There’s one important reality that can make or break an e-commerce business: getting the right product in your customer’s hands in a timely and safe manner. Each “Order Delivered” notification is backed by a speedy and tightly coordinated dance in a fulfilment centre. The movement is powered by two key operational pillars: pick and pack logistics and third-party logistics (3PL). These may sound like industry jargon, but understanding how these two concepts work together can be the difference between a struggling brand with shipping delays and a rapidly scaling business with a loyal customer base.
What is Pick and Pack Logistics
Pick and pack logistics is the specific physical process within a warehouse that happens immediately after an online order is placed. There are two simple phases:
Picking: Warehouse operators (or automated system units) will walk the inventory rows to select the exact items in a customer order.
Packing: Items are brought to a packing station where they are checked for quality and securely wrapped using boxes, mailers and protective dunnage, along with any required custom inserts or shipping labels.
The idea is simple, however the internal complexity of dealing with this grows exponentially with the amount of orders.
Popular Picking Strategies
The size of the warehouse and the variety of the catalogue determine the way in which fulfilment centres process order selection:
Piece Picking: Picking items one order at the time. Great for smaller operations.
Batch Picking: Picking stock for multiple orders at once to reduce warehouse aisle trips
Zone Picking: Designating certain team members to certain sections (zones) of the warehouse, passing the package down the line as items are added
Wave Picking: Batch grouping orders for dispatch based on commonalities such as delivery deadlines or carrier pickups
What Is Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
Third Party Logistics (3PL) is looking to hire an expert provider to outsource your entire supply chain operation. Instead of renting warehouse space, contracting labour, and buying your own specialised equipment, a 3PL partner handles storage, inventory management, negotiations with shipping carriers, and most importantly, your pick and pack operations. Integrate your online store (Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, etc.) with a 3PL’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) and automate order routeing completely. As soon as the customer clicks “Buy,” the picking crew at the 3PL gets to work.
Why use a 3PL for Pair Pick and Pack?
Shipping 10 packages a day is fine to handle the pick and pack in your garage or small office. But as your orders increase, in-house fulfilment becomes a bottleneck quickly.
Benefits of Outsourcing Key Business
Dramatically Reduce Overhead Costs. Leasing commercial real estate and paying fixed warehouse wages is capital intensive. 3PLs turn those fixed overhead costs into variable operating costs.
Faster Shipping Times: New-age 3PLs have strategically located regional warehouses. Having products closer to your target customers means shorter shipping zones. That translates to regular 1-2 day ground shipping. Access to Modern Technology The best 3PL providers have access to automated picking robots, real-time inventory tracking dashboards and algorithmic box-sizing software that minimizes shipping waste.
The freedom to focus on growth: Tape Gunning boxes takes up hours, hours that could be better spent on product development, performance marketing or customer service.
How to Choose the Best 3PL Pick and Pack Partner
Here are some key questions that you want to ask a fulfillment partner before you sign a service-level agreement (SLA): How accurate are they? Seek vendors who can provide barcode verification with accuracy levels above 99.5%.
Ease of system integration. Make sure their software integrates seamlessly with your daily e-commerce platform.
Can they be branded? If unboxing is part of your company identity, verify whether they have branded boxes, tissue paper and promotional inserts. Dedicated pick and pack logistics and third-party logistics will give your growing store the backbone it needs to handle high demand while keeping customers happy, optimizing your supply chain.