{"id":2162,"date":"2025-01-03T16:26:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T16:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/warehousing\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T21:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T21:38:15","slug":"warehousing","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/warehousing\/","title":{"rendered":"Warehousing 101: The Ecommerce Guide to Warehousing Solutions and Logistics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Table of Contents<\/p>

** Minutes<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

What is warehousing?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warehousing vs. storage<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 key ecommerce warehousing operations <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warehousing logistics explained<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 important criteria to choose a warehousing solution<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outsource it all to a leading fulfilment partner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s not the most glamorous aspect of running a business, warehousing is an incredibly important part of your retail supply chain<\/a>. Warehousing and inventory storage<\/a> affect everything from sourcing raw materials and efficiently managing inventory, to getting orders delivered to customers on time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The principles of warehousing have not changed much over the years, but warehousing solutions have evolved a lot. With new technologies, urbanization, and the ever-growing world of online shopping, warehousing has never been a hotter topic \u2014 so much so that there has even been a shortage of warehouse space and on-demand warehousing<\/a> for ecommerce businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn the ins and outs of warehousing and how your warehousing strategy impacts your business.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is warehousing? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Warehousing is the process of storing physical goods or inventory in a warehouse or storage facility before they are sold or distributed.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Warehouses store and protect products in an organised way, making it easy to track an item\u2019s location, as well as when the items arrived, how long the item has been there, and the quantity on hand<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New or smaller businesses typically won\u2019t need a warehouse when they first start out, since they can store their inventory in a home, office, garage, or other smaller space. When they outgrow that space, a business will have to rent space in (or lease) a warehouse, or outsource logistics to a third-party<\/a> and store inventory in that provider\u2019s warehousing facilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In ecommerce warehousing, products are stored until an order is placed online, which triggers the order to be shipped directly to the consumer from the warehouse facility. In retail stores, inventory may be temporarily stored in a warehouse before it\u2019s shipped to a brick and mortar store. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warehousing vs. storage <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The line between warehousing and storage is semantically blurry. Warehouses are for storage, but warehouses specifically store only goods that are intended for selling. As a result, most warehouses are very high-volume and fast-paced environments where products are being moved constantly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage is a broader term, and mostly refers to non-commercial assets and liabilities being put away for safekeeping. Think of a storage unit: people put all the stuff that can no longer fit in their garage into their storage unit because their garage is full. The items they store in the storge unit aren\u2019t usually goods to be sold \u2013 rather, it\u2019s personal items that the owner intends to keep long term.<\/p>\n\n\n

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5 key ecommerce warehousing operations <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you buy something online, it seems like it magically shows up at your home; but before that, it was likely stored in a warehouse. It takes a lot of different ecommerce logistics<\/a> and warehousing activities all working together to get a package to its final destination, so let\u2019s dive deep into some of the most important ones.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Storing inventory <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Storing inventory refers to placing and holding specific products in designated locations. Each SKU you sell should have its own storage spot within your ecommerce warehouse<\/a>. Warehousing and storage make it possible to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n