The order fulfilment process for wholesale brands, step by step
The order fulfilment process is everything that happens between a stockist's order arriving and the goods reaching their shop: receive the order, check it, confirm it, allocate stock, pick, pack, dispatch and deliver, then deal with anything that went wrong. A small brand can run it from a spare room or hand the warehouse steps to a third-party logistics company (3PL). This guide sets out the order fulfilment process steps, a flow chart you can copy, how in-house compares with a 3PL, how to handle backorders, and where errors creep in.
1. Order fulfilment process steps, from order to delivery
Whether it's 6 cases of chilli sauce for a farm shop or 48 hand creams for a pharmacy, a wholesale order goes through the same nine steps.
- Receive the order. By email, WhatsApp, phone, an order form, Faire or Ankorstore, EDI or a retailer portal. Log it in one place with the date, the customer, their order reference and every line.
- Check it. Products and codes match your current range, quantities are in whole cases, the order meets your minimum, and the delivery address and any delivery instructions are clear.
- Check stock. Compare each line with the stock you have available, meaning stock on the shelf minus stock already promised to other orders.
- Confirm with the buyer. What you're sending, when it will arrive, and anything you can't send in full. This is the moment to raise a backorder (section 4), not after the box has gone.
- Allocate the stock. Mark it as promised to this order so nobody sells it twice. In a stock system this happens when you release the order; on a spreadsheet, take it off the available column.
- Pick. Collect each line from the shelf against a pick list. For food, pick the oldest best-before dates first. For products with variants, such as scents or sizes, check the variant as well as the product.
- Pack. Pack to survive the trip: dividers for glass, void fill for candles, upright for liquids. Put a delivery note in the box listing what was sent.
- Dispatch. Book the courier or load the van, record the tracking number against the order, and tell the buyer it's on its way.
- Deliver and close. Confirm it arrived, record any damage or shortage the shop reports, and mark the order complete so it moves on to invoicing.
Steps 1 to 4 are admin; steps 5 to 8 happen in the warehouse, yours or a 3PL's. Our guide to wholesale order management covers the admin side, including price checks.
2. Order fulfilment process flow chart
Here is the same process as a text flow chart, with the decision points where orders most often stall. Copy it into a document or pin it above the packing bench.
Order arrives (email, WhatsApp, form, marketplace, EDI, portal)
↓
Log it in one place: customer, date, their reference, every line
↓
Does it match your range, case sizes and minimum?
No → ask the buyer the specific question, then return here
Yes ↓
Is there available stock for every line?
No → part-ship and backorder, hold the whole order, or offer a substitute (agree with the buyer)
Yes ↓
Confirm to the buyer: what, when, anything to follow
↓
Allocate stock to the order
↓
Pick against the pick list (oldest dates first for food)
↓
Pack with a delivery note; check the count before sealing
↓
Dispatch, record tracking, tell the buyer
↓
Delivered?
Problem reported → check photos and the delivery note, then replace or agree a fix with the buyer
No problem ↓
Close the order and pass it on for invoicing
If you use a 3PL, the boxes from "Allocate" to "Dispatch" happen on their side once you send them the order. Everything above that line is still yours.
3. In-house or a 3PL for a small business in the UK
A 3PL stores your stock and picks, packs and dispatches orders for you, for a fee. The right answer depends on your volumes, your products and how much of your week packing takes.
| In-house | 3PL | |
|---|---|---|
| Who picks and packs | You or your team | The 3PL's staff |
| Space | Your unit, spare room or kitchen | Their warehouse |
| Costs | Your time, packaging, courier, space | Storage, pick and pack fees, packaging and courier, set by each 3PL |
| Control | You see and check every box | You rely on their process and their stock figures |
| Flexibility | Hand-written notes, samples, last-minute changes | Changes go through their system and cut-off times |
| Peaks | You pack late into the night before Christmas | They add staff, if they have capacity |
Signs it's time to look at a 3PL
- Packing takes days of your week that you'd rather spend selling or making.
- You've run out of space, or you're storing stock in places that aren't suitable for it.
- Seasonal peaks mean orders wait days to go out.
- You sell direct to consumers as well as wholesale, and doing both from one room is causing mistakes.
What to ask a 3PL before you sign
- Do you handle trade orders? Wholesale orders go out in cases and outer boxes, sometimes on pallets, and often need a delivery note. Some 3PLs are set up mainly for single parcels to consumers.
- How do you handle my product type? Food needs suitable storage and best-before rotation. Candles need to stay away from heat. Glass needs careful packing.
- What are your cut-off times? An order sent after the cut-off goes out the next working day.
- How do orders reach you? A portal, a file upload, or a connection to the system you already use. Typing every order into a 3PL portal by hand is where errors start.
- How do I see my stock? And how often do they count it.
- What are the minimum volumes, fees and notice period? Get every charge in writing.
If your 3PL works on Mintsoft or ShipHero, see our pages on sending approved orders to Mintsoft and sending approved orders to ShipHero.
4. Backorder vs out of stock, and how to handle backorders
A backorder is an order you take for stock you don't have yet, to ship when it arrives. Out of stock means you can't take or ship the order at all. The difference is whether more stock is coming and when.
| Backorder | Out of stock | |
|---|---|---|
| More stock coming | Yes, with a date you trust | No date, or the line is discontinued |
| What you tell the buyer | "We'll send it on [date]" | "We can't supply this line right now" |
| The order | Stays open for the missing lines | The line is removed from the order |
| Example | Ember & Wick's Fig & Cedar candles, next batch poured and cured by 20 November | Wildfire Chilli Co's summer Mango Scotch Bonnet sauce, finished for the season |
How to handle a backorder
- Tell the buyer before you dispatch, in the order confirmation, not on the delivery note.
- Give them the choice. Send what you have now and the rest later, hold the whole order until everything is in, swap the missing line for something similar, or drop the line.
- Give a date only if you trust it. For food and candles, allow for the time to make, cure or label the batch, not only the day the ingredients arrive.
- Keep one list of open backorders with the customer, product, quantity and promised date. Check it every time new stock comes in.
- Ship the backorder with its own delivery note quoting the original order reference, so the shop can match it.
For food with a short shelf life, a backorder is often better than a substitute the shop didn't choose. For seasonal gifts, check the buyer still wants the stock: candles that arrive after Christmas may be no use to them.
Subject: Your order: Fig & Cedar to follow on 20 November
Hi Priya,
Your order goes out tomorrow, apart from the 6 Fig & Cedar candles. Our next batch will be ready on 20 November.
I can send the other 18 candles now and the Fig & Cedar on the 20th, or hold everything and send it together. Which would you prefer?
Thanks,
Sam, Ember & Wick
5. Where errors creep in, and how to stop them
Look first where information is copied from one place to another, and where two products look alike. These are the common wholesale errors, and the check that catches each:
| Step | What goes wrong | The check |
|---|---|---|
| Receive | "12 Habanero" means 12 bottles to the buyer and 12 cases to the packer | Order and pick in cases, and show case size on the price list and order form |
| Receive | The order is retyped into a 3PL portal with a digit swapped | Send orders to the 3PL from your system, not by hand |
| Check stock | Stock looks available but is already promised to another order | Allocate stock when you confirm, and check available stock, not stock on the shelf |
| Pick | Fig & Cedar picked instead of Fig & Vetiver | Different product codes on every variant, printed on the shelf label and the pick list |
| Pick | Newer best-before dates sent while older stock sits behind | Store with the oldest dates at the front and pick from the front |
| Pack | Candles crack or bottles break in transit | Pack a test box and send it to yourself before changing packaging or courier |
| Pack | Box sealed with a line missing | Count against the delivery note before sealing, and tick each line |
| Dispatch | Delivered on a day the shop is closed, or to the wrong entrance | Save delivery days and instructions against each customer, not in someone's memory |
| Backorder | The backorder is forgotten when stock arrives | One backorder list, checked every time stock comes in |
When an error does reach a shop, record it with the cause. Two broken-candle reports in a month from the same courier point to the courier or the packaging. One may be bad luck.
Questions about order fulfilment
What is the order fulfilment process?
It's every step between receiving an order and the customer receiving the goods: logging and checking the order, checking stock, confirming with the buyer, allocating stock, picking, packing, dispatching and delivering.
What are the steps in order fulfilment?
Receive the order, check it, check stock, confirm with the buyer, allocate stock, pick, pack, dispatch, and confirm delivery before closing the order.
What is the difference between a backorder and out of stock?
A backorder is an order taken for stock you don't have yet, to ship when it arrives. Out of stock means you can't take or ship the order because no more stock is coming soon.
What is a 3PL?
A 3PL, or third-party logistics company, stores your stock and picks, packs and dispatches your orders for a fee, so you don't need your own warehouse or packing team.
When should a small business use a 3PL?
Consider one when packing takes up time you need for selling or making, when you've run out of space, or when seasonal peaks leave orders waiting. Check the 3PL handles trade orders and your type of product.
What does pick and pack mean?
Picking is collecting each item on an order from the shelves. Packing is putting those items into boxes with protection and a delivery note, ready for dispatch.
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