A modern, tech-enabled 3PL should offer a blend of both tech-enabled services as well as industry-leading solutions that help strengthen your business. One of the most common areas of fulfilment that should always be optimised is the picking and packing process. 

Picking and packing software is used by modern 3PLs like ShipBob to automate and speed up picking and packing without compromising order accuracy. 

Learn more about how order picking software can streamline, optimise, and improve the ecommerce fulfilment process. 

What is order picking software?

Order picking software is designed to help optimise and improve the warehouse picking and packing process. A pick and pack software provides the ability to streamline fulfilment operations, increase order accuracy and ultimately boost customer satisfaction. 

How pick and pack software optimises the ecommerce fulfilment process

Picking and packing is a critical step in the retail fulfilment process. An inefficient process can lead to mispicks, slower fulfilment, and delays in shipping. ShipBob uses a proprietary pick and pack software that optimise the fulfilment process to improve order accuracy, efficiency, and delivery. 

Our proprietary software is used in our entire international fulfilment network, which offers consistency in our operations and also lets customers have a transparent view of what is happening with their inventory in our warehouses. 

“With ShipBob, you see exactly what is picked. You can outsource your fulfilment while still maintaining full control. ShipBob owns the entire stack: inventory and order management system, warehouse management system, and their fulfilment centres.”

Gerard Ecker, Founder & CEO of Ocean & Co.

Here is a quick overview of how ShipBob’s picking and packing tech-enabled process:

Picking: Some 3PLs require you to manually upload orders to their system, but ShipBob makes it easy to integrate your online store with our software. That way, orders are automatically sent to our fulfilment centre(s). As soon as we receive an order, our picking team receives a picking list of the items, quantities, and storage locations at the facility to collect the ordered products from their respective locations.

Packing: When all items in an order have been picked, it’s time to get them securely packed up. ShipBob’s box selection algorithm uses dimensions and your packaging preferences to tell us which package size we should use for any order combination, so your orders will have more consistent fulfilment pricing.

ShipBob continues to invest in technology and warehouse automation to improve our picking and packing process. Here are the top benefits of partnering with a 3PL like ShipBob that offers an optimised picking and packing solution. 

1. Packs orders accurately

Your order accuracy rate is an important metric, as it can be tied to the number of customer support inquiries, bad reviews, and even ecommerce exchanges and returns you receive. It can even deter customers from purchasing from you a second time, decreasing your customer lifetime value and having customer loyalty take a hit.

Most order errors occur during the picking and packing phase. Pick and pack software helps you maintain a high order accuracy rate across all of the orders being fulfilled. It can also help you boost warehouse productivity by making the process easier and more efficient for the picker. 

2. Reduces warehouse operation costs

The warehouse picking process can be expensive given its labour-intensive nature, especially in larger facilities. Pick and pack software lowers overall costs by reducing manual work and increasing productivity. By optimising warehouse operations with a pick and pack software, you cut labour costs associated with the order fulfilment process.

Pick and pack software is designed to keep track of customer orders and generate automated picking lists that help guide your pickers. Investing in a pick and pack software can also assist you in grouping similar orders with nearby inventory to a single picker, which will make the order picking process more accurate and efficient, saving on both costs and time.

3. Boosts customer satisfaction

With the right pick and pack software in place, your customers can expect their orders to be packed properly, correctly and delivered on time. Warehouse picking can directly affect customer satisfaction, as it can be the difference between a shipment that arrives as expected or one that has missing or incorrect items.

Additionally, if it’s taking too much time to pick orders, leading to delayed order fulfilment, some customers will not be pleased with late deliveries and delivery exceptions. It’s important to get this stage of the ecommerce supply chain right, every time.

4. Better internal communications

Pick and pack software can help improve internal communications. By using pick and pack software as a productivity tool, your team can work together to find ways to optimise the picking and packing process.  When your warehouse is set up for less human error, your employees have time to plan new ways to optimise processes, which helps with communication across the organisation.

Get it all & more with ShipBob

ShipBob is a leading 3PL partner that provides picking and packing services for ecommerce brands. Every ShipBob fulfilment distribution centre is powered by our proprietary warehouse management system (WMS), which provides our merchants with visibility into the entire fulfilment process. 

ShipBob owns its entire tech stack, which empowers you with insights into exactly what’s going on in our warehouses, what orders are being picked and packed, where your products are stored, and how many units you have on hand at all times. Here is a closer look at how ShipBob’s modern fulfilment solution benefits your ecommerce business. 

1. Integrated tech

Our proprietary software integrates with leading ecommerce platforms, marketplaces, and ecommerce software to create an end-to-end ecommerce solution. We built our own WMS, which acts as a control centre to compile all fulfilment metrics across all elements of our fulfilment centres.

These integrations automate order management and fulfilment, pushing information from one application to another. This helps reduce human errors associated with manual data entry, as well as picking, packing, and shipping. If you’re looking for a more custom solutions, ShipBob offers Developer API to plug your existing tech stack into our technology.

“We’ve had a long-term partnership with ShipBob, and we’ve seen the improvements and evolution of the technology over the last three years. If you bring them an idea, they will look into it. They are very cutting edge, always looking for the next angle to make their business better while keeping their customers happy.”

Matt Dryfhout, Founder & CEO of BAKblade

2. Faster order processing

Automated order processing refers to the process of automatically syncing orders from a sales channel to ShipBob to be fulfilled in order to reduce manual work and human error, while automating shipping processes. Order picking software goes hand-in-hand with automated order processing, which helps ecommerce businesses significantly increase order management efficiencies and optimise their supply chain. 

As soon as an order is created or imported into your ShipBob dashboard, it is automatically sent to one of our fulfilment centres with your inventory to be fulfilled. We assign orders to our picking team, who receive a picking list of the items, quantities, and storage locations at our facility to procure and count to complete their pick.

“Compared to other warehouses we’ve worked with, ShipBob processes orders so quickly to get them out the door faster. It’s fun to see orders shipping out instantaneously. I love how fast and efficient ShipBob is.”

Harley Abrams, Operations Manager ofSuperSpeed Golf, LLC 

3. Improves accuracy order

ShipBob is also constantly implementing new technology and automation tools to improve order accuracy, such as automated sorting and box selection algorithms that use dimensions and your packaging preferences to tell us which package size to use for any order combination to provide consistent, predictable fulfilment pricing and a good customer experience.

ShipBob customers can upload photos of their products for the picking and packing teams to see and validate upon fulfilment to reduce the possibility of an order being picked or shipped the wrong way. You can even edit an order in ShipBob until it is picked in the event that a customer wants to change something after they place their order. 

“We can see our orders come in and get fulfilled in real-time without any hiccups for the most part, which is great. Our fulfilment is on autopilot. ShipBob saves us so much effort, and the opportunity cost savings has been substantial.”

Yannick Crespo, Co-Founder & President of Pot d’Huile

In addition to focusing on achieving a high order accuracy rate, we also closely measure ‘support cases per order,’ which is a bigger indicator on how well we’re performing as your logistics partner.

4. Streamlines warehouse management

ShipBob’s fulfilment centres are optimised to streamline warehouse management and efficiently fulfil orders by using proven methods such as batch picking. The efficiencies we gain can be passed back on to the customer in the form of cost-savings. 

ShipBob’s pick and pack software tracks everything — from how many orders per hour a picker can pick to how long it takes to receive, count, and stow new inventory that arrives — to identify opportunities for improvement and share real-time fulfilment status updates with merchants. 

For customers that split inventory across multiple locations, our 3PL software algorithm automatically selects the fulfilment centre with available inventory that’s closest to the end customer for a shorter transit time.

“Off the bat, I liked that I would be able to control multiple warehouses through one page with ShipBob. With my old 3PL, I could never just open a page and get the info I wanted. I had to click several times, then export it, and try to make sense of it. ShipBob lets you manage your inventory while providing important data in a very digestible way.”

Wes Brown, Head of Operations atBlack Claw LLC

Get ShipBob’s WMS

ShipBob has a best-in-class warehouse management system (WMS) for brands that have their own warehouse and need help managing inventory in real time, reducing picking, packing, and shipping errors, and scaling with ease.

With ShipBob’s WMS, brands with their own warehouse can even leverage ShipBob’s fulfilment services in any of ShipBob’s fulfilment centres across the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia to improve cross-border shipping, reduce costs, and speed up deliveries.

Request WMS pricing here.

Partner with ShipBob

ShipBob’s industry-leading pick and pack software caters to all your order fulfilment needs with unmatched accuracy, transparency, and efficiency. With ShipBob, your business can save on shipping costs, enjoy faster delivery times, and provide your customers with a great experience.
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Order picking software FAQs

Here are some of the most common questions ecommerce businesses have about order picking software.

How does pick and pack software work?

When pick and pack software is integrated with an ecommerce platform, it enables orders being placed to automatically be sent to a fulfilment centre’s picking team. A picking list is automatically generated and items ordered can be picked and packed faster. 

How does order picking software improve efficiency?

Order picking software improves efficiency by automatically sending orders to where inventory is stored. A picking lists is generated, which includes details of every item and where they are stored in the warehouse. This makes it easy for the picker to locate the right items faster while reducing the chance of a mispick. 

How does pick and pack software automate the order fulfilment process?

Pick and pack software integrates with ecommerce platforms and marketplaces, which allows orders coming in from multiple sales channels to be automatically sent to a warehouse or fulfilment centre where inventory is stored. That way, the picking and process can begin as soon as possible. 

How do you outsource pick and pack software?

When you outsource the picking and packing process to a tech-enabled 3PL like ShipBob, advanced pick and pack software is used to optimise the fulfilment process. This allows you to improve your fulfilment process without the need to invest in your own order picking software.