An online order is not complete when the customer pays; the goods still have to reach them. This piece is about shipping and delivery in Odoo eCommerce.
Why shipping and delivery matter for an online store
An eCommerce store sells physical goods, and a sale is only genuinely fulfilled when the goods physically reach the customer. So shipping and delivery, the getting of online orders to customers, are an essential part of an online store. They are also the part of the experience the customer feels most directly after they have bought, how, and how well, the goods reach them. Shipping and delivery being handled well is part of an online store genuinely working.
Delivery as part of checkout
For the customer, delivery is part of the checkout: when a customer completes their purchase, the checkout includes the delivery, where the goods will go and, often, a choice of delivery option. Odoo eCommerce handles delivery as part of checkout, so the customer's purchase includes settling how the order will be delivered. Setting up shipping and delivery for the store includes setting up what the customer sees and chooses at checkout for delivery.
Delivery options
A store may offer the customer a choice of delivery, different delivery options, different ways or speeds of getting the order to them. Odoo eCommerce supports presenting delivery options at checkout, so the customer can choose the delivery that suits them. Setting up shipping and delivery includes setting up the delivery options the store genuinely offers, so the customer's checkout includes a genuine, sensible delivery choice.
From the order to the goods arriving
Beyond what the customer sees at checkout, shipping and delivery are about the order genuinely being fulfilled, the goods picked and shipped and reaching the customer. This is where the connected nature of an Odoo eCommerce store matters: an online order is a genuine order in Odoo, and it flows into fulfilment, the goods coming from inventory and being delivered, connected to the store's delivery setup, possibly through shipping carriers. So shipping and delivery in Odoo eCommerce are not just the checkout choice; they are the whole connected flow from the online order to the goods genuinely arriving at the customer.
The connected fulfilment
The value of shipping and delivery being part of the connected Odoo system is that the online order's fulfilment is connected, not a separate thing. The online order flows into the same inventory and fulfilment as any order, the delivery is part of that, and the business can see the online order through to delivery. The store is not a separate web shop whose orders then have to be handed to a separate fulfilment process; the online order and its delivery are part of the one connected operation. Setting up shipping and delivery well means setting them up as part of that connected fulfilment.
The takeaway
Shipping and delivery in Odoo eCommerce are how online orders physically reach customers, an essential part of an online store and the part the customer feels most directly after buying. Delivery is part of the checkout, where the customer settles how the order will be delivered, possibly choosing among delivery options. Beyond checkout, shipping and delivery are the connected flow from the online order, a genuine order in Odoo, into fulfilment and to the goods arriving. Set them up as part of the connected fulfilment. For how we approach Odoo, see our ERP practice.