Pick Pack and Ship Software: Features, Costs (2025 Guide)

• 12 min read

In the booming world of e-commerce, getting orders out the door quickly and accurately isn’t just a goal, it’s the entire game. Yet, while online sales have soared, many warehouses are still playing catch up. A surprising number of warehouses, roughly 80 percent, still run with little to no automation. This gap between customer expectations and manual operations is where pick pack and ship software becomes a true game changer.

This software is the digital brain of a modern warehouse, streamlining every step from the moment a customer clicks “buy” to the package landing on their doorstep. Let’s dive into what this technology is, who uses it, and how it can transform a chaotic warehouse into a model of efficiency.

What is Pick Pack and Ship Software?

At its core, pick pack and ship software is a tool that guides warehouse staff through the order fulfillment process. Think of it as a GPS for your inventory. It tells workers exactly what items to grab for an order (picking), where to find them in the warehouse, and how to package them correctly for shipment (packing).

This software usually functions as part of a larger Warehouse Management System (WMS) and connects to your inventory and order systems. It replaces messy paper lists and guesswork with clear, digital instructions, ensuring orders are fulfilled with speed and precision.

Who Uses Pick and Pack Software?

Any business that handles physical products can benefit from this technology. The primary users are:

  • E-commerce and Retail Warehouses: These are the most common users, from small Shopify stores to massive online retailers. They need to process high volumes of direct to consumer orders fast.
  • Third Party Logistics (3PL) Providers: 3PLs are fulfillment experts who manage warehousing and shipping for other businesses. In fact, around 37% of e-commerce companies outsource their fulfillment. This makes robust pick pack and ship software essential for 3PLs to manage multiple clients and diverse products efficiently.
  • Wholesale and Manufacturing: These businesses use the software to assemble large orders for retailers or B2B customers, ensuring pallets and cartons are packed correctly.
  • Growing Small Businesses: Even startups and small sellers on Etsy or eBay eventually hit a point where manual fulfillment becomes a bottleneck. They often start with basic versions of this software to bring order to their growing operations. For a quick primer, see our small business shipping guide.

The bottom line is simple: if you need to fulfill orders without errors, you need a system. With 62% of fulfillment issues stemming from human error in manual processes, this software is the best defense against costly mistakes.

The Pick, Pack, and Ship Process Explained

So, what does this workflow actually look like with software in place? It breaks down into a few clear steps.

  1. Order Receipt: An order from your online store is automatically pulled into the software. It instantly generates a digital picking list for warehouse staff.
  2. Order Picking: A warehouse associate, or picker, receives the list on a handheld scanner or mobile app. The software guides them along the most efficient route to collect items. For e-commerce, this often involves piece picking, where individual items are selected to fulfill custom orders. Order picking is a huge part of warehouse operating costs, sometimes over 60 percent, so efficiency here is critical.
  3. Order Packing: The collected items are brought to a packing station. Here, a packer verifies the items, often using a scan to pack process where barcodes are scanned to ensure accuracy before boxing. The software then helps choose the right sized box, and a packing slip is generated.
  4. Shipping: The software generates a shipping label, often after comparing carrier rates to find the best deal (e.g., which is cheaper: UPS or USPS?). The package is handed off to the carrier (like USPS, UPS, or FedEx), and a tracking number is automatically sent to the customer.

This systematic process is vital because the delivery experience has a massive impact on customer loyalty. Nearly 98 percent of shoppers say it affects their decision to buy from a brand again. A slow or inaccurate fulfillment process risks losing customers for good.

Key Features of Pick Pack and Ship Software

Modern fulfillment platforms are packed with powerful features designed to optimize every corner of your warehouse. Here are the most important ones.

Order Management Integration

This feature connects your sales channels (like Shopify, Amazon, or your ERP) directly to your warehouse software. When a customer places an order, it appears in the picking queue instantly, eliminating manual data entry. This real time sync prevents overselling by keeping your website’s stock levels perfectly aligned with what’s on your shelves.

Inventory Tracking and Visibility

Effective inventory tracking means knowing exactly what you have and where it is. Good software updates inventory levels in real time as items are picked and received. It uses barcodes or RFID scans to maintain near perfect accuracy. While the average manual warehouse might have only 65 percent to 75 percent inventory accuracy, systems like these push that number to 99 percent or higher. This gives you a clear, centralized view of all your stock, which helps you make smarter purchasing decisions.

Warehouse Slotting

Warehouse slotting is the strategic organization of inventory to improve efficiency. The software analyzes data like picking frequency and seasonality to assign each SKU to an optimal location. Fast moving items are placed in easily accessible locations close to packing stations, while slow moving products are stored further away. This simple logic can dramatically reduce picker travel time, which accounts for over half of the picking process.

Picking Optimization

Picking optimization uses algorithms to make the picking process as fast as possible. Instead of one picker handling one order at a time, the software enables smarter strategies:

  • Batch Picking: A picker gathers items for multiple orders in a single trip.
  • Wave Picking: Orders are grouped into “waves” to be picked at specific times, helping to manage workflow and prevent bottlenecks at the packing station.
  • Zone Picking: Each picker is assigned to a specific area of the warehouse, and orders move from zone to zone to be completed.

These methods can supercharge productivity. An optimized warehouse worker can pick around 200 order lines per hour, a massive jump from the 50 lines per hour common in manual operations.

Mobile Picking Apps

Modern warehouses run on mobility. A mobile picking app on a smartphone or handheld scanner empowers workers on the floor. The app displays digital picking lists, shows product locations, and allows for barcode scanning to verify items. This eliminates paper, reduces errors, and provides managers with a real time view of picking progress.

Pick Path Optimization

This is a specific type of optimization focused on one thing: reducing walking. Travel time can account for more than half of a picker’s day. Pick path optimization calculates the shortest possible route to collect all the items for an order or a batch, eliminating wasted steps and backtracking. It’s like Google Maps for your warehouse aisles, turning a winding journey into a straight line.

Packing Assistance and Verification

The packing station is the last line of defense for quality control. Features like scan to pack provide a digital checklist where packers scan each item's barcode before placing it in the box. The system gives an immediate confirmation if the item is correct or an error alert if it's wrong, virtually eliminating packing errors.

Smart Packing and Cartonization

High shipping costs are a major headache for e-commerce businesses. Smart packing and cartonization features help by automatically determining the smallest possible box for an order. Since carriers charge based on dimensional weight, using the right sized box prevents you from paying to ship empty air. In some cases, USPS Flat Rate boxes can beat dimensional pricing for heavier, compact items. This can significantly reduce your shipping spend and material waste.

Kitting and Assembly

Kitting is the process of bundling individual items into a single unit to be sold together. For example, a "starter kit" might include three different products. Pick pack and ship software manages this by creating workflows for assembling kits, tracking the inventory of both the individual components and the final bundled product. This streamlines fulfillment for promotions and subscription boxes.

Shipping Integration and Automation

This is where fulfillment meets the final mile. Software integrates with carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx to automate label and packing slip generation. You can set rules to automatically select the best shipping service based on weight, destination, or cost. For example, a rule could state, "If a package weighs under one pound, always use USPS Ground Advantage." These rules run in the background, saving time and ensuring consistency.

Real Time Tracking

Once a package ships, the software automatically sends tracking information to the customer and updates the order status in your e-commerce platform. This transparency improves the customer experience and reduces "Where is my order?" inquiries. Internally, it provides a clear view of where every shipment is in transit.

Carrier Integration

Carrier integration is the technical connection that makes automation and rate shopping possible. It allows your software to “talk” directly to carrier APIs, often called shipping APIs, to pull real time rate quotes, print certified labels, and validate addresses. It also unlocks access to discounted postage rates, like USPS Commercial Pricing, which you can’t get at the post office counter. These discounts alone can often pay for the software itself.

Analytics and Reporting

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Pick pack and ship software provides dashboards and reports on key metrics like orders picked per hour, error rates, and fulfillment costs. This data helps you identify bottlenecks and continuously improve your operations over time.

Benefits for High Volume Warehouses

For businesses shipping hundreds or thousands of orders a day, the benefits of a robust pick pack and ship software are enormous.

  • Scalability: The software allows you to handle huge spikes in order volume during peak seasons without a proportional increase in labor.
  • Cost Reduction: Optimized picking paths, lower error rates, and cheaper shipping rates all contribute directly to a healthier bottom line.
  • Speed and Accuracy: Faster turnaround times lead to happier customers. Accuracy rates of 99.9% become achievable, drastically reducing the costs associated with returns and angry customer service calls.

How to Choose the Best Pick Pack and Ship Software

When comparing software options, consider these factors:

  • Integrations: Does it connect easily with your e-commerce platform, marketplaces, and accounting software?
  • Scalability: Will it grow with your business, or will you need to switch in a year?
  • User Friendliness: Is the interface intuitive for your warehouse team?
  • Shipping Capabilities: How strong are its shipping and carrier integrations? A key factor in your total cost is the final shipping price. Using a free online shipping calculator can give you a solid baseline of carrier costs to better evaluate what different software platforms offer.

Special Considerations for 3PLs

Third party logistics providers have unique needs. When choosing a pick pack and ship software, 3PLs should look for features like:

  • Multi Client Management: The ability to manage inventory and orders for multiple clients within a single system.
  • Billing and Invoicing: Tools to automatically track and bill clients for storage, picking fees, and shipping costs.
  • Customizable Reporting: The ability to provide each client with detailed reports on their specific inventory and order activity.

A good pick pack and ship software is the engine of modern commerce. It transforms a complex, error prone process into a streamlined operation that saves money, increases efficiency, and ultimately keeps customers happy.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What exactly is pick pack and ship software?
It is a digital tool that guides warehouse workers through the order fulfillment process. It provides instructions for picking items from shelves, verifying them, packing them into the correct boxes, and generating shipping labels.

2. At what point does a small business need this software?
A business should consider it when manual processes start causing problems. Common signs include rising shipping errors, delays in getting orders out, running out of stock unexpectedly, or spending too much time printing labels and managing orders instead of growing the business.

3. How does this software save money on shipping?
It saves money in several ways: by suggesting the most cost effective packaging to avoid dimensional weight fees, by allowing you to compare carrier rates in real time to find the cheapest option, and by providing access to discounted commercial shipping rates you can’t get at the retail counter.

4. Can pick pack and ship software integrate with platforms like Shopify?
Yes, most modern solutions offer pre built, one click integrations with major e-commerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, Amazon, eBay, and more. This allows for a seamless flow of order and inventory data.

5. What is the difference between a WMS and pick pack software?
A Warehouse Management System (WMS) is a comprehensive platform that manages all warehouse operations, including receiving, inventory management, picking, packing, and shipping. Pick pack and ship software often refers to the specific modules within a WMS that handle the order fulfillment workflow. Some standalone tools also focus just on these functions.

6. How does this software help with returns?
Many systems include returns management features. They can generate return shipping labels for customers, track incoming returns, and guide staff on how to inspect, restock, or dispose of returned items, keeping inventory counts accurate. If you’re drafting guidelines for customers, see how to write a clear return policy.

7. Is this type of software difficult to implement?
It varies. Cloud based software with pre built integrations can often be set up in days or weeks with minimal technical help. More complex, on premise systems for large enterprises can take longer.

8. How much does pick pack and ship software cost?
Pricing models vary widely. Some platforms charge a monthly subscription based on order volume or the number of users, with plans starting from a couple hundred dollars a month. Others have custom enterprise pricing. It’s important to factor in the potential cost savings from efficiency gains and shipping discounts when evaluating the price.