Pick Lists and Bin Locations for Multichannel Orders
How to build one pick list across marketplaces, assign bin locations and stop wrong-item shipments with barcode checks at the packing bench.
A pick list turns all the orders received across your channels in a given window into one walk through the warehouse: which bin, which product, how many units. The most common causes of wrong-item shipments are picking order by order and recognising products by eye instead of by barcode. This guide covers building a pick list from several marketplaces, assigning bin locations, and why a barcode check at the packing bench is non-negotiable.
With five marketplaces and a webshop, each channel has its own panel, its own order number and often its own product title: the same black tee is "Basic Black T-Shirt" on one channel and "Men's Crew Neck Black" on another. A picker who reads titles will eventually pick wrong; a picker who reads barcodes will not. The pick list converts order language into warehouse language.
Pick by product, not by order
Picking order by order means the same bin is visited ten times across fifty orders. A pick list merges orders by product: if today's orders contain nine units of SKU-1234, the picker visits that bin once and takes nine.
Two common models:
- Batch picking: all orders in a time window go on one list, the units are collected on a cart and split into orders at the packing bench. The most efficient option for small and mid-size warehouses.
- Wave picking: orders are grouped into waves by carrier, channel or handling-time cutoff and picked wave by wave.
Whichever model you choose, the list must come from a single source; copying from five seller panels fails on the first sale day. As described in multichannel order management, once every channel's orders sit on one screen, the pick list is simply a filtered view of that screen.
Bin locations: every product needs a home
"Somewhere on the back racks" means nothing to a picker in their first week. A bin location is a short three-part code: aisle, rack, shelf, such as A-03-2.
Follow these rules when assigning them:
- Give every product a home location stored on its product record. Overflow stock can live elsewhere, but the pick list sorts by the home location.
- Put fast movers closest to the packing bench; your per-channel sales report tells you which they are.
- Keep variants together: all sizes of one style on the same rack, smallest to largest, mirroring the colour-size matrix from variant management.
- Keep look-alike products apart. Black and navy in the same bin guarantees a wrong shipment sooner or later.
- Put a barcoded location label on every bin. The operator scans the location first and the product second; if the two disagree, the scanner warns.
Bin locations live in your ERP. When an order lands there with its line items, each line carries its location and the list sorts itself by shelf.
The pick list, step by step
A daily flow can look like this:
- Close the window. For example, every order received by 09:00 forms the first wave. Set cutoffs around carrier pickup times so you stay inside each marketplace's handling time; handling time and late shipments walks through that calculation.
- Filter orders on one screen. Select every order in "preparing" status across all channels. Cancelled and unpaid orders stay out.
- Group by product. Sort by SKU and barcode, then by bin location.
- Scan at the shelf. The picker scans the location label and the product barcode and enters the quantity. A missing item is flagged "not found" and its order goes to a hold queue.
- Split at the packing bench. For each order, the order lines open on screen and every unit is scanned; if a barcode does not match a line, the package cannot be closed.
- Print the label last. The shipping label is printed only after every line is confirmed. See shipping labels and batch printing for details.
- Mark the order shipped. The tracking number goes to every channel from one place.
Step five matters most: a packing bench without a barcode check will make mistakes on a busy day, however experienced the team is.
Why wrong items get shipped, and how to stop it
A wrong shipment costs two shipping legs, a return and often a negative review, and marketplaces generally treat it as a seller-caused return. The root cause is almost always one of these:
- Mismatched barcodes. If the listing, the ERP record and the shelf label carry three different codes, scanning proves nothing. The rule from product matching by SKU and barcode applies: one barcode per variant, identical everywhere.
- Recognising by eye. With sizes 38 and 40 of the same style side by side, "that's it" is an expensive sentence.
- Merged orders. Two orders from one customer go into one box and the second tracking number is never reported.
- Wrong stock count. The item sold but is not on the shelf, so the picker sends "something similar". That is an overselling problem, solved on the stock synchronisation side.
The fix is discipline rather than hardware: no scan, no closed package. Then separate look-alikes physically and review every "not found" line at day's end.
The warehouse role and its limits
The person picking and packing has no reason to change prices or close listings; when those permissions stay open, one accidental change can affect every listing on a channel. The warehouse user should see order lines, bin locations and shipment confirmation, nothing else.
The role split in team roles for multichannel selling becomes concrete here: the warehouse role picks, scans and closes; the admin role watches error rates. Teaching a new picker two screens is faster than teaching twenty.
Getting returned items back on the shelf
The same discipline extends to returns. A returned parcel is opened, the barcode is scanned and matched to the order code. A resellable item goes back to its home location and stock rises at that moment; a damaged one goes to a separate "under review" bin and never enters sellable stock. Without that distinction, damaged goods get sold again.
Scanning at returns intake mirrors the packing bench: in and out are tracked by the same code, so the gap between shelf and record stays small on count day.
How it works with Bulutegra
Bulutegra brings orders from 24 marketplaces into one order screen, split by channel tab, filtered by date range, searched by SKU and exported as CSV; that screen is the source of your pick list. Because matching runs on SKU and barcode, the listing, the ERP record and the shelf label all carry the same code.
Each order is written automatically to Nebim V3, Logo, Mikro or SAP with the customer, line items, carrier and payment details; bin locations and the picking flow continue in your own ERP. The Warehouse role sees only order and shipping screens, while pricing and content stay with the Admin and Content roles. On the returns side, the customer return portal, barcode-based intake and automatic return codes complete the loop.
To review your warehouse flow together, request a demo or browse the order and returns modules under Solutions.
Frequently asked questions
What is a pick list?
A pick list is a single document that turns every order received in a given window into one walk through the warehouse: which bin, which product, how many units. It is sorted by product and location rather than by order, so the picker visits each bin once, takes the total quantity, and the units are split into individual orders at the packing bench.
How do you prevent shipping the wrong item?
Scan every unit against the order line at the packing bench and do not let the package close if the barcode does not match. That only works when the marketplace listing, the ERP product record and the shelf label all carry the same barcode, which is why product matching should be managed in one system rather than channel by channel.
How should bin locations be coded?
Use a short three-part code: aisle, rack, shelf, for example A-03-2. Every product gets a home location stored on its product record, and the pick list is sorted by that location. Fast movers go on racks closest to the packing bench, variants of the same style sit side by side, and look-alike products are deliberately kept apart.
