Pick and Pack Services Explained

What are pick and pack services?

Pick and pack services are the order fulfillment workflow where warehouse staff or automation pulls the right SKUs from inventory and packs them into a shipment for one customer. It is the operational core of ecommerce fulfillment and the most common service inside a 3PL pick and pack contract.

The phrase covers two physical actions. "Pick" is the moment a person or robot retrieves a unit from its storage location. "Pack" is everything that turns those units into a shippable parcel: the box or mailer, the dunnage, any inserts, the label, and the carrier handoff.

Most online brands buy pick and pack as part of a broader fulfillment service rather than as a standalone product. The 3PL receives inbound inventory, stores it, picks each order, packs it, and ships it. Pick and pack sits in the middle of that flow.

Where pick and pack fits in the fulfillment chain

Inventory enters the warehouse through receiving, gets put away into storage locations, waits for an order, gets picked, gets packed, gets a label, and leaves on a carrier truck. Pick and pack is steps four and five of that chain.

Who uses pick and pack services

Direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands, marketplace sellers, subscription box operators, and B2B suppliers all use pick and pack. The exact configuration looks different in each case, but the underlying service is the same: take inventory off a shelf and turn it into a shipped order. For a deeper look at why brands outsource this work, see our breakdown of the benefits of outsourcing pick and pack to a 3PL.

How does pick and pack work in a 3PL?

A 3PL picks and packs orders by integrating with your store, receiving each order electronically, picking the items from a slotted location, packing the parcel to your packaging rules, and handing the labeled package to the carrier. At 3PL Center, orders received by 2pm local ship the same business day.

Step 1: Order ingestion

Your store, marketplace, or ERP sends each new order to the 3PL's warehouse management system through an API or EDI connection. The order arrives with the customer address, the SKUs, the quantities, the requested shipping speed, and any special handling notes.

Step 2: Picking

Warehouse software groups orders into pick waves and routes pickers through the warehouse in the most efficient sequence. Different operations use different picking methods depending on order profile and SKU count: batch picking for high-volume single-SKU orders, zone picking for warehouses divided into specialist areas, wave picking for time-batched releases, and piece picking for one-off custom orders.

Step 3: Packing

Pickers or packers bring the items to a packing station. The packer selects the right box or mailer, adds dunnage and any inserts (thank-you cards, samples, marketing inserts), and seals the parcel. Custom branded packaging runs through the same workflow as plain packaging, just with different materials staged at the station.

Step 4: Carrier handoff

The system generates the shipping label using rate-shopped carrier rules (UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, regional carriers). The packer applies the label, the parcel goes onto a sortation conveyor or pallet, and the carrier picks it up at the dock cutoff.

What does pick and pack cost?

Pick and pack pricing typically includes a per-pick fee, a packing fee, packaging materials, and monthly storage. Most 3PLs price the pick fee on a tiered basis (the first pick costs more, additional picks in the same order cost less) and quote storage by pallet, shelf, or cubic foot.

Per-pick fees

The pick fee is charged per item touched. A two-item order is usually billed as one "first pick" plus one "add-on pick" rather than two equal picks. Add-on picks are often half the price of the first pick or less. This is why average order size has a meaningful effect on per-order cost.

Packing materials and dunnage

Boxes, mailers, void fill, tape, and inserts are usually billed at cost or at a small markup. Custom branded packaging costs more per unit but is invoiced the same way: per parcel, on top of the pick and pack fees.

Storage fees

Storage is billed monthly by space occupied. Common units are pallet positions, shelf bins, or cubic feet. Slow-moving SKUs cost more over time because they hold space without generating pick fees, which is why SKU rationalization is a frequent topic in 3PL onboarding.

Other line items

Most 3PLs also bill receiving fees on inbound shipments, account management or platform fees, returns processing fees per RMA, and special project fees for kitting or rework. Ask for a sample invoice before signing to see how the line items add up on a real month of orders.

See your pick and pack pricing

3PL Center's pricing calculator has a section called "Handling fees per order" that shows pick and pack pricing line by line: order processing, per-pick fees, standard box, mailer, and the LTL/FTL outbound fees. Enter your monthly volumes and the calculator returns a monthly fulfillment cost. Shipping costs are quoted separately because carrier rates are pulled live in the warehouse management system.

What is the difference between pick and pack and full fulfillment?

Pick and pack is one step inside fulfillment. Full fulfillment includes everything from receiving inbound inventory and storing it, through picking and packing, to shipping, returns, and customer service. A "pick and pack only" service typically excludes receiving, storage, and returns.

Scope of pick and pack only

In a strict "pick and pack only" arrangement, the brand owns the inventory in a third-party warehouse and the warehouse only charges for the moment an order is picked and shipped. This setup is unusual for ecommerce because most brands also need storage, receiving, and returns under one roof.

Scope of end-to-end fulfillment

End-to-end fulfillment bundles receiving, putaway, storage, pick and pack, shipping, returns, and customer-facing logistics support. This is what most ecommerce brands actually buy when they sign with a 3PL, even if the contract uses the phrase "pick and pack" loosely.

When pick and pack only makes sense

Standalone pick and pack is most common for project work: a brand running a one-off promotion out of an external warehouse, a B2B supplier using a 3PL for overflow during peak season, or a kitting and assembly project where the brand wants the kitting done elsewhere and the picks billed separately. For a deeper look at kitting workflows, see kitting and assembly services.

How is pick and pack different for ecommerce vs B2B?

Ecommerce pick and pack is parcel-level. Orders are small, SKU mixes are varied, and shipments go to individual residential addresses. B2B pick and pack ships pallets or cases to retailers and distributors, usually with strict EDI compliance, routing guides, and ASN requirements.

Ecommerce pick and pack

DTC orders are typically one to four units, shipped in a parcel via UPS, USPS, FedEx, or a regional carrier. Speed and cost-per-order matter more than per-unit pricing because the customer experience is the product. Subscription box operators sit in this category but with predictable monthly batch picks instead of continuous random orders.

B2B retail compliance

Selling into Walmart, Target, Costco, or Amazon Vendor Central means following the retailer's routing guide. The 3PL needs to handle pallet labeling, case-pack quantities, EDI 850 / 856 / 810 transactions, GS1-128 labels, and carrier routing instructions. Compliance fines for mislabeled cartons add up fast, so the picking and packing operation has to enforce those rules at the box. For more context on the EDI side, see what is electronic data interchange (EDI).

Hybrid operations (omnichannel)

Brands selling DTC and into retail at the same time need a 3PL that can pick a single carton for a Shopify order and a 40-case pallet for a Target PO out of the same inventory pool. This is the most common ecommerce profile in 2026 and the main reason brands consolidate fulfillment with a single 3PL instead of running separate warehouses.

What should you look for in a pick and pack provider?

The key criteria are integration breadth, picking accuracy, packing flexibility, location footprint, and pricing transparency. The right provider depends on your order volume, SKU complexity, and growth trajectory.

Integration with your store and ERP

Your 3PL's warehouse management system must connect cleanly to your sales channels (Shopify, Amazon, Walmart Marketplace, TikTok Shop, your own checkout), your ERP if you have one, and any 3PL-side tools like inventory planning. Ask which connectors are pre-built and which require custom work, and ask to see the data flow on a sample order.

Picking accuracy and SLAs

Pick accuracy of 99.5% or higher is the modern standard. Below that, returns and customer-service complaints climb. Ask for a written SLA covering ship-by time, pick accuracy, and on-time inventory receipt. 3PL Center commits to same-day shipping for orders received by 2pm local.

Packing flexibility

If you ship custom-branded boxes, fragile items, refrigerated goods, or anything that needs a special insert workflow, the packing operation has to handle it without slowing throughput. Ask the 3PL to walk you through their packing station setup and what "custom" actually costs per parcel.

Warehouse network and location coverage

Splitting inventory across multiple warehouses cuts ground shipping zones and ground transit time. A 3PL with strategic locations on both coasts and in the middle of the country reaches most US customers in 2 to 3 days via ground service. See 3PL Center locations for our network.

Pricing transparency

If you cannot reproduce the 3PL's quote yourself from a spec sheet, the pricing is not transparent. The strongest providers publish a calculator or hand over a clean rate card on the first sales call. Hidden fees on receiving, returns, kitting, and storage are the most common source of post-onboarding regret.

Industry experience

Some categories have unusual handling requirements: large electronics, ebikes, supplements, beauty products, and subscription boxes each have specific picking and packing patterns. Look for a 3PL with named experience in your category, not generic "we ship everything" claims.

Pick and pack services with 3PL Center

3PL Center runs ecommerce-grade pick and pack out of warehouses on both coasts, with full integrations to Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, and major ERPs. We handle DTC parcel orders, B2B retail compliance, subscription kitting, and seasonal overflow under one roof, with same-day shipping on orders placed by 2pm local and transparent per-pick pricing you can see in the calculator.

If you are evaluating providers, the fastest next step is to estimate your monthly fulfillment cost in the calculator, then book a quote at get a quote to see whether the 3PL Center setup fits your operation.