OrbitKit Fulfillment is our integrated print-on-demand network that works with Shopify and Etsy (and manual orders, of course). The benefits of OrbitKit Fulfillment are:

Better Integration with Shopify and Etsy

By directly connecting to the marketplaces (bypassing services like Printful or Printify), OrbitKit can offer deeper integration. For example:

Create listings that sell multiple products (eg, tees and tanks).
Generate combined size charts for all products in a listing.
Generate mockups from your custom blank images.
Reliably sync changes from your library.
Automatically adjust your listings if SKUs become unavailable.

Geolocated Print Network

OrbitKit uses a variety of high-quality print services (click "Printers" on the left side menu), many of which you may recognize from Printify. The advantage of OrbitKit is:

We have evaluated printers for quality and reliability so that you don't have to.
We route orders to printers based on:
- Minimizing the number of shipments for multiple item orders
- Geographic proximity, to cut down on shipping times and customs delays
- Minimizing shipping cost
- Real time blank inventory, to minimize print delay

Automatic Substitution

The print-on-demand industry has seen a lot of chaos in the supply chain for blanks. Wholesalers struggled to keep colors and sizes in stock for Q4 even before Covid.

To minimize the risk of print delays, OrbitKit Fulfillment is deliberately non-specific about what model blanks are used. For example, the Premium Unisex Tee is almost always a Bella 3001, but it could also be an Anvil 980 or NextLevel 3600 if for some reason the Bella is backordered. Products are always substituted with an equivalent-quality blank.

OrbitKit handles this substitution for you automatically.

Activating Fulfillment

OrbitKit Fulfillment does not require a subscription; you are charged only when we print orders for you. However, you must place a credit card on file so that we can process your orders. If we cannot process payments, orders may be delayed or rejected.

Add a payment method from your Settings page:

More information about pricing and billing can be found on the Fulfillment Pricing page.

Using Fulfillment

OrbitKit Fulfillment works just like regular OrbitKit!

Create a Shopify or Etsy venue and connect it to your store
Create one or more blueprints using OrbitKit's builtin blueprint editor
Publish your designs with these blueprints

OrbitKit will create complete product listings for your designs in your store. See the OrbitKit documentation for Shopify or Etsy for a walkthrough.

When a customer purchases a product:

OrbitKit is notified of the fulfillment request.
OrbitKit will create an Order record and mark the record as "fulfilled" at Shopify (Etsy does not have such a flag; just "shipped").
OrbitKit will begin printing the order.
You will be charged for the order (once per day for all orders during that day).
The order will be shipped. The Shopify/Etsy order will be updated with a tracking number and this information will be emailed to the customer.

You can view and search your Orders by clicking on the "Fulfillment Orders" menu item:

OrbitKit as Master Database

As with all other platforms to which OrbitKit publishes, we assume that you will treat OrbitKit as the master database. Changes to your designs at OrbitKit (say, adding a tag) will be automatically synced to your published listings at Shopify and Etsy.

This means that changes you make to your products at Shopify or Etsy (title, descriptions, tags, pricing, etc) may be overwritten by OrbitKit. If you want to edit a listing after it has been published, freeze the exhibit or use a sync profile.

Limitations

Since we want to be able to guarantee quick turnaround and shipping, we are rolling on new products slowly and carefully. If you need custom doggie blankets right away, you can still use OrbitKit with Printful or Printify!