9 min read
1. Start with a clean order and accurate stock
A good delivery starts before anyone touches a box. Import the paid order into your fulfilment workflow and verify the customer’s address, postcode, country, ordered SKUs, quantities and promised delivery date. Hold orders with missing address details or unresolved payment issues rather than sending them blindly. Reserve stock so the same unit cannot be sold twice across channels.
Keep one reliable inventory record for each SKU, including its location, available quantity, dimensions, weight and any special handling requirements. If you sell the same product through Shopify, Amazon and your own store, synchronise stock across channels and distinguish available stock from units already reserved or in transit.
Set a daily dispatch cut-off that matches your actual packing capacity and carrier collection time. An order placed after the cut-off should have a realistic next dispatch date. Communicate exceptions early rather than promising delivery dates your team cannot meet.
2. Pick the right items before you start packing
Generate a pick list showing each SKU, quantity and storage location. For a small operation, pick one order at a time; as volume increases, group orders by zone or use batch picking with separate labelled totes for each order. Scan product barcodes where possible, or use a second check before sealing the parcel.
Check the item’s condition, size, colour and variant against the order. For products with expiry dates or batch numbers, apply the relevant stock rotation rules and record traceability information where required. Do not substitute an item without customer approval.
Reusable plastic totes are especially useful for keeping multiple orders separated between picking and packing stations. They can circulate inside the warehouse without becoming part of the parcel delivered to a customer. That distinction matters: reusable equipment needs a viable return loop, while most direct-to-consumer orders travel one way.
3. Choose packaging for the goods, not just the order value
Choose the smallest suitable outer packaging that protects the product without compressing it. Measure the actual item, allowing room for cushioning and any accessories. Use a mailer for flexible, non-fragile goods, a correctly rated corrugated carton for most parcels and suitable protective inserts or dividers for fragile items. For liquids, assess leakage risk and carrier restrictions; for batteries, aerosols or other potentially regulated goods, check the applicable transport rules and carrier acceptance before shipping.
Prevent movement inside the carton, protect corners and keep heavy items from crushing lighter ones. Close the parcel securely using suitable tape or closures. If reusing a shipping carton, check its structural condition and remove old shipping labels and barcodes. Reuse is not a substitute for adequate protection.
For repeated business-to-business transfers — for example, replenishing stores from a central warehouse — reusable crates or collapsible pallet boxes can be practical. Check load limits, stackability, cleaning, return collection and how empty containers will be tracked. Compare those costs with single-use packaging before switching.
4. Measure the finished parcel and compare shipping options
Weigh and measure the parcel after packing, including the outer carton and cushioning. Carriers may charge on actual weight or dimensional weight, whichever is higher, depending on their service and contract. Compare prices using the finished parcel dimensions, not just the product weight.
For illustration, a 40 × 30 × 20 cm carton has a volume of 24,000 cm³. If a carrier uses a dimensional divisor of 5,000 cm³/kg, its dimensional weight is 4.8 kg. A parcel weighing 2 kg could therefore be billed at 4.8 kg or a rounded value under that carrier’s rules. Divisors, rounding and surcharges vary: always use the actual tariff.
Choose a service that matches the delivery promise, destination, tracking needs, parcel dimensions and product restrictions. Compare the total cost, including fuel or remote-area surcharges, insurance or declared-value coverage, failed delivery charges and return fees. A cheap label is not necessarily the cheapest completed delivery.
5. Prepare accurate labels and dispatch documents
Create the shipping label from the verified order record, then check the destination, sender address and service. Place the label on a flat visible surface without folding it over an edge or covering the barcode with reflective tape. Keep the label linked to the correct order and tracking number.
For cross-border shipments, determine whether customs documentation is required. Where applicable, prepare accurate product descriptions, tariff classification, origin, declared value and commercial invoice information; check who pays import charges and whether the carrier can handle the destination. A shipment within the EU and a shipment leaving the EU do not necessarily have the same requirements. Special territories and regulated goods may need additional checks.
Include a packing slip or return instructions when appropriate. Do not include unnecessary personal or commercial information on external documents. Record the dispatch scan or collection manifest so you have evidence that the parcel was handed to the carrier.
6. If you sell on Amazon, distinguish FBA from FBM
With Fulfilment by Merchant (FBM), you or your fulfilment partner prepare and dispatch individual customer orders. Follow the delivery promise, tracking requirements and return processes applicable to your Amazon marketplace. With Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), you prepare inventory for an Amazon fulfilment centre, and Amazon handles eligible customer-order fulfilment after the inventory is received. These are different shipments with different preparation rules.
Before buying inventory, check whether the product is eligible for your account and marketplace, estimate the full cost of selling it and allow for preparation, inbound transport, storage and returns. For Amazon wholesale or online arbitrage businesses, a tool such as Seller Assistant can help assess product profitability and selling restrictions and organise supplier purchases and FBA shipment workflows. Use that information to plan stock and preparation costs before committing to a purchase. It does not replace the physical inspection, packing, labelling or carrier handover of your goods.
For FBA, check the current instructions in Seller Central for the specific product and marketplace. Confirm required product identifiers and labelling, any bagging or protective preparation, carton contents, shipment destinations and carton or pallet labels. If a prep centre handles this work, provide clear SKU-level instructions and reconcile the quantities received, prepared and sent. Do not assume that the rules for an ordinary customer parcel apply to an FBA inbound shipment.
7. Hand over the order and keep the customer informed
Before collection, reconcile the number of parcels against your dispatch list. Scan the labels, separate shipments by carrier or service and obtain a collection record when available. Mark an order dispatched at the appropriate stage in your fulfilment system and send the customer the tracking details. Avoid calling a parcel delivered to the carrier if it has only been labelled.
Monitor exceptions such as missing scans, delivery delays, failed delivery attempts and damaged parcels. Give your customer a clear way to contact you and set an internal process for investigating missing shipments. Keep order-level evidence, including packing checks, tracking and handover records.
8. Build returns into the workflow
Make return instructions easy to find. On receipt, inspect the returned product, match it to the original order and classify it as saleable, damaged, requiring inspection or otherwise unsuitable for resale. Update inventory and refund records separately so that a refund does not automatically create sellable stock.
Track the reason for each return. Repeated damage on a single SKU suggests reviewing packaging or handling; repeated incorrect items may point to picking errors or confusing product identifiers. For reusable B2B packaging, record the equipment return separately from merchandise returns and confirm who collects, cleans and replaces damaged containers.
9. Calculate cost per dispatched order, then improve it
A useful internal measure is the sum of packaging, labour, carrier charges and an allowance for expected exceptions and returns. Keep this separate from the product’s cost and marketplace fees when analysing fulfilment, but include those other costs when calculating overall product profitability.
Illustrative example: €0.70 packaging + €1.20 picking and packing labour + €4.50 delivery + €0.30 expected exception and return allowance = €6.70 per dispatched order, before product cost, marketplace fees and any applicable taxes. These are hypothetical figures, not freight quotes. Use your own invoices, labour rates and return history.
Review on-time dispatch rate, pick accuracy, damage rate, average fulfilment cost and delivery exceptions. Change one process at a time — for instance, carton sizes or batch picking — and measure whether it improves outcomes without increasing damage or errors.
Your final dispatch checklist
Use this checklist at the packing station before every shipment. It can be printed or adapted into a warehouse standard operating procedure.
- Order is paid or otherwise approved; address and delivery promise are verified.
- Correct SKU, variant and quantity are picked, checked and recorded.
- Goods are protected; packaging is appropriate for the destination and carrier.
- Final parcel weight and dimensions are measured; shipping service is selected.
- Correct label and any required documents are attached.
- Tracking is linked to the order and handover is recorded.
- Customer communication and return instructions are ready.
When to consider a fulfilment partner or reusable equipment
If your team repeatedly misses dispatch cut-offs, spends too much time moving goods or lacks room to store packaging and inventory, compare the costs of handling fulfilment internally with using a third-party logistics provider. Ask about receiving, storage, picking, packing, shipping, returns, integrations, stock accuracy and service levels.
For regular movements between suppliers, warehouses and stores, Freightalocity can help you explore reusable crates, pallet boxes and rental or pooling arrangements. Keep one-way consumer parcels separate from reusable equipment flows unless you have a workable collection and return process.
Browse the packaging catalogue or request a rental quote for your operation.