Ingram CDF Lite¶

Ingram's Consumer Direct Fulfillment (CDF Lite) is the fulfillment service that powers automated order dispatch in Emersoft Books. When a customer orders a book from your store, the app sends the order directly to Ingram — Ingram ships it from their warehouse to your customer.

Setup¶

To use CDF Lite fulfillment, you need an Ingram Consumer Direct Fulfillment account with FTP credentials. Apply at ingramcontent.com/retailers/consumer-direct-fulfillment (Retailer path). Once Ingram provides your FTP credentials, enter them in Apps > Emersoft Books > Settings — the Emersoft team will verify everything is connected during your onboarding session.

When the app is installed, a location called GetBooks Stock Management is automatically added to your Shopify store. All books imported through the app are assigned to this location by default, and the app keeps the stock count in sync with Ingram's inventory. You do not need to create or configure this location.

CDF Lite account timeline

Ingram's CDF Lite setup process typically takes up to 2 weeks. Catalog search and importing work immediately while you wait — automated fulfillment goes live once your CDF Lite credentials are active.

Add shipping rates before going live

You must add shipping rates for the GetBooks Stock Management location in Shopify Admin > Settings > Shipping and delivery. Without shipping rates, books assigned to this location will appear unavailable at checkout. See First Steps for guidance on setting up rates.

Automatic fulfillment¶

Shopify controls whether orders are dispatched to Ingram automatically or manually. This setting is in Shopify Admin > Settings > General, under Order processing.

There are two options:

Don't fulfill any of the order's line items automatically (Shopify default)

With this setting, a new order sits as Unfulfilled until you open it in Shopify Admin and click Request fulfillment. Only then does Emersoft Books dispatch it to Ingram.

This is the recommended setting if you operate a physical store and fulfill some orders from your own stock — it gives you time to review each order and decide whether to fulfill it from your shelf or send it to Ingram.

It also gives you a short window to catch cancellation or change requests before the order is dispatched. Once an order is sent to Ingram, it is very difficult to cancel — see Returns and cancellations below.

Automatically fulfill the order's line items

With this setting, Emersoft Books dispatches the order to Ingram as soon as payment is confirmed — no manual step required.

This is the right choice if you sell online only and use GetBooks Stock Management as your primary fulfillment location, and you are comfortable with orders going to Ingram immediately after checkout.

Which should I choose?

If you are online-only and want a hands-off workflow, enable automatic fulfillment. If you have a physical store, sell from your own stock alongside Ingram, or want a buffer to handle cancellations, keep the default (manual) setting.

Returns and cancellations¶

Cancelling an order after it has been dispatched¶

Once an order has been dispatched to Ingram via CDF Lite, the window to cancel it is very narrow. Ingram's fulfillment process is fully automated on their end — orders begin processing immediately after they are received.

The only way to cancel a dispatched order is to contact Ingram's customer support directly and request a cancellation before the order ships. There is no way to cancel from within Shopify or the Emersoft Books app once the dispatch request has been sent.

When contacting Ingram, have the Purchase Order Number ready — see Finding the Purchase Order Number for how to locate it in the Shopify order timeline.

If you need a cancellation buffer

If your customers regularly request cancellations or changes after ordering, keep Shopify's fulfillment setting on Don't fulfill automatically. This gives you time to review orders before requesting fulfillment. Once you click Request fulfillment, contact Ingram immediately if a cancellation is needed.

Returns¶

Ingram accepts returns on orders fulfilled through CDF Lite, but does not refund the full amount paid for the book. Return terms — including restocking fees and eligible return conditions — are set by Ingram and may vary. Contact your Ingram account manager or Ingram customer support for the specific return policy that applies to your account.

When a customer returns a book, you will need to handle the refund to your customer through Shopify as normal. The credit from Ingram is a separate process between you and Ingram.

Test your CDF Lite setup with a test buy¶

Before going live with customers, we strongly recommend placing a test order on your own store. This confirms your CDF Lite account is fully active and correctly configured — credit card connected to Ingram, account approved, and order routing working end to end.

We have seen cases where merchants received their CDF Lite credentials from Ingram but orders did not go through because the account was not yet fully activated or a payment method had not been added to the Ingram account.

How to run a test buy¶

Import a book from the catalog. Make sure the GetBooks Stock Management location is included on the product and has stock showing.
Publish the product to your Online Store (set status to Active and add it to your sales channel).
Open your storefront and add the book to your cart.
Go through the normal Shopify checkout using your own shipping address — the address where you want Ingram to ship the test copy.
Complete the order.

The order will be dispatched to Ingram automatically. You should receive a tracking number within 1–2 business days as Ingram processes and ships the order.

If the fulfillment fails or you do not receive a tracking update, contact support — the Emersoft team can check the fulfillment logs and identify whether the issue is with the credentials, account activation, or payment method on the Ingram side.

How orders route to Ingram¶

When a customer places an order on your Shopify store:

Shopify creates the order and assigns fulfillment to the location where stock is held.
If the product is assigned to the GetBooks Stock Management location, Emersoft Books picks up the order automatically.
The app sends a fulfillment request to Ingram via the CDF Lite API.
Ingram confirms receipt of the request.
Ingram ships the order and returns tracking information.
The app writes the tracking number and carrier to the Shopify order.
Shopify sends the customer a shipping notification (if your store notifications are enabled).

The whole process is automatic. You do not need to log in to any Ingram portal or take any action on individual orders.

Inventory sync frequency¶

The app keeps stock counts at the GetBooks Stock Management location current using two methods:

Scheduled checks every 8 hours (3 times a day) — The app automatically checks stock levels for any product that is:

Active in your Shopify store
Using GetBooks Stock Management as its fulfilment location
Showing fewer than 10 units in stock

Low-stock titles are checked on this schedule because they are the most likely to go out of stock between orders. Titles with comfortable stock levels are updated via Ingram's regular data feed.

Cart and checkout checks — Stock is also verified in real time when a customer adds a book to their cart and again just before checkout. This catches any stock changes that occurred since the last scheduled sync, reducing the chance of an order being placed for a title that has just gone out of stock.

Checking fulfillment status¶

In Shopify Admin, open the order to see its current status. Fulfillment status flows through standard Shopify order statuses:

Status	Meaning
Unfulfilled	Order received, awaiting dispatch to Ingram
In progress	Fulfillment request sent to Ingram
Fulfilled	Ingram has shipped the order — tracking is attached

Finding the Purchase Order Number¶

Every order dispatched to Ingram by the app is assigned a Purchase Order (PO) number. PO numbers created by Emersoft Books always start with the prefix EMER_ (for example, EMER_12345).

You will need this number any time you contact Ingram or Emersoft support about a specific order.

How to find it:

Open the order in Shopify Admin > Orders.
Scroll to the bottom of the page to the order timeline.
Find the entry that reads "Emersoft Books App accepted the request for fulfilment of X items".
Click the chevron icon (›) next to that entry — the row expands to show additional details.
Look for the Message section — the PO number is listed there.

Checking orders in Ingram iPage

Every order dispatched via CDF Lite also appears in your Ingram iPage account, searchable by PO number. Use iPage if you need to track an order's progress on the Ingram side or follow up directly with Ingram.

Out-of-stock books and backorders¶

If a book shows zero stock in the GetBooks Stock Management location, you can still sell it. Ingram accepts backorders — when the book becomes available again, Ingram ships it and the app updates the Shopify order with tracking. Shopify then notifies your customer automatically, exactly the same as a standard fulfilled order.

To keep selling an out-of-stock book:

Open the product in Shopify Admin > Products.
Enable Continue selling when out of stock on the product page.
Leave the book active on your sales channels.

The order will route to Ingram as a backorder. Your customer receives their book when stock is restored — no manual intervention needed on your end.

Backorder cancellation window

By default, Ingram will hold a backorder for up to 90 days before automatically cancelling it. You can adjust this in CDF Lite Settings. Ingram recommends keeping standard in-print backorders at 30 days or less. Pre-orders for not-yet-published titles are exempt from this limit.

What happens if a fulfillment request fails¶

In some cases a fulfillment request may be declined outright — for example, if a title has been permanently discontinued by the publisher (not just temporarily out of stock).

When this happens:

The app marks the fulfillment as failed.
You receive an email notification with the order number and the reason.
The order in Shopify is flagged for manual review.

You will need to contact the customer and decide how to proceed — cancelling the item, offering a substitute, or sourcing the title elsewhere. If you need to follow up with Ingram or Emersoft support, have the Purchase Order Number ready — see Finding the Purchase Order Number.

Orders with mixed fulfillment¶

If a customer orders multiple items, some of which are Ingram-fulfilled and some of which are fulfilled from your own stock, Shopify splits the order into separate fulfillments. The Ingram-fulfilled items are dispatched to CDF Lite automatically. The remaining items are fulfilled by you using your normal process.

Ingram availability

Fulfillment depends on Ingram's CDF Lite service being available. In the rare event of an Ingram outage, fulfillment requests will queue and retry automatically. Contact support if you notice orders not progressing after several hours.