How to Bulk Ship

Bulk Ship is an efficient method for picking and packing large quantities of the same product(s), designed to be the fastest way to process a high volume of orders.

• Batch Size Limitation: Batches can contain up to 1,000 orders at a time.
• Platform Requirement: Must be completed on a PC or MAC using the Packing App or the Shipping.Shiphero.com page.
• Picking: Items can be picked manually or via the mobile application using the Bulk Ship QR code printed with the labels and invoices PDF.

IMPORTANT BEST PRACTICE: Batches for the same item(s) should not be generated simultaneously by multiple people. If multiple people are generating batches, they should do so for different products to prevent errors like inventory being pulled from the wrong location.

Batch Statuses Defined

After generating a Bulk Ship batch there are several statuses to help track where your team is in the process of completing them. Batches are sorted first by Batch Status (from top to bottom: Error, Generating Labels, Ready to Print, Ready to Pack, Shipped) and second by Creation Date (from oldest to newest). 

Here are the definitions of the Batch Statuses.

Customer Shipping Notifications

With the Bulk Ship flow, you can control when you want ShipHero to send the shipping notifications webhook to your ecommerce platforms; instantly or delayed.

• Instant Notification (Default): With instant notification, when labels are generated for the batch the orders are marked as complete and tracking notifications are sent to the ecommerce platforms in that moment.
• Delayed Notification (Enabled by request): With Delayed Notifications, you need to manually mark orders complete. This means you are able to pick and pack orders on the weekend or outside of normal hours and notify the store of the shipment once it is picked up by the carrier. This could be later the same day, the next business day, etc. Using Delayed Notification will eliminate the confusion of your customer being given a tracking number when the package has yet to be picked up.

Note: The Delayed Notifications feature only affects Bulk Ship. It does not affect orders shipped outside of Bulk Ship. Please contact support@shiphero.com if you would like this feature enabled in your account.

How to Process Orders via Bulk Ship Step-by-Step

Step 1: Select the batch of orders to process

There are two ways to select a batch of orders to process using Bulk Ship, the Suggested Tab or create a Custom Batch. Once you determine the batch you want process, click on the batch to open the Bulk Ship Pick & Pack screen and begin the workflow.

NOTE: SKUs that have the Serial Number setting enabled are omitted from Bulk Ship flow.

1. Suggested Tab: The Suggested Tab prioiritzes the list of batches by the number of orders (Batch Column) and then by the total number of items (Items Qty Column). Orders are grouped into batches using the following criteria: 

   • Status is not fulfilled or canceled.
   • Single line item with the same SKU.
   • Multiple line items with various SKUs.
   • Same 3PL customer (if applicable).
   • Order is ready to ship (NOT in batch, tote, on hold, or locked to a user). 

2. Create Custom Batches: Users can use the search bar and filters to create custom batches, including those with multiple line items or SKUs.

   1. Insert the first SKU or item name in the search box.
   2. Filter by Customer.
   3. Filter by the Item quantity once SKU(s) have been selected.

Step 2: Review the Picking Location(s)

The batch process automatically allocates orders to locations. If needed, change the location you want to pick inventory from by clicking on the location pill. 

A pop-up module will appear with a list of locations that contain inventory for that SKU, Lot and exipration information and if that bin is pickable or non-pickable. The modules lists locations that contain enough inventory to process the entire batch on top and locations with less than the required amount to pick below.

Things to Consider:

• Selected locations can be Pickable or Non-pickable, this allows your team to pull from overstock locations instead of depleting the pickable inventory used for the mobile picking processes.
• Selected location must be Sellable.
• Only one location can be selected per SKU. If a single bin does not have sufficient inventory for the number of orders in the batch, you have two options:
  1. Complete an inventory transfer so the full amount of inventory is available from a single location.
  2. Remove orders from the current batch to match the quantity of the selected location. And then process another batch for the remaining orders, from a different location after.  

1. Click the location pill	2. Select new location from list and hit Save

Step 3: Decide how each individual order will be packed

In this step you will configure how each order needs to be packed. You can pack all items into a single box or configure a multi-package shipment by adding a box. Once all items for the samle order are configured into boxes you will see a green check mark next to the product.

Things to consider:

• You can scan a product barcode to increase the SKU quantities and select a custom box type. Please make sure to "step in" to the custom box drop-down when scanning a box type.
• When modifying quantities and switching boxes - the system sometimes fails to carry over product weights and only applies the box weight, resulting in incorrect total weights. Be sure to double check the weight of the package for accuracy when entering quantities into a box, adding/switching to a new box, and before generating shipping labels
• Cheapest shipping methods are not supported for multi-package shipments when processing orders using bulk ship. 

Single Package Shipment

1. Enter the quantity of each SKU by line item
2. Select the box type and confirm that the measurements are appropriately updated
3. The weight will be automatically pulled in from the scale, the packed products or can be manually entered.

Multi-Package Shipment

Multi-package shipments are orders that ship in more than one box.

1. Enter the quantity of each SKU by line item to the first box
2. Select the “...” menu button and Add new box. 
3. Enter the quantity of each SKU by line item for this box. Repeat to add additional boxes as needed.
4. Select the box type for each and confirm that the measurements are appropriately updated.
5. The weight should be manually entered.

Generate and Print Shipping Labels

Once you have decided how the individual orders will be packed, it's time to generate and print shipping labels. There are 3 options:

1. Generate labels: This will generate a PDF for the shipping labels only.
2. Generate labels & invoices: This generates one PDF containing the shipping label and invoices. 
3. Generate labels and invoices separately: This generates separate PDFs of the shipping labels and the invoices 

Note: The picking list will be printed with the labels when generated. Picking lists can be reprinted in the Batch screen by selecting Print Picking List.

The time it takes for labels to generate depends on the number of orders inthe batch and the selected shipping methods. While the labels are generating the label summary for each order with have a loading icon present and the batch status will update to Generating labels.

Once all the labels for the batch are generated select the Print button to open the PDF in another window. 

Reading the Label Summary

The Label Summary column indicates the status of each order

• The Label icon turns bold if at least one of the labels is correctly generated
• The Printer icon turns bold if all orders had valid labels and the PDF was printed
• The Truck icon turns bold if an order has been marked as shipped

You can see additional details in the Label Summary by hovering your mouse over the different icons.

Editing Orders in a Batch 

You can edit the shipping method of an order in a batch or remove orders from a batch. These actions are completed in the Generate & print shipping labels section of the Bulk Ship page. 

• To edit the shipping method of the orders: Check the box next to the orders you wish to edit, select the Edit shipping method button, and pick the appropriate method. 

• To remove orders from a batch: Check the box next to the orders you wish to remove and then select the Remove from suggestion button. 

Troubleshooting Bulk Ship Batch Generation

Batch processing errors can occur due to various reasons:

• Incomplete or incorrect order information, such as address issues.
• Inventory or warehouse discrepancies.
• Problems with your internet connection.
• Individual order errors blocking the entire batch.

Troubleshooting Batch Processing

When a batch fails to generate or gets stuck, you can try to reprocess it. If that doesn't work, here are some troubleshooting steps:

• If a batch is stuck in 'Generating' status, try refreshing the page, checking your internet connection, and ensuring all orders in the batch have met their shipping requirements.
• If reprocessing fails, try breaking the batch into smaller groups to see if that helps.

Contact ShipHero Support if problems persist, such as repeated failures, extended 'generating' status (over 15 minutes), or recurring errors. Have your batch number ready to expedite the process.

Error Messages Explained

• “An error occurred while trying to generate labels”: This error is generated when the carrier responds with an error. Users can try to resolve the problems or can remove these orders and re-process labels and invoices.

• "The batch has orders on hold or canceled and that is blocking the process": This error is generated when an order has been canceled or put on hold while attempting to ship the batch. Users can resolve the issues for each order, or remove the orders and reprocess labels and invoices.

• "Some orders have voided labels": This message appears when some orders in the batch have labels that were voided after being generated. To continue, click the re-process labels button to generate new labels or remove the voided orders from the batch.

• "Multi box pricing is not available with this shipping method." Bulk Ship does not support 'Chepaest' shipping methods when processing orders with multiple boxes.

How to void and reship batches?

To void and reship a batch, select all labels and click the Void Label button. This automatically voids the shipping labels and reships the order.