Pick and Pack
Pick and pack is the two-stage fulfillment process in the warehouse: first the items of a customer order are taken from their storage locations (pick), then packed ready for shipping (pack). Together these two steps form the heart of order fulfillment in mail order and e-commerce.
Pick and pack is the two-stage core process of order fulfillment in the warehouse: in the first step ("pick"), the items belonging to a customer order are taken from their storage locations and assembled; in the second step ("pack"), these items are checked, packed into a suitable box or shipping bag, secured with filling material and provided with a delivery note and shipping label. The result is a ship-ready parcel that is handed over to the parcel carrier. The term comes from mail-order and online-retail logistics and describes exactly the two activities that lie between order receipt and goods issue.
Pick and pack is therefore the operational execution part of fulfillment – the physical realization of what the ERP or shop system specifies as an order. While picking is above all a question of routes, sequences and accuracy, packing is about protecting the goods, choosing the right box sizes, managing shipping costs and making a tidy impression on the customer. Together, both steps largely determine delivery time, error rate and cost per parcel.
At a glance
- Two-stage warehouse process: pick = order picking, pack = packing
- Link between order receipt and goods issue / shipping
- Operational core of fulfillment in mail order and e-commerce
- Often handled by external service providers (3PL)
- Controlled by the ERP: pick list, stock posting, shipping label
How does pick and pack work in detail?
The process starts as soon as a customer order is in the system and released for shipping. From it, the ERP or warehouse management system creates a picking order with a pick list that names the item, quantity and storage location for each line. If not all lines are available at the time of release, the system uses stored rules for partial delivery, consolidation with further orders or deferral before the picking order reaches the warehouse. From here, the two sub-steps run one after the other.
Pick – order picking
When picking, the employee moves along a system- or route-optimized path through the warehouse and takes the required items in the specified quantity. Modern warehouses work paperless: the handheld scanner or mobile data terminal guides line by line, confirms the correct removal by scanning the storage location and item, and thus prevents mix-ups. Depending on volume, methods such as single-order, batch or zone picking are used. The result is a fully assembled order that reaches the packing station.
Pack – packing
At the packing table, the picked items are checked against the order to catch missing quantities or wrong lines. The packer then selects suitable packaging, secures the goods with filling material against transport damage, encloses the delivery note and any inserts, and applies the shipping label of the chosen carrier. When the order is confirmed in the system, stock is written off and the goods issue is posted – the parcel is ready for shipping.
Why pick and pack matters economically
In mail order, pick and pack is one of the most labor-intensive and therefore most expensive processes of all – a large share of the variable logistics costs per parcel arises right here. At the same time, it is the process that directly shapes the customer experience: an incorrectly picked or poorly packed order leads to returns, redeliveries, complaints and reputational damage. So anyone who masters pick and pack lowers costs and error rate at the same time.
The decisive levers are accuracy, speed and material. A system-guided scan check drastically lowers the pick error rate, batch and route optimization increase picks per hour, and the right box choice reduces volume and thus shipping costs. The area is managed via metrics such as pick error rate, picking performance, packaging cost per parcel and lead time from order to goods issue.
Pick and pack in the ERP system
The pick-and-pack process is rarely isolated; instead, it is closely coupled to the ERP or inventory management system. The ERP holds the order, the item master with packaging data and the stock per storage location. It creates the pick list, prioritizes orders, suggests the unit to be removed where batch or serial-number tracking is required, and finally posts stock and goods issue.
Interfaces to shipping and shop
During packing, the system accesses the carriers via a shipping interface, generates shipping labels and tracking numbers and feeds the latter back into shop and marketplace so the customer receives shipment tracking. Smaller retailers use the warehouse module of their ERP for this; at high volume, a specialized WMS handles the operational execution and reports stock levels and goods issues back to the leading ERP. Via the API, order, stock and shipping data come together between shop, ERP and warehouse.
Distinction: pick and pack vs. fulfillment and order picking
The terms overlap but do not mean the same thing. Order picking is only the pick step – assembling the items. Pick and pack also covers packing on top of this and thus describes the complete path from removal to the ship-ready parcel.
Fulfillment is the broadest term and covers the entire order process: goods receipt and put-away, inventory management, pick and pack, shipping and returns management. Pick and pack is therefore a central building block of fulfillment, not its synonym. When the process is outsourced to an external logistics service provider (3PL), people often speak of a "pick-and-pack service" – the provider stores the goods and takes over picking, packing and handover to the carrier for a fee per pick and per parcel.
Outsource pick and pack or run it in-house?
Whether a retailer runs pick and pack in its own warehouse or contracts it to a 3PL provider is a question of cost, control and scaling. In-house operation offers full control over packaging, inserts and brand experience as well as short paths between sales and warehouse – but it ties up capital in space, staff and technology and scales poorly during seasonal peaks. Outsourcing to a fulfillment provider turns fixed costs into variable costs per parcel, cushions load peaks and saves investment, but it costs margin and part of the control over the customer experience.
Regardless of the decision, clean system integration remains mission-critical: stock levels, orders and shipping status must be synced in real time between shop, ERP and the executing warehouse – whether internal or at the provider – otherwise overselling and missing shipment tracking loom. Many retailers start in-house and only outsource as volume grows, while strategic ranges deliberately stay in the house.
Example
Example: pick and pack in a growing online business
An online retailer for cosmetics receives 350 orders from shop and marketplaces in the morning, which flow automatically into the ERP. The system bundles the orders, creates pick lists and sends the warehouse staff on route-optimized collection rounds with a handheld scanner (batch picking). Each item is scanned when reached on the shelf, so incorrect removals are noticed immediately.
At the packing tables, the staff check every parcel against the order, choose the fitting one from three box sizes, add a product sample as an insert and print the label of the cheapest suitable carrier via the shipping interface. When the parcel is scanned, the ERP posts stock and goods issue, and the tracking number goes automatically to shop and customer. This way, all parcels ordered the previous day leave the building by noon – with a pick error rate well below one percent.
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