Shopify Fulfilment Network vs Shopify Shipping vs 3PL: What’s the Difference and which one is best?
8 May, 2026
Shopify fulfilment is one of the biggest operational decisions eCommerce brands face as they grow. Should you ship orders yourself using Shopify’s built-in tools? Should you outsource through Shopify’s own network? Or should you use a third-party logistics (3PL) partner like ELOVATE?
In this guide, we’ll break down the Shopify fulfilment options available so that you can choose the right setup for your business.
But First, What Is Shopify?
Shopify is one of the world’s largest eCommerce platforms. It provides everything you need to build and run an online store, including hosting, checkout, payment processing, inventory tracking, analytics, and integrations.
Shopify offers several pricing tiers to suit different business sizes. The Basic plan starts at £19 per month, while larger brands can opt for Advanced Shopify at £259 per month. Enterprise-level businesses typically choose Shopify Plus, which starts at around £1,800 per month.
It’s important to understand that Shopify itself is software. It powers your storefront, but it does not automatically store or ship your products; that’s where fulfilment solutions come in.
What Is Shopify Shipping?
Shopify Shipping is the platform’s built-in shipping tool, available to all Shopify merchants. It allows store owners to purchase and print shipping labels directly from their dashboard while accessing discounted courier rates.
With Shopify Shipping, you can:
- Buy and print shipping labels
- Access discounted rates with major couriers
- Automatically calculate shipping costs at checkout
- Share tracking information with customers
However, you are still responsible for storing inventory, picking and packing orders, and managing returns. For small businesses or startups fulfilling orders from home or a small warehouse, this can work well. As order volumes increase, the time and labour required can quickly become overwhelming.
What About Shopify Fulfilment Network and Shopify’s Partner Network?
The Shopify Fulfilment Network (SFN) is Shopify’s outsourced fulfilment service, it only operates in the United States, so it isn’t available to UK-based Shopify brands.
What Shopify does offer UK sellers is its partner network: a shortlist of approved 3PLs you can connect to from inside the Shopify admin. On the surface, this looks convenient; the partners are pre-vetted, integration is native, and you can compare them in one place without doing your own research. The problem is what you actually get if you go through it.
The shortlist is small and skewed towards global, U.S.-built providers, which means the options are narrow for UK Shopify stores. Shopify vets partners for technical fit and whether they meet Shopify’s own business requirements, not for whether a partner actually understands couriers, your customers, or product categories.
It’s also worth knowing that any decent UK 3PL integrates directly with Shopify; that’s not something the partner network has a monopoly on.
Use ELOVATE to Fulfil Your Shopify Orders
Most Shopify brands use a 3PL service like ELOVATE, which handles fulfilment for your business: storing your stock, picking and packing orders as they come in, shipping and processing returns. Going direct means you choose your provider based on what fits your business.
The biggest practical advantage is shipping rates; as we dispatch over three million packages a year, ELOVATE has volume relationships with every major carrier and direct injection into their networks. Shopify sellers using ELOVATE get those rates and speed, which means better delivery options for customers and higher margins on every order.
Beyond rates, going direct with a fulfilment partner means you can sell across Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop, and any other channel.
ELOVATE handles:
- Inventory storage in strategically located warehouses
- Order picking and packing
- Shipping and carrier management
- Returns processing
- International fulfilment
Which Shopify Fulfilment Option Is Best?
If you’re just starting out and shipping a manageable number of orders each month, Shopify Shipping is usually sufficient. It keeps costs predictable and allows you to stay hands-on.
For rapidly scaling brands, international sellers, or businesses operating across multiple channels, a 3PL service like ELOVATE provides the most robust and future-proof solution. You get the rates, carrier relationships, warehousing, and customer service operations without the cost or risk of building any of them yourself.
A Real Shopify Success Story: Carluccio’s
Restaurant chain Carluccio’s is exactly the kind of Shopify business that doesn’t fit a generic global 3PL. Beverages, fragile packaging, gift hampers, and rapid scaling demand all need careful, hands-on fulfilment.
ELOVATE’s systems integrated smoothly with Carluccio’s Shopify infrastructure, ensuring efficient order processing and laying the groundwork for future subscription services.
Reflecting on the onboarding and integration process, Carluccio’s said:
“ELOVATE did all the heavy lifting for us with plenty of testing and preparation. Everything was planned in good time and in an appropriate way. This meant we were confident there was not going to be any big fall-over on day one.”
Read the full Carluccio’s story
ELOVATE Your Fulfilment
Your fulfilment strategy directly impacts delivery speed, customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and profitability. While Shopify makes it easy to launch an online store, choosing the right logistics setup is what allows that store to scale sustainably.
By choosing ELOVATE as your 3PL provider, you get a fulfilment system built around your Shopify store, products, and customers, with no restrictions on what or where you sell.