Shipping Connectors
It's time to stop worrying about packing errors &
Start packing like a pro
Shipping connectors save you a lot of resources by making the shipping label printing much more efficient
A perfect world
Imagine a perfect world where the shipping label is printed out seconds after you have checked an order, and that the order gets fulfilled in Shopify with tracking info. One that supports partial fulfillments. And even allows you to set up multiple printers and print from any device to your printer, including optional packing slip automatic print.
iPacky brings you this perfect world today with our shipping connectors to some of the major shipping apps out there. No more need to switch between apps.
How merchants cope without iPacky?
Most merchants print out ALL the shipping labels/documents before picking starts. This creates lots of problems:
- A roll of shipping labels (20-500 most likely) is printed. This roll is difficult to handle and might be split between several packers.
- The same thing with customs documents. Most likely fewer documents, but they have to be organized with the corresponding shipping label.
- Most also print out pick lists. Again, this must be organized with the corresponding shipping label.
- The orders are automatically fulfilled in Shopify at the same time as shipping label creation. This causes problems if a packer finds that the inventory is wrong, or for some reason, the order cannot be sent. Labels have already been printed, orders fulfilled, notifications sent, and tracking info already given to the customer. Lots of work would be put into correcting this situation.
- Also, even if they haven’t finished packing all the orders that day, the order may still be marked as fulfilled, and the customer may have been notified that it has been sent. All of this must be reversed, causing lots of extra work.
A good solution
In iPacky, the merchant print out pick lists and distribute these to the packers. They use the pick list to pick products for each order, or they can do batch picking.
After picking, they open the order in iPacky by scanning the barcode on the pick list. Each item on the order is scanned to make sure all items have been picked correctly.
Shipping labels and supporting documents are printed out on their printer automatically thanks to the connector. Just stick the label/documents on the parcel. Finished!
Pros
- No need for mobile devices.
Cons
- Waste of paper (pick list).
- Not the best way to split orders between packers. Some might work faster than others.
The best solution
Using a mobile device, pickers use the order list in iPacky as a first-come, first served list. The packer selects the next order that is not already checked, and not currently being handled by another packer. This can be done automatically with the “Check next” button.
All the info they need is on the screen for that order, so they can use it as a pick list. They can either use a barcode scanner to scan the items while selecting them, or do so when they get back to the packing station. This also allows two-round checking when one person is collecting (picking), and one is validating and packing. They can also do on-screen batch picking to be even more effective when few products per order.
Shipping labels and supporting documents are printed automatically, using the connector. Just stick the label/documents on the parcel. Finished!
Pros
- No waste of paper (pick list).
- iPacky can give more information on the screen than a pick list. Such as internal order comments/messages for the packer and location of products while they pluck.
- Much more efficient distribution of orders.
Cons
- Must provide mobile devices for the packers. The packing station can still have a normal computer.