Getting Started with AfterShip Order Edits (Beta)

Overview

The AfterShip Order edits feature lets shoppers edit and update their order details after checkout, without having to contact support. Shoppers can change the shipping address, update product variants, adjust quantities, remove items, or accept upsell offers within a configurable editing window. 

This helps reduce post-purchase change support requests, prevent unnecessary cancellations, and improve the shopper experience after checkout. Walk through this guide for easy onboarding setup. 

How to set up Order edits?

1. Open Order edits

• Log in to the AfterShip Returns or Tracking admin account. 
• Navigate to Order Edits from the left sidebar.

2. Update your Shopify data access

When you enable Order Edits from AfterShip Tracking for the first time, you'll see a banner prompting you to update your Shopify data access. It is required if merchants want to use Order Edits. Until it's updated, shoppers won't be able to edit their orders, even if the feature is enabled.

If you're setting up Order Edits from AfterShip Returns, you may have already updated the data access. In that case, the banner won't appear, and you'll be taken directly to ‘Set the editing window and shopper actions’.

After updating your Shopify data access, you'll be redirected back to AfterShip. Refresh the page to continue setting up the editing window and shopper actions.

3. Configure the editing window and shopper actions

When opening Order Edits for the first time, you will see a quick set-up onboarding page to configure:

• Editing time window – Control how long shoppers can make changes to their orders after placing them.
• Auto-refund -  Choose whether a refund is automatically initiated in Shopify when an edit lowers the order total.
• Shopper actions – Set up what changes/shopper actions are available after checkout. 

Use the live preview section to review the shopper experience beforehand. Click Confirm.

4. Install the Order Edits app block

To make Order Edits visible to shoppers, install and add the Order Edits app block in the theme editors:

• Thank you page
• Order Status page

This allows shoppers to experience Order edits after checkout.

5. Decide whether to place orders on hold (Recommended for most merchants)

Order edits only work if shoppers can make changes before fulfillment begins. If your downstream systems start processing orders the moment checkout completes, shoppers won't get a chance to edit. An order hold pauses orders so shoppers have their full editing window before fulfillment starts.

You can skip this step only if your fulfillment workflow already waits a fixed delay before importing orders into downstream systems.

Set up an order hold:

1. Navigate to Order Edits from the left sidebar.
2. Open Rules to find Order hold.

Choosing a hold type:

AfterShip Order Edits supports two types of order holds. The right option depends on how your ERP, WMS, or 3PL imports orders from Shopify.

Before choosing a hold type, identify which order condition your downstream system uses to start processing orders, such as financial status, fulfillment status, or order tags. We recommend confirming this with your downstream team first. 

For a breakdown of both hold types, see Understanding order hold.

6. Create a test order before ‘Go live’

After installing the order app blocks, Order Edits walks you through a quick test — AfterShip creates a test order in your Shopify store for you, so you don't need to place one manually. Verify the test order:

• Click “ Test and go live “
• Click “ Create test order”, then the test order is automatically tagged with aftership:test-order in Shopify so it won't be mixed up with real orders.
• Edits made sync back to your downstream system correctly once order edited

Highly recommended: Test your Order Edits setup before going live

We strongly recommend creating a test order before enabling Order Edits for your shoppers.

A quick end-to-end test helps verify that your setup and downstream integrations are working as expected. Place a test order and perform an edit, such as updating the shipping address or adding a product.

Before going live, confirm two things:

- The Shopify order isn't pulled into your downstream systems before the editing window closes.
- The data synced to your downstream systems is the updated order details after the edit, not the original order information.

Once you've verified both, you can confidently enable Order Edits for your shoppers and avoid unexpected issues with live orders.

7. Enable Go live

Once you are done with all setups and testing:

• Click Go live.

• You can click Unpublish anytime to take the app block from Live to Not live.

Key takeaways

• With AfterShip Order edits, merchants can give shoppers the ability to self-serve order edits after checkout.
• Order Edits is currently available only for Shopify merchants using AfterShip Tracking or Returns.
• Shoppers can edit shipping addresses, update variants, add or remove items, and accept upsell offers within the configured editing window.
• AfterShip automatically creates an aftership:test-order tagged test order in Shopify to help verify the end-to-end order editing workflow.
• Additionally, Order Hold is an optional step that can help prevent orders processing before shoppers finish making edits.

Additional resources

• Customizing shopper actions
• Setting up order edit rules
• Understanding order holds
• Understanding Order Edits analytics

FAQs

1. Can I configure region or product-specific editing windows?

No. The editing window is a global setting that applies to all eligible orders. Region-specific and product-specific editing windows are not currently supported.

2. Can merchants manually restrict edits for a specific order?

Yes. You can use Order Edit Rules to exclude specific orders or products from being edited based on your business requirements.

For setup instructions, see Configure Order Edit Rules.

3. How many times are shoppers allowed to edit orders within the editing window?

There is no limit. Shoppers can make multiple changes to the same order as long as the editing window remains open.

4. Will shoppers receive updated confirmation emails after edits?

Yes. You can configure email engagement settings and choose which email notifications are sent to shoppers after an order edit, including an updated notification.

For more information, see Configure Order Edit Rules.

5. How is the price difference handled after an order edit?

If an order edit increases the order total, shoppers are prompted to pay the additional amount before the change is completed.

If the order total decreases, AfterShip initiates the Shopify refund process and refunds the difference to the original payment method.

6. How are discounts handled after an order edit?

After every order edit, AfterShip revalidates any applied discount based on its eligibility rules, such as whether the order still meets the minimum threshold. If the updated order no longer meets the discount requirements, the discount is adjusted accordingly.

Updated on: 11/06/2026