How Automatic Merge Works
When a new order comes in, Order Merger checks if the customer has any existing orders that meet your merge rules. If the orders qualify, they are automatically combined into a single order for fulfillment.
Built-in requirements (always active):
Orders must be from the same customer (identical customer ID)
Orders must have matching shipping addresses
Merging Rules
Set up custom rules that determine which orders are eligible for automatic merging. You can create multiple rule groups with different conditions.
Available Rule Types
Rule | Description |
Time since last customer order | Merge orders placed within a specific time window (e.g., within 1 hour, 2 days) |
Past order fulfillment status | Only merge with orders that have a specific fulfillment status (e.g., unfulfilled orders only) |
Order financial status | Filter by payment status (e.g., only merge paid orders) |
Shipping address | Filter by province, country, or city |
Shipping carrier | Only merge orders using specific shipping carriers |
Order tags | Merge orders based on their tags |
Customer tags | Merge orders based on customer tags |
All items location | Only merge when all items are available at a specific inventory location |
Order products | Filter based on specific products in the orders |
Creating Rules
Click "Add condition group" to create a new set of conditions
Select a field (e.g., "Time since last customer order")
Choose a condition (e.g., "Is less than")
Enter or select a value (e.g., "60 minutes")
Use AND/OR operators to combine multiple conditions within a group
Examples:
"Time since last customer order" + "Is less than" + "60 minutes" = Merge orders placed within 1 hour
"Order financial status" + "Is" + "Paid" = Only merge orders that have been paid
"Past order fulfillment status" + "Is" + "Unfulfilled" = Only merge with unfulfilled orders
Merge Delay Time
This setting controls how long Order Merger waits before checking if a new order is eligible for merging. This is useful if you have other apps or services that need to process orders first.
Recommended Settings
Simple stores: 0-1 minutes
Stores with other apps: 5-30 minutes
Complex workflows with ERP: 1-2 hours
Conflict Handling
When merging orders, conflicts can arise if the original orders have different values. This section lets you decide how to resolve these conflicts.
Shipping Rate Selection
Choose which shipping rate to keep when orders have different shipping costs:
Option | Description |
Keep oldest shipping rate | Use the shipping cost from the earliest order |
Keep most recent order shipping rate | Use the shipping cost from the latest order |
Keep cheapest shipping rate | Use the lowest shipping cost among the orders |
Keep most expensive shipping rate | Use the highest shipping cost among the orders |
Combine shipping rates | Add all shipping costs together |
Set shipping rate to zero | Set the merged order shipping to $0 (is automatically set when "Set new order value to 0" is enabled). |
Shipping Refund Options
Refund unused shipping rates
When enabled, customers receive refunds for shipping rates that are not used in the merged order. For example, if you keep the shipping rate from Order A, the shipping from Order B will be refunded.
Note: Refunds are only issued for orders that were paid. This creates automatic refund transactions in your store. The customer will see these refunds on their payment method.
Refund all shipping rates when order total exceeds threshold
Automatically refund all shipping costs when the combined order value meets or exceeds your specified amount. This is useful for offering free shipping on larger orders.
Enter the minimum order value (subtotal before tax) to trigger a full shipping refund.
Shipping Method Name
Control which shipping method name appears on the merged order:
Option | Description |
Keep oldest shipping name | Use the method name from the earliest order |
Keep most recent order shipping name | Use the method name from the latest order |
Keep cheapest shipping name | Use the method name from the order with lowest shipping cost |
Keep most expensive shipping name | Use the method name from the order with highest shipping cost |
Combine shipping names | Combine all shipping method names together |
Order Tags Handling
Decide how to handle tags from the original orders:
Option | Description |
Discard all tags | Remove all original order tags |
Keep oldest order tags | Use tags from the earliest order only |
Keep most recent order tags | Use tags from the latest order only |
Keep all order tags | Combine all unique tags from all orders |
Refunded Items Handling
Control how items that were refunded in the original orders appear in the merged order:
Option | Description |
Discard refunded items | Remove refunded items completely from the merged order |
Keep items as unfulfilled | Include refunded items but mark them as unfulfilled |
Keep items as unfulfilled and take off refunded sum | Include refunded items as unfulfilled and apply a discount for the refunded amount |
Keep items as fulfilled and take off refunded sum | Include refunded items as fulfilled and apply a discount for the refunded amount |
Order Name Control
Define how the merged order will be named:
Option | Description | Example |
Keep order in ascending order | Use the name of the earliest order | Let Shopify automatically assign the next available order number (e.g., #1004 if last order was #1003) |
Combine merged orders name | Combine original order names | Combines original order names with "_OM" suffix for easy identification. |
Custom order name | Create your own naming pattern | Create your own naming pattern using dynamic variables |
Dynamic tags for custom order names:
{oldest-order-name}- Name of the earliest order{most-recent-order-name}- Name of the latest order{ascending-order-names}- All order names in ascending order{descending-order-names}- All order names in descending order
Examples:
"MERGED_{oldest-order-name}" → "MERGED_#1001"
"COMBINED_{ascending-order-names}" → "COMBINED_#1001_#1003"
Custom Tax Name
Customize the tax line name on merged orders. By default, it's "OrderMergerTax".
Dynamic tags available:
{original-orders-names}- Names of all merged orders (#1001_#1003){original-tax-names}- Original tax names (duplicates are automatically removed){original-tax-values}- Tax amounts from original orders (formatted with currency)
Examples:
"Tax from {original-orders-names}" → "Tax from #1001_#1003"
"Combined Tax: {original-tax-values}" → "Combined Tax: $2.50_$3.75"
Custom Discount Name
Customize the discount line name on merged orders. By default, it's "OrderMergerDiscount".
Dynamic tags available:
{original-discount-names}- All original discount names{original-discount-values}- All original discount amounts{highest-value-discount-name}- Name of the largest discount{lowest-value-discount-name}- Name of the smallest discount{most-recent-order-discount-name}- Discount name from the latest order{oldest-order-discount-name}- Discount name from the earliest order
Examples:
"Discounts: {original-discount-names}" → "Discounts: SAVE10_WELCOME20"
"Best Deal: {highest-value-discount-name}" → "Best Deal: WELCOME20"
Processed Date Control
Choose which date to use as the "processed at" date for the merged order:
Option | Description |
Take from oldest order | Use the creation date of the earliest order |
Take from most recent order | Use the creation date of the latest order |
Set to current date and time | Use the date and time when the merge occurs |
Order Actions
Configure what happens to both the new merged order and the original orders after a merge.
New (Merged) Orders
Order Tagging
Add tags to the merged order to help identify and organize merged orders. Tags can be used for filtering and reporting in Shopify.
Order Notes
Add notes to the merged order. Use dynamic tags to include information about the original orders.
Note: Due to Shopify limitations, order tags are limited to 40 characters. Tags longer than this will automatically be added to order notes instead.
Dynamic tags for tags and notes:
{new-order-id}- ID of the merged order{new-order-name}- Name of the merged order{tracking-numbers}- Tracking numbers from fulfillments{original-orders-names}- Names of the merged orders{original-orders-ids}- IDs of the merged orders{merge-date}- Date when the merge occurred
Set new order value to zero
When enabled, the merged order will have a $0 value. This prevents double-counting revenue in your analytics reports since the original orders retain their values.
Important: When this option is enabled, any items that were refunded in the original orders will be automatically discarded from the merged order.
Original Orders
Order Tagging
Add tags to the original orders being merged. This helps identify which orders were part of a merge operation for tracking and auditing purposes.
Order Notes
Add notes to the original orders being merged. This creates an audit trail and helps track which orders were combined together.
The same dynamic tags available for new orders can be used here.
Archive Original Orders
Archive the original orders after merging. Archived orders are hidden from your main orders list but can still be accessed for reference and reporting.
Fulfill Original Orders
Choose how to handle fulfillment of the original orders:
Option | Description |
Do not fulfill original orders | Leave original orders as-is |
Fulfill immediately after merge | Mark original orders as fulfilled right after merging |
Fulfill after merged order is fulfilled | Only fulfill original orders when the merged order is fulfilled. Tracking info will be synced as well. |
Fulfilling original orders is useful for multi-channel platforms to prevent auto-cancellation of unfulfilled orders.
Note: This option cannot be used together with "Cancel original orders".
Cancel Original Orders
Cancel the original orders after merging.
Warning: Canceling orders is irreversible and cannot be undone.
Important Limitations:
Canceling orders is permanent - no way to reverse
For fulfilled orders: Order Merger will try to unfulfill first (required by Shopify). Unfulfillment process will only succeed if the fulfillment order has not been accepted by a fulfillment Service - This is possible if the fulfillment order is still in an open or unsubmitted state and hasn't been accepted by a third-party fulfillment service.
No refunds are automatically given to customers
Conflicts: Cannot be used together with "Fulfill Original Orders"
Restock Items
When canceling original orders, you can choose to restock the items. This returns the items to your available inventory.
Note: This option is only available when "Cancel original orders" is enabled.
Order Notes Preservation
Order notes from the original orders are automatically preserved and combined in the merged order. Each original order's notes are included in the following format:
#1001: [Original note from order #1001]
#1003: [Original note from order #1003]
This ensures no customer notes or special instructions are lost during the merge process.