Pick and pack is the operational core of eCommerce fulfilment — and yet it's one of the least understood processes for sellers who haven't worked in a fulfilment environment. Understanding how it works, what it costs, and how to optimise it helps you make better decisions about whether to run it in-house or outsource to a 3PL.
When an order is received, the picking process begins: a picker uses a pick list (or, in a WMS-driven warehouse, a handheld scanner) to navigate the warehouse and collect the correct items from their storage locations. The picked items are brought to a packing station, where they are packed into an appropriate box or bag with any required branding, inserts, or void fill. The packed parcel is labelled and passed to dispatch.
In a well-run fulfilment centre, this process takes minutes per order. In an unstructured home operation, the same process can take 10–15 minutes as the picker navigates a disorganised space and makes packaging decisions without a system.
Picking accuracy — the percentage of orders dispatched with exactly the right items — is the most important operational metric in fulfilment. An error rate of 1% sounds small but means 1 in every 100 customers receives the wrong product, generating a customer service contact, a return, and a replacement shipment. Professional fulfilment centres target 99.9%+ accuracy through barcode scanning at pick and pack stages. PackPro's pick accuracy is 99.9%, enforced by barcode verification on every item.
The right packaging protects the product in transit, presents your brand well, and doesn't waste money on unnecessary materials. Oversized boxes with excessive void fill are more expensive per unit and add weight that increases postage costs. Custom-printed boxes, tissue paper, branded tape, and inserts create the unboxing experience that drives social sharing and repeat purchase — but they need to be specified clearly in your 3PL's packing instructions.
Pick and pack costs typically range from £0.60 to £2.50 per order depending on order complexity, volume, and whether any kitting or assembly is involved. PackPro's pick and pack starts from 90p at Starter volumes (0–250 monthly orders) and reduces to 60p at Enterprise volumes (2,000+ monthly orders). See our full pick and pack pricing breakdown.