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¶
CDF Lite fulfillment can be connected in one of two ways — Emersoft's master CDF Lite account (the plug-and-play default for newer and smaller booksellers) or your own Ingram CDF Lite account (an option for larger booksellers who want a direct commercial relationship with Ingram). Both give you identical behavior inside the app. See Requirements — CDF Lite fulfillment account for the full comparison and First Steps — Step 1 for the connection walkthrough.
When the app is installed, a location called Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram 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.
Option B setup timeline
If you're connecting your own CDF Lite account, Ingram's application process typically takes up to 2 weeks. Catalog search and importing work immediately while you wait — automated fulfillment goes live once your credentials are issued and connected. If you're using Emersoft's master account, there's no waiting period.
Add shipping rates before going live
You must add shipping rates for the Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram 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 the setup walkthrough, and Shipping Methods & Carriers for the full method-to-carrier reference.
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 & Cancellations for the full reference.
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 Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram 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¶
Canceling an order after it has been dispatched, and handling customer returns, are covered on their own page:
At a glance:
- Canceling a dispatched order — very narrow window. Call Ingram customer support directly; the Emersoft Books app cannot cancel once the order is sent.
- Consumer returns — typically under 2% of CDF orders. Two options: Bulk Returns (customer sends to you, you consolidate to Ingram) or Ingram Direct Returns ($1.25/unit, customer sends straight to Ingram).
- Credit — Ingram credits trade titles at 48% off list price back to your Ingram account. You refund your customer through Shopify on your own terms — the two flows are independent.
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 Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram 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 Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram 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.
Ingram's fulfillment network¶
Understanding a little about Ingram's infrastructure makes it easier to set realistic expectations for your customers on delivery timing.
Same-day shipment cutoff¶
Orders Ingram receives by 10:00 AM local DC time — for both stocked titles and print-on-demand (POD) titles — are allocated to ship the same day. Orders that arrive after that cutoff ship the following business day.
Because the cutoff is in the fulfilling DC's local time, the effective cutoff in your customer's timezone depends on which DC their order routes to (see below). A 10:00 AM cutoff at a Pennsylvania DC is 7:00 AM on the US West Coast, for example.
Distribution centers¶
Ingram fulfills CDF orders from four physical DCs and two print-on-demand facilities, and routes each order to the DC closest to the customer's shipping zip code for the fastest and cheapest delivery:
| Facility | Location | Handles |
|---|---|---|
| LaVergne, TN | Tennessee | Stocked inventory + POD printing |
| Ft. Wayne, IN | Indiana | Stocked inventory (and Returns Center) |
| Chambersburg, PA | Pennsylvania | Stocked inventory + POD printing |
| Roseburg, OR | Oregon | Stocked inventory |
POD titles are produced on demand at the LaVergne and Chambersburg facilities and ship together with any stocked items that have been allocated alongside them.
By default, each customer order is fulfilled from a single DC. If you prefer to allow orders to split across multiple DCs (which can speed up delivery when items are stocked in different locations), enable Allow Split Orders Across Distribution Centers in CDF Lite Settings — the tradeoff is that your customer may receive multiple packages for a single order.
Customer support boundary¶
Ingram operates a "Tier II" B2B support model for CDF Lite. That means:
- Ingram's support team works with you (the bookseller) on order-level questions, tracking lookups, stock availability, and returns.
- Ingram will not interact directly with your end customers. Your customer's support relationship is with your store, not with Ingram.
In practice, if a customer contacts you about a late shipment or a missing book, you reach out to Ingram support on their behalf and relay the answer back. Have the Purchase Order Number ready — see Finding the Purchase Order Number.
Customer data retention¶
Ingram retains consumer shipping information (name, address) only as long as it's needed to ship and support the order. All consumer data is deleted 40 days after shipment. If you need to look up historical order details with Ingram, do so within that 40-day window — after that, Ingram no longer has the record.
Routing existing orders to Ingram¶
You can send orders that were placed before a product was linked to Ingram — for example, an order for a title that wasn't in your catalog at the time, or one originally assigned to your own stock that you'd now prefer Ingram to ship — by changing the order's fulfillment location to Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram.
Prerequisites¶
- The product must exist in your Shopify store and have Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram in its inventory locations. Books imported through Emersoft Books get this automatically. Books that already existed in your Shopify store before you installed the app need to be enriched first — see Enriching an existing catalog.
- The order must still be Unfulfilled. Already-fulfilled orders cannot be redirected.
Steps¶
- Confirm the product on the order is enriched and that Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram appears as one of its inventory locations in Shopify Admin > Products.
- Open the order in Shopify Admin > Orders.
- Edit the fulfillment line and change its Location to Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram.
- Save the change.
- Click Request fulfillment on the order. Emersoft Books picks it up and dispatches it to Ingram, the same as any other CDF Lite order — tracking syncs back to the Shopify order once Ingram ships.
The Emersoft team can handle this for you
If you have a backlog of unfulfilled orders that need to be enriched and re-routed, contact support — the team can run the enrichment and walk through the order updates with you.
Inventory sync frequency¶
The app keeps stock counts at the Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram 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 Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram as its fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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 Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram 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 canceling it. You can adjust this in CDF Lite Settings. Ingram recommends keeping standard in-print backorders at 30 days or less.
Pre-orders and the order's cancel date
The 90-day backorder window is a per-line setting and is separate from the order's cancel date. Under the default LS – Dual Shipment order type, any pre-order whose publication date falls after the order's cancel date will be canceled — even if it's flagged as not-yet-released. To keep pre-orders alive past the cancel date, see Order Types & Pre-orders for how the order type, cancel date, and account-level release rules interact.
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 — canceling 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.
CDF Lite pricing (Option B)¶
If you're on Option B — using your own Ingram CDF Lite account — Ingram invoices you directly. The full pricing reference, including per-order fees, trade-discount classes, returns credit, and worked margin examples, lives on its own page:
At a glance:
- Pick and pack — $0.70 per unit, capped at $4.00 per line of the same title.
- Freight — UPS / USPS / DHL published rates, no markup.
- Trade discount — 40% off list on standard trade titles; Short / Long / Net titles follow the feed.
- Returns credit — 48% off list on trade titles (plus $1.25/unit for Ingram Direct Returns).
Option A customers
On Option A (Emersoft's master CDF Lite account) you are not billed by Ingram directly — CDF costs are included in your Emersoft Books subscription. The pricing page is informational only.