The last step of fulfillment: a label is bought, a tracking number is recorded on a shipment, and ILLUMA passes that tracking to the marketplace and your customer. Most sellers buy labels in ShipStation. You can also buy them from the order page in ILLUMA.
What happens when a shipment is recorded
Label bought ─▶ Shipment recorded (carrier + tracking number) ─▶ Stock deducted, Fulfillment updated
─▶ Tracking sent to the marketplace
─▶ Shipping confirmation emailed (storefront orders)
You do not copy tracking numbers anywhere. A shipment appears on the order under Fulfillment → Shipments and on the Shipments page.
- Marketplace orders: ILLUMA sends the tracking number to the marketplace the order came from (Amazon, eBay and Walmart are supported).
- Storefront orders: the customer gets the shipping confirmation email. Marketplace buyers are never emailed by ILLUMA.
- ShipStation-direct channels: if you marked a channel as ShipStation-direct (for example Amazon Buy Shipping), ShipStation confirms tracking to the marketplace itself. ILLUMA records the shipment but does not send it again.
Buy labels in ShipStation
Orders you push from ILLUMA appear in ShipStation. Print labels one at a time or in batches. When ShipStation reports the items shipped, ILLUMA matches the shipment to the order and records it. Setup is in ShipStation setup.
Buy labels in ILLUMA
You can quote and buy a label without opening ShipStation. This needs ShipStation connected with the V2 API key.
- Turn it on. Go to Flows → ShipStation → Connection, tick Create labels in ILLUMA (order page) and click Save settings. If you no longer work orders in ShipStation, untick Send orders to ShipStation too.
- Open the order and find the Fulfillment section. Click Create label.
- Enter the parcel. The weight comes from your product weights, and you can type over it. The box length, width and height are optional. Click Get rates.
- Pick a rate and buy. Each rate shows the carrier, the service, the days in transit and the price. Choose one and click Buy label.
📸 Screenshot placeholder: The Create Shipping Label window on a test order: the weight and box fields, the Get rates button and a list of carrier rates with one selected.
The label is billed when you buy it. ILLUMA records one shipment covering the items you ship from that order’s location, deducts the stock and sends the tracking as described above. The Fulfillment section then shows the label number, carrier and tracking, with Print label and Void label.
📸 Screenshot placeholder: The Fulfillment section of a test order after a label is bought: the “Label” status pill, the carrier and tracking line, and the Print label and Void label buttons.
Create label is greyed out, with the reason next to it, when the order is cancelled or refunded, is not paid, is an Amazon FBA order, is a store pickup, is shipped entirely by a vendor, already has a shipment, is not routed to a location yet, or the ship-from location is missing its street address, ZIP or phone number.
Void a label
Click Void label and confirm. The carrier refunds the label, the shipment is cancelled and the stock goes back. If the tracking number was already sent to a marketplace, you are told: buying a new label sends new tracking.
⚠️ Warning: Only labels bought in ILLUMA can be voided in ILLUMA. If you void a label inside ShipStation, ILLUMA does not find out, and the shipment and stock deduction stay on the order. Contact ILLUMA support to have it reversed.
Record tracking by hand
If you ship some other way, use Create Shipment in the order’s Fulfillment section. Choose the items and quantities, then enter the fulfillment type, carrier, service, tracking number and ship date. Tick Mark as shipped immediately to record it as shipped. Otherwise it is saved as Pending, and you can finish it later from the Shipments page with Mark as Shipped.
Delivery status
ℹ️ Note: ILLUMA does not receive delivery updates from carriers. It records the tracking number and links you to the carrier. A shipment only shows In Transit or Delivered if someone updates it, and Mark as Delivered on the shipment is a manual step. To check a package, select it on the Shipments page and use Track.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Shipped in ShipStation but not in ILLUMA | The update could not be matched to an order, or the webhook is missing | Check Flows → ShipStation → Activity for the ship event. Confirm the webhook URL is pasted in ShipStation (see ShipStation setup) |
| Order shows Fulfilled but part of it did not ship | A shipment from ShipStation counts every line as shipped | Correct Fulfillment by hand with the dropdown on the order page, and use Create Shipment for partial shipments |
| No shipping confirmation email | A marketplace order, or the email rule was turned off | Marketplace buyers are never emailed by ILLUMA. Check Notifications for storefront orders |
| Create label is missing | Labels in ILLUMA are off, or ShipStation has no V2 key | Turn on Create labels in ILLUMA (order page) and save the V2 key |