Pick and Pack Fulfillment: An Ecommerce Brand’s Guide
Nothing defines business success like orders flowing. But increased order volume is only one half of the battle for retailers. The other half? How they get those orders off the shelves and onto their customers’ doorsteps.
Though the size, shape, and weight of packages vary, efficient pick and pack product fulfillment comes down to the people, places, and processes involved. Merchants that aren’t optimizing their pick and pack fulfillment strategy will fall behind when it comes to delivering customer satisfaction.
Plus, recent economic challenges have weighed heavy on the cost of fulfillment, adding to declining cost savings.
Findings in a 2024 Warehousing Services Pricing and Fulfillment Costs Survey showed escalating costs from 2022 to 2024, based on eight years of research from survey participants who know fulfillment—warehouse operators. Average minimum monthly requirements increased in 2024, while pick and pack pricing rose per single-item order, with B2B fulfillment costs increasing over 10 percent.
As ecommerce and omnichannel retailers search for cost savings, the more fulfillment pricing increases, the harder it is for businesses to remain competitive. But, with the right pick and pack fulfillment approach, businesses can ensure profitability (and a stellar customer experience!) with every order.
Getting Ahead Through Pick and Pack Fulfillment
When you own a small retail business, part of your work week is dedicated to finding ways to free up cash and hold off spending. Sure, it would be nice to have a financial cushion for a rainy-day fund or to invest more in product development.
DIY fulfillment may come to mind, but for every reason you might think it’s a sound idea, there are 10 other reasons why it’s better to work with a partner with expertise in pack and pick fulfillment operations.
Here’s what’s really involved.
Pick and pack fulfillment is a segment of the larger ecommerce order fulfillment process. From the moment a customer places an order, a warehouse operator is alerted and responds by picking the requested items from where they’re stored and packing them into a box or package ready for shipment.
The process can be handled directly by the brand (if the product is stored at their own site). However, by partnering with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, pick and pack fulfillment is more than a process—it’s a strategic cost savings and efficiency solution.
The Logistics of Pick and Pack Fulfillment
If you haven’t had the chance to wander through a dedicated ecommerce fulfillment facility, it’s a bustling sight. The location of each packing station sits close to industrial drive aisles, giving warehouse operators plenty of room to transport the packed items onto trucks once fulfillment is complete. High-volume SKUs are likely stored closest to warehouse entry and exit points too.
Pick and pack fulfillment station placement is well thought out, adhering to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) guidelines to protect workers, contractors, business owners, and the integrity of stored products.
The health and safety regulations assure ecommerce retailers and omnichannel businesses their products are handled, packed, and shipped hassle- and damage-free.
Picking and packing the way it was meant to be includes:
- Order received
- Order picked
- Order packed
- Order shipped
Seems simple enough, but not all picking and packing facilities process the same way or use warehouse management technologies to streamline systems and autogenerate packing slips. Missteps can happen.
Why Picking and Packing Efficiency Impacts Ecommerce
For retailers, targeted advertising, social media campaigns, and word-of-mouth marketing ensure sales are skyrocketing. But the ecommerce retail story doesn’t end there. Picking, packing, and shipping efficiency are the next phase in retelling that same retail success story. And when customer expectations are met, they share that story again and again.
For example, take peak shopping season. Ecommerce and omnichannel businesses rely on picking and packing to move product quickly, making room for more inventory over the busiest time of the year. Operational inefficiencies in the warehouse put production, profitability, customer experiences, and brands at risk.
Don’t Forget the Details: 5 Tips for Pick and Pack Fulfillment Success
1. Leverage Multinode Fulfillment
Depending on a brand’s anticipated sales volume, a single order fulfillment center may not be enough. Multiple facilities can be used for pick and pack fulfillment to help shave off transit time allowing quicker delivery to the end customer.
2. Manage Inventory Systematically
Workers pick faster when inventory is stored and itemized systematically. For order lists with multiple products or from different retailers or wholesalers, fulfillment may involve picking from many warehouse zones.
3. Pay Attention to DIM Weight
Product type, size and weight will carry a recommended packing method to prevent breakage, damage, and spoilage to the individual product, and others, if shipped in the same box or package. Bubble wrap, foam, inserts, and other buffering materials are added during the packing process to ensure safe handling and delivery.
4. Communication Is Key
Customers want a positive order fulfillment experience, though it falls on the retailer and their logistics partners to deliver on that expectation. To achieve that goal requires heightened attention to details, assessing speed, fluidity, and follow through of each order fulfillment step.
Communication between ecommerce retailers and their fulfillment partners helps uncover and address concerns about picking and packing, allowing time to identify cost savings through alternative packing materials and shipping methods.
5. Stay Ahead of Retail Requirements
Some retail brands have specific requirements in picking, packing, labeling, and returns. Order fulfillment centers and 3PLs are increasingly relying on software to integrate those guidelines and other requirements into the fulfillment process.
Preferred Picking and Packing Methods
Whether your brand is a start-up or well-established, picking and packing fulfillment methods are better when tailor-fit to your needs.
With more product volume moved, picking and packing works best when it’s organized and orchestrated like a well-oiled machine.
Here’s an overview of picking and packing options:
- Piece Picking – picking and packing done one order at a time.
- Batch Picking – picking and packing groupings of orders at the same time.
- Zone Picking – picking and packing partial orders by warehouse zone, until the last product in the order is picked and packed to completion.
- Wave Picking – picking and packing batch orders within one zone, then passed on to other zones where batch picking and packing continues.
- Customized Packing – provides a perfect opportunity to boost customer loyalty, engage cost- and environmental-efficiencies, or promote the benefits of a specific brand.
- Kitting. A product requiring the packing and shipment of multiple pieces or components per order adds more layers to the process. Each piece is picked and accounted for, and there are more steps to box preparation, filling, labeling, sealing, and strapping.
- Bundling. For fulfillment orders with multiple products, 3PLs and customers alike can use bundling to help offset packing and logistics costs, by reducing labor and material costs, and ship goods in a single box.
- Brand awareness. By including your brand logo on packing materials, order fulfillment moves from generic to a full-circle brand experience.
- Upsell/promos. Customers like being rewarded for their brand loyalty. Whether it’s their first order or an auto-ship, adding a marketing insert during packing that includes a QR code can direct them to other products or discount offerings.
As ecommerce and omnichannel businesses consider picking and packing options, their choices also play a role in shipping costs. Dimensional weight pricing (DIM weight) sets shipping prices by package volume, determined by the space a package requires compared to its weight.
When It’s Time to Outsource Pick and Pack Fulfillment
As your business gains momentum and sales volumes increase, expanding your fulfillment network could be on the horizon. But it’s hard to tell when that point arrives. A professional order fulfillment partner can help streamline your pick and pack fulfillment strategy, providing scalable solutions that make sense.
ShippingTree is a reliable, user-friendly, one-stop resource serving ecommerce and omnichannel retailers and wholesalers across the U.S.
To find picking and packing solutions designed to fit your order fulfillment needs, chat with an expert today.
