Pick And Packing- The Secret Weapon Every eCommerce Business Needs

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You've built an online store, but now you're realizing your order fulfillment needs are growing. You need to hire more people and build a warehouse! This is the last thing you want to do, but it's inevitable. The question then becomes: how can I make this process as efficient as possible? Read on for tips on how to pick and pack orders quickly with minimal labor.

What Is Pick And Pack?

The two magical words pick and pack look simpler but play an essential role in delivering a product. Pick refers to picking required products from the warehouse, and pack refers to packing the product before dispatch. When an order is received from the buyer, the seller directs it to the pick and pack fulfillment services, generating a picking slip. This picking slip typically consists of the list of products to be picked from the warehouse.

Once the products are picked, they are sent for packing, and the packing section takes care of the proper packing required for the product. Only after packing, the product is ready to be dispatched or shipped. In simple words, pick, pack, and ship are the three essential steps involved in delivering the product to the destination.

What Is The Role Of Fulfillment Services?

Fulfillment services are one of the main requirements of inventory management. Whenever a product is taken from the warehouse, that particular quantity has to be refilled by the seller. So, fulfillment is nothing but supplying the amount. Proper management of stock levels will enable the delivery of the products as required by the customer without much delay.

Why Is Pick And Pack So Important?

People don't accept a fact very quickly. They feel that picking and packing is a simple task and does not require much talent to manage. Indeed, picking and packing is a simple task, but only for an experienced and talented professional staff. Since Amazon Fulfilment services are fully automatized and programmed, everything happens systematically. Pick and pack play a significant role as they can make or take the business.

Moreover, the amazon pick and pack fee are also nominal. But by following some tips, even this task can be mastered. Following are some of the recommendations required in the pick and pack task:

Thorough Study

Whenever an order is received, the full content should be thoroughly studied, and then the appropriate product should be picked or warehouse. For this, the concerned staff should be aware of the complete warehouse. A pick and pack warehouse setup should be maintained neatly, as picking the products will be easier if the products are arranged neatly. The concerned staff should be able to identify the right product.

Proper Handling 

The products should be adequately handled as any damage to the product is a mere loss to the seller. A damaged product cannot be sent to the buyer, damaging the seller's reputation and the functional eCommerce website. The buyer may not be interested in transacting again on the eCommerce website.

Quantity Check

The concerned person should check about the quantity ordered and pick the products accordingly. Suppose a buyer orders three frocks and the concerned staff by oversight picks only two and dispatches them; it will become a blunder. The order should be executed only if the required product and quantity are available. In case of shortage, the number of products should be refilled by the seller.

Proper Packing Of A Single Product

 Packing of products should be done based on the size and shape of the product. Appropriate packing material should be used while packing. This minimizes the cost incurred on packing the product. While packing, it has to be ensured that the product is not damaged. Proper packing is required if the product has to be despatched. It safeguards the product and makes it easy to carry the product. After good packing, the invoice has to be stuck on the cover of the pack.

Climatic Conditions

 Since delivery charges are collected from the buyer, the concerned staff's prime duty is to ensure that the product is packed so that it withstands climatic conditions. All the efforts are wasted if the products reach the destination in a bad and damaged state.

Packing Required For Various Destinations

Since eCommerce websites can be accessed from everywhere in the world (provided appropriate internet services are available), the seller can expect orders from any part of the world. In such a case, the products have to be dispatched in a planned way. By doing this, the expense incurred on the shipping of products can be minimized. The products to be dispatched in a particular area can be packed as a single carton or box and dispatched to a local dispatching unit, where they segregate the individual packs and distribute them accordingly.

Pick and Packaging Methods

There are various methods of picking and packing products. A knowledge about pick and packing methods will help in minimizing the stress involved in doing all such tasks. There are 4 picking methods namely- piece picking, batch picking, zone picking and wave picking. The choice of picking method depends on the nature and size of business.  A brief explanation about these will help in taking appropriate decision regarding picking.

Piece picking : Picking of product is done based on single picking list.  The picker picks all the items ordered on the list and then send them for packing section.

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Batch picking: Here, picking is done based on a group of orders. The similar products demanded (stored in a same area of the warehouse) in all the orders are picked at a time and then sent for packing.  This method proves to be good as it saves time and energy of the picker.

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Zone picking:  Normally, a warehouse contains lots of products that are placed in different locations. If the warehouse is very big, then zone picking may prove to be time saving.  Whenever an order is received, the picker picks the products in their zone and pass it off to the other zone for other products. Finally all the products are sent to packing section.  This way time spent on searching of products can be avoided. There should be co-ordination between the pickers of various zones.  Only then this method will work successfully.

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Wave picking: This is a combination of batch picking and zone picking.

Conclusion

Picking and packing is a simple task, but only for an experienced and talented professional staff. Since Amazon Fulfilment services are fully automatized and programmed, everything happens systematically. Pick and pack play a significant role as they can make or take the business.

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Let Simpl handle your pick and packing needs so you can focus on what matters most to grow your company! Contact us today to find out how we’ve helped other businesses in similar situations get more sales with less effort by leveraging our years of experience picking & packing products around the world.

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