A Saturday in December, with forty web orders waiting
The shop is full. Someone is gift wrapping at the counter, the queue is out of the door, and the website has taken dozens of orders since Thursday. Each one needs picking from the shop floor or stockroom, packing, a gift message written in, a postage label bought and printed, and the tracking number emailed.
You end up doing it on Sunday evening at the kitchen table. On Monday, a customer emails to say they asked for gift wrap and a message, and the parcel arrived without either.
Orders are handled one at a time, by hand
Many shops handle web orders as they arrive, individually, all year. That works in a quiet month. In December the same process simply takes too long.
- Orders are printed or read on a screen one at a time.
- Items are picked from the shop floor, one order after another.
- Postage is bought and labels printed individually.
- Gift messages and wrap requests are easy to miss.
- Customers are not warned clearly about last posting dates.
What the December scramble costs
Staff pulled off the shop floor to pack orders means longer queues and lost sales in the shop, where margins are often better. Late or wrong orders lead to refunds, reposting costs and disappointed customers at the time of year when it matters most.
The owner's evenings and weekends disappear into packing, at the point in the year when rest matters most.
How we build a December packing flow
- Orders are grouped into picking batches, with a combined pick list sorted by where items live in the shop and stockroom.
- Each order in the batch has a packing slip showing items, gift wrap and message, so nothing is missed at the packing stage.
- Postage labels are bought and printed in one go through your carrier, such as Royal Mail Click and Drop or another carrier with an API.
- Tracking numbers go back to your online shop, which emails the customer.
- Last posting dates for your carriers are set, and the website shows a clear notice as each date approaches, with click and collect offered as the alternative.
- Orders that miss the last posting date are flagged, so staff can contact the customer.
| Step | One at a time | Packing flow |
|---|---|---|
| Picking | Order by order | Batch pick list sorted by location |
| Gift messages | Easy to miss | On the packing slip |
| Postage | Bought per order | Labels printed in one go |
| Tracking | Emailed by hand | Sent through your online shop |
| Last posting date | Customers not warned | Notice on the site, with collect alternative |
Carrier last posting dates change each year and are published by the carriers. The flow uses the dates you enter, and you should check them against the carrier's own notices.
December with a packing flow
One person does a picking round early in the day before the shop gets busy, and packs in a quiet hour. Labels print together, and tracking goes out automatically. Customers are warned about posting dates on the website, so fewer late orders arrive expecting Christmas delivery.
Your Sunday evenings in December are your own again, or at least most of them. Because orders are grouped rather than handled one by one, it also becomes clear how much packing time the website really needs each day, so you can decide whether a temporary helper for the packing table is worth it before the rush rather than in the middle of it.
In January, the same flow handles returns and exchanges from Christmas gifts, with the original order found from the packing slip.
Signs December orders are swamping you
- Web orders in December are packed after hours.
- Postage labels are bought one at a time.
- Gift wrap and messages have been missed.
- Customers order after the last posting date and expect Christmas delivery.
- Staff are pulled off the shop floor to pack orders.