How picking works

Queues hold the work

Picking work is classified into a queue per consignment — the physical dispatch unit — not per order, so a multi-site order's fulfilment groups can sit in different queues. Queues are checked in order, and the first one that matches wins; anything that matches nothing falls through to the default queue.

The queue sets the method

Each queue carries a pick method that decides how a run built from it is organised. See the pick methods reference for what each method means.

A run is what one picker does

A pick run is a claimed batch of work — several consignments picked as a pile or a cluster — or a single consignment picked on its own. Pickers claim runs from a queue themselves; a supervisor can also build a run by hand.

Runs work on allocations, not orders

This is the important one. An allocation is a quantity of one variant, from one location, earmarked for one order line. A pick run works on allocations: two runs can serve one order, and the work for a consignment isn't finished until every one of its allocations is picked, no matter how many runs contributed.

A run can cover more than one order

Where two orders going to the same address have been combined, the picker works them as one lot, and both orders move through picking together.

Short picks

If a picker can't find the full quantity, they confirm what they did find. The shortfall is released back to the queue for someone else to pick up; what was picked stands, because moving stock is a real event that can't be un-remembered.

Abandoning a run

Cancelling a run releases its unpicked allocations back to the queue; picks already confirmed stand. See the run statuses reference for the full run status lifecycle.