As a webshop, you make many promises throughout the customer journey. Think of messages like “Order before 11 p.m., delivered tomorrow” or “discreet packaging.” These promises appear on your website, in ads, and through customer service. Most of them are fulfilled in your warehouse.

That’s why your warehouse team must be aware of the promises made to customers. In this blog, we’ll show you how to fulfill five key promises through your warehouse operations.

1. Ship the correct product

The most important promise is delivering the right product. Once a customer places an order, a warehouse worker picks, packs, and ships it. Mistakes can happen during this process.

Products that look similar are often stored next to each other. For example, two green sweaters in different sizes. A moment of distraction can result in the wrong product being shipped. Using a barcode scanner and product codes helps prevent these errors.

Many warehouses use batch picking to process more orders at once. This increases efficiency, but also increases the risk of mixing products from different orders. To avoid this, it's essential to verify products right before packing, preferably using a barcode scanner. This helps ensure each product goes to the right customer.

2. Ship to the correct address

Once the correct product is packed, it needs to be delivered to the right location. Before printing a shipping label, make sure the address information is correct. Sometimes the home address is printed instead of the selected pickup point. Double-check that your system handles this properly.

Human error can also occur if multiple shipping labels are printed at once and get mixed up. It’s best to print labels one by one and immediately attach them to the correct package.

3. Ship at the promised time

Customers often choose webshops that can deliver quickly. Many stores now promise things like “Order before 11 p.m., delivered tomorrow” or “Same-day delivery.” To meet these expectations, several things must be well-organized:

• Inventory management must be accurate so that products are truly in stock.
• Enough staff must be scheduled to handle peak order volumes.
• Delivery partners must be reliable and offer the required pickup times and capacity.

Sometimes customer service makes special delivery promises, especially for pre-orders. For example, promising that an item will ship today. The warehouse must then process the incoming goods quickly to keep this promise.

In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in online orders, with a peak of 83% growth in 2020 compared to 2019. More shipments also mean more returns. For many online retailers, processing returns is a pain point. Returns take time and mistakes often happen during the process.

By critically evaluating every step of your returns process, you can implement optimizations that make processing returns faster and more accurate. Using return solutions like Returnless and Sendcloud helps automate parts of the process, saving time and reducing errors.

Prevent returns

The least time-consuming return is the one that never happens. You can prevent returns by ensuring the product information on your webshop is as clear and complete as possible. This helps customers avoid ordering products that don't meet their expectations. Make sure specifications are accurate and complete: What are the exact dimensions? What material is it made from? How much power does it use? And so on.

Photos should give a clear representation of the product. This includes showing accurate colors and scale. If you sell clothing, provide context like “Model wears size M and is 180 cm tall.”

Place return info in the right spots

Of course, you can never eliminate all returns. In that case, the returns process should be as smooth as possible. A return begins with the customer finding the return instructions. Clearly placing return information in multiple places prevents confusion and unnecessary questions to your customer service team.

Include return instructions in the order confirmation email, on a dedicated section of your website, and inside the package on the packing slip or as a separate return form.

Use a smart return form

In a digital world, paper return forms feel outdated. You can streamline your return process by using a smart return form on your webshop. This allows many parts of the process to be automated, including sending automated email updates about the return status.

You can build your own smart return form integrated with your warehouse software, or use ready-made solutions like Returnless or Sendcloud. With these tools, your customer can easily register a return. After entering their order number and email address, the product data is automatically retrieved. The customer selects the return reason, and based on custom triggers you can offer specific responses:

• If a product is too small, offer the same product in a larger size.
• If the product is damaged, request a photo first so your team can assess it remotely.

This gives you better insight into incoming returns and may prevent unnecessary shipments.

ROC Het Perron in Veenendaal has been using Picqer for 2.5 years to give Logistics and Transport students a realistic view of logistics processes and to prepare them for the professional field. At their ‘Het Laadperron’ location, the school has set up an 800 m² warehouse for practical training, alongside classrooms and offices.

Mark van Ravenhorst has been teaching transport and logistics subjects for three years. After years of experience as a transport planner and logistics manager, he wanted to pass on his knowledge to the next generation. That’s how he became a teacher at Het Perron.

Searching for easy-to-use WMS software

To give students better insight into logistics, Mark started looking for warehouse software for the training environment. He needed something simple and accessible. “Many systems are extremely complex. These are already difficult for experienced workers, let alone for students. By the time they understand the WMS, the school year is already over. That’s why we chose Picqer. We only need to explain a process once, and they immediately understand how it works and can get started right away. Picqer is exactly what we were looking for in our practical setting.”

Logistics from A to Z

ROC Het Perron aims to use Picqer as broadly as possible.

“What we want to teach is the full picture of the logistics process, and to give students the confidence that they can perform these tasks independently. From incoming to outgoing goods flow. We want to simulate this as realistically as possible. So we don’t want students using pen and paper. That’s not how it works in real-life operations,” Mark explains.

For VMBO level 3 and 4 students in the transport module, Picqer is used to gain experience in picking orders. For MBO students in the Logistics Employee and Logistics Team Leader programs, it goes a step further. Picqer helps them master the complete logistics process.

They simulate a warehouse by forming a team of 5 to 10 students. Each lesson, one student is assigned as the warehouse manager. This student makes sure everyone receives the correct picklists and operates the WMS system. The rest of the students handle the warehouse tasks.

In addition to using Picqer, MBO students gain experience with all aspects of logistics, from route planning and loading/unloading goods to pallet stacking and operating forklifts.

Gaining an edge with hands-on experience

“With theory alone, you miss out on a lot of experience. Most of our students learn better by doing than from textbooks. The gap between theory and practice is big. Once you’ve mastered a process in practice, it’s easier to respond to unexpected situations. For example, when a student receives an incomplete booking, they might initially think, ‘too bad, let’s move on.’ But by letting them experience the issues that arise later in the process, they understand why it’s so important to solve mistakes early. The next time it happens, they know exactly what the consequences are if they ignore it. That gives them a real advantage over students who haven’t encountered these situations before.”

Expanding the curriculum

Soon, Het Perron will experiment with the Picqer app to work paperlessly. They’ll also give each student their own account so they can track every step. This way, any mistakes can be traced back to a specific student, allowing them to offer support where needed.

Mark hopes they can expand their use of Picqer even further in the future. With a new training instructor on board, they now have more time to explore which features they can add to the curriculum.

This interview took place on March 4, 2021.

You can now add the new Shipping via bol.com service as a carrier in your Picqer account. With this integration, we make it as easy as possible to use Shipping via bol.com. You continue processing bol.com orders using this shipping method just like any other order.

Shipping via bol

Bol.com offers the option to ship your orders at attractive rates without being held accountable for the carrier’s performance. Shipping via bol.com offers several advantages:

• Bol.com no longer holds you accountable for the carrier’s performance
• Customer delivery questions are handled by bol.com
• Lost shipments are reimbursed up to 75% of the selling price

For each product listed on bol.com, you decide whether to use this new service. You can also continue using your own shipping contracts if you prefer.

Integration in Picqer

When a product is listed with Shipping via bol.com, it must be shipped using that service. The Picqer integration helps by only showing Shipping via bol.com shipping profiles for applicable orders. Non-bol.com orders cannot use this shipping method. This eliminates manual steps and prevents errors.

Connecting is simple:

1. Add bol.com as a new carrier in Picqer
2. Configure in bol.com which products you offer with Shipping via bol.com

The connection is now active. Our support article Connecting Shipping via bol.com walks you through the setup step by step.

Only for orders from bol Retailer shops

Shipping via bol.com is only available for orders imported directly through a bol.com Retailer webshop integration in Picqer. If an order is created manually or imported via a third party, Shipping via bol.com cannot be used.

Related articles

Learn more about the integration in the following articles:

• Frequently asked questions about Shipping via bol.com
• How are labels created when using Shipping via bol.com

You can now connect Returnless to Picqer. The integration was developed by the Returnless team and is already being used successfully by several customers. This connection ensures that all return information from Returnless is automatically synced to your Picqer account.

About Returnless

Returnless is a returns solution that automates and optimizes your entire return process. Through a personalized return form, your customers can register returns themselves. They only need to enter their order number and email address. The order is then retrieved in real time from Picqer. Customers indicate which products they are returning, the reason, and which carrier they will use. They instantly receive a return label. All of this return information appears in your return portal, and now also in Picqer. This makes processing returns quick and easy.

Picqer + Returnless integration

The new Picqer + Returnless integration makes it simple to process returns registered in Returnless:

• Automatic pre-notification in Picqer: The return is automatically pre-notified in Picqer after the customer registers it through your Returnless return form.
• Easy return handling: When the return package arrives at the warehouse, you can scan the barcode on the return label. The customer receives a notification, and your warehouse team sees the return immediately in Picqer.
• Prevent errors: Your warehouse staff only need to approve the return in Picqer. This eliminates manual input, reduces errors, and keeps your inventory accurate in one go.

Get started today

Not a Returnless customer yet, but interested in automating your return process? Sign up for a free 14-day trial.

Already have a Returnless account and ready to start the integration? It only takes 5 minutes to set up. You can find more information in this support article.