US shoppers say it’s important for retailers to confirm orders with a specific delivery or pickup date. About three in four also value notifications with status updates. | Forrester, March 2025 |
| 82% of UK online adults say delivery and order status notifications from brands are helpful, and 65% wish they had more information before the order arrives. | Forrester, February 2025 |
| Shoppers checked tracking an average of 2.8 times per order. | Pitney Bowes BOXpoll, 2023 |
| 20% of US shoppers abandoned a checkout because delivery was too slow. | Baymard Institute |
Two lessons follow. First, a clear delivery date matters before the order, not only after it. Second, customers come back to tracking more than once, and every visit happens either in your store or on a carrier’s site. Only one of those keeps the customer with you.
How to improve your Shopify order tracking
- Add tracking to every fulfillment. Make it part of the packing routine, and check the carrier Shopify detects. Orders without tracking never update, and they turn into “where is my order?” emails.
- Show a delivery date before checkout. A line like “Arrives by Fri, Nov 13” on the product page answers the first question before it’s asked. Base it on your real processing time and carrier transit times, so it’s a promise you can keep.
- Move tracking into your own store. A branded tracking page keeps customers on your domain, in your design. Let them look up an order with the tracking number, or with the order number and their email or phone, and include return shipments where you can.
- Tell customers before they ask. Send updates at the moments that matter: shipped, out for delivery, delivered, and above all when something goes wrong. A short note about a delay prevents a support ticket.
- Make each visit useful, then measure. Customers check tracking more than once, so show the products in the shipment and suggest what to buy next. Then watch your carriers: delivery times, delays and failed deliveries by carrier tell you where to change your rules.
This is the job QuickEye was built for. It shows estimated delivery dates on product, cart and checkout pages, gives you a branded tracking page in your store, and turns tracking visits into repeat orders with product recommendations. Operations teams get alerts for failed deliveries and returns to origin, plus carrier analytics.
The Starter plan is free and includes 50 shipments a month, a branded tracking page, product recommendations and shipping notifications. Compare all plans or install QuickEye from the Shopify App Store.
Shopify order tracking FAQ
How do I track an order on Shopify?
As a merchant, open the order in your Shopify admin and check the fulfillment, which shows the tracking number and carrier. Customers track it from the link in their shipping confirmation email, the order status page, their customer account or the Shop app.
Can I add a tracking number after fulfilling an order?
Yes. Open the order, choose Add tracking in the fulfilled section, enter the number and save. You can add several tracking numbers to an order, but they have to be from the same carrier.
Why is my Shopify tracking not updating?
The usual causes are a missing tracking number, the wrong carrier detected from the number format, or a parcel the carrier hasn’t scanned yet. Check the carrier on the fulfillment first. If your carrier isn’t supported, choose Other and enter the full tracking URL.
Does Shopify have order tracking without an app?
Yes. Shopify includes shipping confirmation emails with tracking links and an order status page with shipment updates. Apps add delivery dates before checkout, a tracking page in your own design, proactive alerts and carrier analytics.
What is the difference between Shopify order status and tracking?
The order status in your admin, such as unfulfilled or fulfilled, shows your side of the work. Tracking shows the carrier’s side: where the parcel is and when it should arrive. Customers see both on the order status page.