{"id":755,"date":"2020-09-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/blog\/order-filling\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T21:11:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T21:11:27","slug":"order-filling","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/blog\/order-filling\/","title":{"rendered":"Order Filling Tips + Technology for Faster Shipping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Table of Contents<\/p>

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

What is order filling?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order filling process in 5 steps<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 tips to improve order filling<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Handle order filling in your own warehouse?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How 3PLs automate your order filling process<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have your own warehouse?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

What do you want to learn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Fill Orders<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Improve the Fulfilment Process <\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Request Fulfilment Pricing from ShipBob<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> has effectively advanced ecommerce by an estimated 5-15 years. The move from in-store to online has led to great demand for ecommerce warehousing<\/a> space and related operations jobs. With this change, came a learning curve for many businesses that weren\u2019t used to packing and shipping orders to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efficient order filling is one of the biggest factors that goes into sustainable ecommerce growth. Having the right processes in place to fill orders accurately and quickly can make the customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an inefficient order filling process, fulfilment costs<\/a> can add up, customers can grow frustrated or disappointed, and it can even reduce your customer lifetime value<\/a> (LTV) significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you start to see a higher volume of orders, the order filling process can become more complex and time-consuming. Fortunately, there are ways to improve order filling efficiencies to speed up the process while minimising errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll go over the entire order filling process and share tips on how to optimise the order filling process for faster shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is order filling?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n


<\/a>\nOrder filling refers to the tasks completed by an order filler, including receiving and stowing inventory, picking and packing boxes, and getting orders shipped out from a distribution centre<\/a> or warehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order filling process in 5 steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot more that goes into the order filling process than just packing an order and shipping it out the door. An order filler can be involved in every step of the order fulfilment<\/a> process, from receiving inventory to picking and retrieving items, or be highly specialized in one particular area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If all steps of the order filling process aren\u2019t completed accurately, the order won\u2019t arrive according to how the customer was expecting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the top five steps required to fill an order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Warehouse receives inventory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You cannot fill orders without ecommerce inventory<\/a>. A supplier, manufacturer, or ecommerce brand must ship the required products to your warehouse, where staff will receive the shipment(s). The term \u2018receiving\u2019 refers to the acceptance of incoming inventory to be stored before it\u2019s sold. During this step, an order filler will make sure that all the items that were sent have arrived and are in good condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you work with a third-party logistics<\/a> (3PL) company like ShipBob, they will have their own process in place to ensure all inventory is accounted for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, ShipBob requires merchants to fill out a Warehouse Receiving Order<\/a> (WRO) and affix the proper labels to each box. This helps them know what to expect ahead of time and to speed up the receiving process while managing inventory for thousands of customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Warehouse stocks inventory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this stage, the products are stocked on the warehouse shelves containing other units of the same SKU<\/a>, as each unique product must have a separate dedicated storage location (or batches of products that require lot storage for expiration dates or in the case of a product recall).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common inventory storage<\/a> locations include a shelf, bin, or pallet. Proper warehousing<\/a> is one of the most important parts of filling an order correctly, and items must be stored in the proper conditions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cShipBob provides the storage conditions we need to ensure our highest-quality food products are stored and delivered to our customers in a safe and effective manner.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pablo Gabatto, Business Operations Manager at Ample Foods<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

3. Items are located and picked<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once an order is placed on your store, the warehouse picking process<\/a> begins. An order filler will locate the item(s) so the entire order can be packed in the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ShipBob\u2019s a tech-enabled 3PL, so their proprietary warehouse management system<\/a> (WMS) automatically assigns similar orders with inventory in the same area of the warehouse to the same picker to reduce the number of steps required to pick orders for a more efficient workflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A picking list<\/a> is automatically generated, which includes the items ordered, quantity, and where each product is located in the fulfilment centre<\/a>. Each unit that\u2019s picked is scanned from the inventory container so inventory counts are updated in real-time, providing up-to-date stock levels for merchants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The order is securely packed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When all items in an order have been picked, the next step is to securely pack them and add the shipping label<\/a>. All items should be shipped in the same package if possible to avoid a split shipment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At ShipBob, for example, standard packing materials \u2014 including brown boxes, plain bubble mailers and poly bags<\/a>, packing tape, and dunnage<\/a> \u2014 are included at no extra cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We choose the best packing materials for each order to both protect your products and achieve the lowest practical dimensional weight<\/a>. We also allow our clients to use custom packing materials<\/a> to put their brand front and centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cShipBob should be top of mind for ecommerce companies experiencing growth, so they can focus on brand and design instead of packing boxes. I know ShipBob can remain a partner of ours as we grow even more \u2014 from expanding into additional fulfilment centres and distributing our inventory across the country to utilising more of their capabilities \u2014 all while maintaining that partner feel.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carl Protsch, Co-Founder of FLEO<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

5. Orders are shipped out<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The last step of filling orders is to ship the order out for delivery. For small brands self-fulfilling orders<\/a>, this means multiple trips to the post office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By outsourcing fulfilment<\/a>, you won\u2019t have to worry about shipping orders yourself as a 3PL partners with major shipping couriers to negotiate shipping rates and have them pick up packages daily sorted by each shipping service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shipping couriers handle the last-mile delivery<\/a> process, most often by truck or air shipping. You\u2019ll want to make sure you have proper order tracking<\/a> set up on your store, so customers can follow along on the progress of their deliveries.
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe love that ShipBob actually operates its fulfilment centres \u2014 they know their operations and they are very clear about it. ShipBob having multiple locations was also huge for us. Keeping our inventory in Chicago and Los Angeles has brought cost savings since we ship from the locations that are closest to the customer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courtney Lee, founder of Prymal<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

6 tips to improve order filling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Optimising the order filling process is crucial to increase supply chain efficiency<\/a>. Here are some tips on how to improve order filling for your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Organise inventory mindfully<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When organising your inventory, keep in mind that the items will have to be picked later for filling orders. Thus, you should organise your inventory in a way that makes it easy to locate the desire items (e.g., by stocking frequently ordered together items near one another).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Set up picking routes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Picking routes help order the order picker to find the required goods. The routes are set up keeping the zone, the height of the locations, and safety regulation in mind. These routes help the warehouse picker determine which direction to drive the delivery vehicle in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Maintain accurate inventory data with the right tech<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to know your inventory counts to avoid running out of items or over-spending on inventory you can\u2019t sell. For example, ShipBob helps businesses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n