> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Fulfillment Rate Over Time, Shopify > Fulfillment Rate Over Time for Shopify stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ecommerce Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Daily fulfillment rate (FULFILLED ÷ total orders for that day) over the 90-day window. The operational pattern view: where are the dips, what is the day-of-week shape, and is the trend stable? | | | | ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `DATE_HISTOGRAM(day, COUNT(orders WHERE FULFILLED) ÷ COUNT(orders))`. Daily ratio; same definition as [Fulfillment Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/fulfillment-rate) but in time-series form. | | **API endpoint** | `Admin GraphQL. Order.displayFulfillmentStatus` and `Order.fulfillments[]`. | | **Bucketing** | Orders bucket on `Order.createdAt` date (not fulfillment date) so the rate is "what share of orders placed today have been fulfilled?". The most recent bars rise as fulfillment catches up. | | **VAT / tax treatment** | Not applicable. | | **Shipping** | Not applicable. | | **Discounts** | Not applicable. | | **Refunds** | Refunded-after-fulfillment orders count as fulfilled. | | **Cancelled / voided orders** | Cancelled before fulfillment never reach FULFILLED; they sit in the denominator and drag the rate. | | **Currency** | Multi-currency safe (count ratio). | | **Channels / sources** | Online + POS + B2B all contribute. POS auto-fulfills, lifting the daily rate on POS-heavy days. | | **Time window** | `90D` (daily buckets) | | **Alert trigger** | None on this card directly; pair with [Fulfillment Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/fulfillment-rate) for the alerted aggregate. | | **Roles** | owner, operations | ## Calculation ``` DATE_HISTOGRAM rate(displayFulfillmentStatus=FULFILLED) WHERE date BETWEEN [period_start, period_end] ``` ## Worked example A UK skincare DTC brand on Shopify Plus, single 3PL warehouse. Period: 12 Feb 26 to 12 May 26. | Week | Avg daily fulfillment rate | Notable days | | ---------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | | 12 Feb to 18 Feb | 92.4% | Steady | | 19 Feb to 25 Feb | 91.8% | | | 26 Feb to 04 Mar | 92.1% | | | 05 Mar to 11 Mar | 88.5% | Spring drop launch, slight backlog | | 12 Mar to 18 Mar | 79.2% | **Stockout cascade**, 14 Mar dropped to 68% | | 19 Mar to 25 Mar | 84.7% | Recovery in progress | | 26 Mar to 01 Apr | 90.3% | Continue Selling turned off | | 02 Apr to 08 Apr | 92.6% | Back to baseline | | 09 Apr to 15 Apr | 91.8% | | | 16 Apr to 22 Apr | 92.4% | Easter slight bump | | 23 Apr to 12 May | 92.1% | Steady | Five things to notice: 1. **The 14 Mar 68% trough is the diagnostic moment.** A single-day drop to 68% with surrounding days at 79 to 84% pinpoints the cause: that day's order cohort included a high share of orders for an OOS hero SKU. Cross-reference [Products with Zero/Negative Stock](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/products-with-zero-negative-stock) for 13-14 Mar. 2. **The recovery shape (5 days from 79% to 90%) is healthy.** Continue Selling was disabled on 16 Mar; the rate climbed steadily as new oversell-orders stopped accumulating. Slow recoveries (>10 days) suggest the fix didn't address the root cause. 3. **Day-of-week effect: Mondays are usually 2-4 ppt lower than Wednesdays.** Most 3PLs don't pick on Sunday so Monday morning starts with a backlog. The 30D average smooths this out; daily resolution preserves it. Mondays at the same level as Tuesdays would actually be a problem (it would mean the 3PL is picking weekend orders, which usually signals an emergency rush). 4. **Spring drop dip + recovery sequence is a textbook stockout cascade.** Order volume spiked, hero SKU sold past available count, fulfillment rate dropped, the merchant turned off Continue Selling, the rate recovered. The full lifecycle is visible in 4 weeks. 5. **POS days don't show as dips here.** A retail-event day with strong POS sales lifts the rate (POS auto-fulfills). Brands running occasional POS pop-ups see Saturdays in pop-up cities measurably higher than Saturdays without. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together Daily fulfillment rate is the diagnostic timeseries. Pair with these: | Card | Why pair it with Fulfillment Over Time | What the combination tells you | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Fulfillment Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/fulfillment-rate) | The 30D aggregate. | Aggregate alerts; timeseries reveals the day. | | [Fulfillment Breakdown](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/fulfillment-status) | Status mix on the snapshot date. | Combines the "when" with the "what". | | [Unfulfilled Orders](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/unfulfilled-orders) | Real-time backlog count. | A rising backlog precedes a rate drop here. | | [Products with Zero/Negative Stock](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/products-with-zero-negative-stock) | The #1 cause of dips. | OOS days predict rate dips 1-3 days later. | | [Orders Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/orders-over-time) | Volume counterpart. | Orders × rate = fulfilled volume; spikes that crash the rate are usually order-volume-driven. | | [Cancelled Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/cancelled-orders-over-time) | Cancellation timeseries. | A simultaneous cancel spike + fulfillment dip = stockout cascade. | | [`datadog.dd_incident_count`](/nerve-centre/datadog/dd_incident_count) | Warehouse / 3PL incidents | Incidents lead fulfillment dips by 24-72h. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Shopify Admin:** Shopify Admin doesn't have a single fulfillment-rate-over-time chart. Reconstruct from: * [Orders](https://admin.shopify.com/orders) → filter by date and fulfillment status, count manually per day. * \[Apps like ShipStation, Better Reports]: build daily fulfillment-rate views. Other Shopify Admin views: * **Settings → Shipping & delivery → Performance** (Plus only): on-time delivery vs promised date, a stricter metric. * **Reports → Sales by fulfillment status**: revenue split, complementary view. **Why our number may legitimately differ from Shopify Admin:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | -------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Time zone** | Boundary days | Standard time-zone gap. | | **Bucket alignment** | Either | Daily buckets in store time zone vs UTC for window edges. | | **Sync lag** | Ours lower for "today" | 5 to 15 minute index lag. The latest day rises throughout the day. | | **Multi-location** | Either | Shopify can split by location; this card aggregates. | | **Test orders** | Ours slightly higher | Test orders not filtered. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | [`datadog.dd_incident_count`](/nerve-centre/datadog/dd_incident_count) | Incidents predict dips 24-72h later | Indirect; only useful if 3PL monitoring is connected. | | [`shopify_xc_revenue_at_risk_from_incident`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/revenue-at-risk) | Live incident £/min | Pair on the dashboard during ops outages. | ***
Same-metric documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple platforms) The same definition lives on other commerce platforms. Cross-platform navigation only. * [`bigcommerce.fulfillment_over_time`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/fulfillment-rate-over-time) * [`adobe_commerce.fulfillment_over_time`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/fulfillment-rate-over-time)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why does the latest day's bar look low?** Sync lag plus partial-day. Today's bar rises throughout the day as fulfillments complete. Yesterday and earlier are caught up. **My weekly pattern shows Monday lows, why?** Backlog. Most warehouses don't pick on Sunday; Monday's order cohort starts unfulfilled and catches up over Mon-Tue. **A specific day shows a dip; how do I diagnose?** 1. Cross-reference [Products with Zero/Negative Stock](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/products-with-zero-negative-stock) for that day and the preceding 1-3 days. 2. Cross-reference [Cancelled Over Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/cancelled-orders-over-time); a simultaneous spike confirms a stockout cascade. 3. Check 3PL / warehouse status on that day; an outage often shows up as a single-day dip. 4. Check order volume; an unusually high-volume day with normal pick capacity will dip the rate mechanically. **Why do my Saturdays look higher than Mondays?** POS lift. Retail-event Saturdays auto-fulfill at the till, raising the daily rate. Online-only stores see flatter weekday patterns. **Multi-currency, any impact?** None on the count ratio. **Shopify Plus vs basic?** Plus stores can run multi-location flows that distribute fulfillment across warehouses; the rate may show smoother patterns. Basic stores with one warehouse show sharper weekly cycles. **Refresh cadence?** 5 to 15 minute index lag. **B2B vs DTC?** B2B SCHEDULED orders sit in the denominator for days/weeks before flipping to FULFILLED, dragging the rate. Mixed stores benefit from filtering by tag. **The card shows a sustained dip, what should I do?** 1. Open [Fulfillment Breakdown](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/fulfillment-status) for the affected days, find the bucket bleeding (OPEN, PARTIALLY\_FULFILLED, IN\_PROGRESS). 2. If OPEN dominates, capacity issue at the 3PL; escalate. 3. If PARTIALLY\_FULFILLED dominates, stockout on a specific SKU. 4. If IN\_PROGRESS dominates, work in flight but not flipping; check whether 3PL is marking complete (sometimes API fail). 5. Pair with customer-service comms; preempt SLA-breach inquiries. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Fulfillment Rate Over Time* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Shopify and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.