Whoever said nobody’s perfect must have been an eCommerce shopper – because if you buy online often enough, there’s a good chance you’ll receive at least one inaccurately filled order.

Just ask our friends whom we’ll call the Smiths. Over the course of the past year, they’ve received a set of wrenches, a woman’s bikini bottom, a branded hoodie and a 12-tool vehicle repair/escape kit –all of which were a far cry from what they had actually ordered.

Thankfully for them, none of these items were gifts and the eTailer promptly shipped them the correct items, so it was a case of no harm, no foul, at least for them.

Why Companies Should Utilize Advanced Warehouse Picking Technology

But had it been the holidays, it might have been a different story. After all, who wants to explain to Sally why she got a GI Joe instead of that Barbie she asked for? And who will enjoy seeing the look on Uncle Joe’s face when he opens an extra-small windbreaker rather than the XL one that will actually fit him!?

All of this is to say that order filling accuracy is one of those stocking stuffers you absolutely cannot do without if you want to remain competitive during peak season, especially an era when 84% of shoppers say they’ll take their business elsewhere after just one negative experience.

Unfortunately, this accuracy can also be harder to come by, because as order pickers try to move faster and process a greater volume of orders, mis-picks are more likely.

So does this mean you have to accept such mistakes as a fait accompli? Absolutely not.

In fact, we here at Verst are full of ideas for how to prevent them.

Order Fulfillment Picking

For one, we’re huge fans of Autonomous Mobile Robots. Capable of being configured to meet a wide range of tote and multi-bin picking needs, these scalable sources of additional labor typically improve productivity by 300% over traditional cart picking – all while reducing picking errors and never requiring a lunch break.  

For another, we’re major advocates of various fulfillment systems, including Warehouse Management Systems (WMS’s) and systems-enabled order picking techniques like automated order filling – because these technologies allow our facilities to detect and correct any slotting or picking mistakes as they happen.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we hope you’ll consider giving us a shout if you’d like to discuss how we can improve everything from your shipping accuracy to your fulfillment speed.

In the interim, stay tuned, because we’ll be bringing you more heinous holiday challenges (and suggesting antidotes) as the week unfolds.

Read other blog posts from this 12-part series entitled "The 12 Days of Peak Season":

Day 1 of 12: Some Shoppers Who Wanted Shipping Free (The Problem Of Low-Cost Shipping)

Day 2 of 12: Two Urgent Moves (The Challenge Of Fast Holiday Shipping)