But what is picking? The term indicates a process through which purchased items are retrieved from a specific storage location and then sent to the packing area to be prepared for shipment to the end customer. In theory, this activity may seem simple, but in practice, it represents one of the most delicate aspects within the logistics and distribution system of an e-commerce business.
Economic impact of picking: As reported in a recent article by Forbes, picking operations account for more than 50% of a warehouse's total costs: an error in this stage of the order fulfillment process can have significant consequences.
For example, research conducted by Invesp reveals that 23% of customers who return an item do so because they received a different product than the one purchased. Therefore, delivering the wrong product can be costly, as it not only compromises consumer trust but also impacts productivity levels and performance quality. Therefore, let's examine what aspects to consider in order to build effective picking procedures.
In the e-commerce era, characterized by fast, secure, traceable, and customizable delivery times, organizing and managing the various processing stages taking place in the warehouse in the best possible way is essential. Let's examine how picking works and its component steps:
Picking is set up as a linear process. However, in reality, it hides numerous pitfalls that can cause errors capable of negatively influencing the customer experience and compromising company productivity. These are the most common ones:
| Common Error | Cause and Operational Impact |
|---|---|
| Wrong item selected | Occurs due to incorrect placement of goods, unclear or wrong labeling, or simply employee distraction. In SMEs, it is often due to a lack of resources to better manage the warehouse. |
| Incorrect quantities | Leads to incomplete shipments or excess products. Increases shipping costs for reverse logistics or integration and disrupts inventory control. |
| Unoptimized routes | Lack of a logical layout that increases pickers' travel times, raising operational costs and waiting times. |
| Poor data management | Data entry errors that cause discrepancies between physical stock and the system, leading to delays or the inability to process orders. |
E-commerce Solutions from Mail Boxes Etc. to optimize shipping and logistics
Optimizing picking is a primary goal for companies selling their products online: doing so allows them to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and boost market competitiveness. Let's look at useful tools and strategies.
MBE Fulfillment is the integrated system that allows you to entrust order management and all internal warehouse logistics processes to a team of expert professionals, allowing companies to focus time and resources on their core business. From order processing to product storage, from picking to packaging and shipping, Mail Boxes Etc., with a network of over 1,700 centers worldwide, supports companies wishing to optimize their workflow and guarantee quality services to their customers.
.png)
