When a 3PL ships your Shopify orders, your Shopify packing slip template doesn't travel with them: Shopify uses that template when you print from your own admin, and the 3PL prints its own slip from the order data its app reads. Your branding carries over only when you give the 3PL a logo, the copy, your return details, gift order rules and the list of order fields to print.
A branded packing slip at a 3PL is the 3PL's document with your logo, copy and chosen order fields on it. Google's AI Overview says many 3PLs can print your customized Shopify packing slip format. Shopify documents that template as what prints from Print packing slips in your admin, while a fulfillment service app receives fulfillment requests and reads the order. Send the 3PL a slip brief instead.
What happens to your Shopify packing slip template when a 3PL fulfills
Your template stays in Shopify. As of November 2026, Shopify's Help Center describes the packing slip template under Settings > Shipping and delivery > Documents as HTML, CSS and Liquid, and the default template is the one that prints when you click Print packing slips on an order in your admin. Nothing in Shopify's fulfillment service documentation describes sending that template to a 3PL.
A 3PL connects as a fulfillment service app. Shopify's developer docs describe the flow: you request fulfillment, the app receives the request, reads the assigned fulfillment orders and creates the fulfillment with tracking. The warehouse prints from its own system, using the order data, not your Liquid file.
The Shopify Community thread that ranks for this search says the same thing. A Shopify staff reply confirmed there's no way to send the exact packing slip through Shopify Flow, and suggested giving the fulfillment provider a template to print with each order.
What does carry over is the data. Our native Shopify app brings each order into Orderfy WMS within minutes, and tracking posts back to Shopify as soon as the label is created. The order number, customer name, line items, SKUs and quantities are all in that data. Whether a given field prints on the slip depends on the 3PL's template, which is why the field list belongs in your brief.
What a branded packing slip can carry
A branded slip has two kinds of content: static content that's the same on every order, and order data that changes per order. Static content is easy for any 3PL. Order data is where slips go wrong.
Static content
- Logo and brand colors, within what the warehouse printer can reproduce
- Thank-you line and support email
- Return instructions, with a QR code that links to your returns portal
- A discount code for the next order, with an expiry date
- Social handles or a short care note for the product
Order data
- Order number in your Shopify format, for example #1004 instead of 1004
- Customer name and shipping address
- Line items, SKUs and quantities in this shipment
- Line item properties, which carry personalization text such as an engraving or a monogram
- The order note, where a gift message typed at checkout lands in many stores
- Bundle contents, so the customer sees what's inside a set
Shopify's own packing slip variables cover every item on that list. The variable reference lists the order note, line item properties and bundle groups, and it doesn't list any price variables, so the default Shopify slip carries no prices. A 3PL's slip may print prices unless you tell it not to.
Bundles and sets
If you sell sets, define the contents before go-live. A Shopify oral care brand moving to us sold a Complete set and a Duo set, but only the toothbrush had a SKU. Before receiving, we asked for a SKU or barcode and a weight on every product and the exact contents of each set, so both could be built as bundles in Orderfy WMS. Units that arrived before setup were held until the products were in the system. The same contents list tells the slip what to print under each set. For assembled gift sets, see what gift set kitting adds to a contract.
Branded slip options and what they cost
A branded slip printed by the 3PL from your order data is the cheapest option and the only one that carries per-order content. Example figures below assume 5,000 orders a month and are examples, not Orderfy rates. The insert card price comes from TheFlyerLab's 4x6 postcard page, which lists 5,000 cards on 12pt stock for $145, or $0.029 each before shipping, as of November 2026. The other figures are illustrative.
| Option | What's in the box | Materials per order (example) | 3PL handling per order (example) | Per order | 5,000 orders a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3PL prints a branded slip from order data | One slip with your logo, copy and order fields | $0.02 paper and toner | $0.00, included in pick and pack | $0.02 | $100 |
| 3PL prints onto your pre-printed branded stock | Full-color sheet with order data printed on top | $0.12 per pre-printed sheet | $0.05 to stock and load your paper | $0.17 | $850 |
| No slip, branded insert card | A 4x6 card with your message, no order details | $0.029 per card | $0.10 insert fee | $0.129 | $645 |
| Branded slip plus insert card | Both | $0.049 | $0.10 insert fee | $0.149 | $745 |
Start with the first option. It puts a gift message or a monogram on the same page as your branding. Move to pre-printed stock when your design needs full color that the warehouse printer can't produce, and run the numbers on your own print quote first. A card alone works for single-item orders where nothing order-specific needs to be on paper, and it drops the order details customers sometimes use to check what arrived.
Size inserts to your smallest box. We weigh every Shopify order and pack it in right-size packaging, and a card or folded sheet that doesn't fit the smallest mailer you use works against that. Box, mailer and insert costs are covered in branded packaging and inserts: 3PL cost per order.
Gift orders without prices
Decide what marks an order as a gift, then tell the 3PL exactly what changes on that slip. Gift orders show up as a line item property, a message in the order note, or an order tag a gift app adds. Pick one, because a slip rule that has to check three places misses orders.
For a gift order, the slip should drop prices and totals, show the gift message, and leave off anything that names the buyer if the buyer asked for that. Test it with a real gift order before peak season. If we ship a wrong or incomplete order, we reship it free and credit that order's fulfillment fee, and a wrong gift slip is a mistake you want caught on the test order.
What to hand your 3PL
Send one slip brief before your first order ships. It turns branding into a spec the warehouse can build and check.
1. Logo files
A vector file (SVG or EPS) and a high-resolution PNG, plus a black-only version for printers that don't print color.
2. Return details
The return address, your returns portal URL and the QR code image. If you use a returns app, make sure the QR goes to its portal and not your homepage. Our Shopify returns process guide covers what happens after the return arrives.
3. Copy
The thank-you line, support email, discount code and expiry date, and any care or usage note. Give the exact text, with line breaks where you want them.
4. Gift rules
What marks a gift order, what to hide, and where the gift message comes from.
5. Field list
Which order fields print, using the exact property names from your Shopify orders. A personalization app might save the engraving as "Engraving" or "_engraving"; the 3PL needs the name it will see in the order data.
6. Insert rules
Which cards go in which orders (every order, first orders only, or orders with a given SKU), how many you're sending, and the reorder point so you don't run out mid-campaign.
7. A test order
Place one test order with a gift message, a personalized item and a bundle, and ask for a photo of the printed slip before you go live. The 3PL onboarding checklist has the rest of the go-live steps, and how a Shopify 3PL integration works covers the order data side.
How we handle branded slips at Orderfy
Your orders reach Orderfy WMS, our proprietary WMS built in-house, through our native Shopify app within minutes, and tracking posts back to Shopify when the label is created. Every order is weighed and packed in right-size packaging, and order accuracy runs at 99.9%, tracked in Orderfy WMS. Send your slip brief and packaging details with your quote request, so the setup is agreed before your first order ships.
Frequently asked questions
Not as a file that flows from Shopify. Shopify uses the template when you print from your admin, and a 3PL prints from its own system using the order data its app reads. Give the 3PL your logo, copy and field list so it can build a matching layout in its own system.
Shopify's default packing slip doesn't, and its packing slip variable reference lists no price variables. A 3PL's slip is a different document, so confirm prices are off, at least on gift orders.
The shipping label goes on the outside of the box and carries the carrier barcode and addresses. The packing slip goes inside and lists the items in that shipment, which is where your branding and return instructions live.
Upload the logo under Content > Files in your Shopify admin, then add it to the packing slip template under Settings > Shipping and delivery > Documents using the Liquid line Shopify's Help Center gives. That changes slips you print from Shopify; for 3PL orders, send the logo file to the 3PL.
Get a quote from Orderfy
For a quote that includes your branded slip and inserts, contact us.
Sources
- Customizing packing slips, Shopify Help Center, accessed November 2026
- Printing and editing packing slips, Shopify Help Center, accessed November 2026
- Packing slip variable reference, Shopify Help Center, accessed November 2026
- Creating and editing order document templates, Shopify Help Center, accessed November 2026
- Fulfillment service apps, Shopify Dev, accessed November 2026
- How can I automate packing slips for a 3rd party fulfillment service, Shopify Community, September 14, 2022
- 4x6 postcard printing, TheFlyerLab, accessed November 2026