You’ve done everything right. Amid the virtually limitless choices available online today, the customer chose your e-commerce site to order from. Everything that led to that decision – the convenience and heritage of your brick-and-mortar stores, the expertise and customer service of your sales associates, the authenticity of your brand, the accuracy of your pricing strategies – it all led to this moment, the completion of a transaction.

In this era of unprecedented convenience when purchases come down to a finger tap on the screen of a mobile phone, it can be easy to forget that every order is the culmination of innumerable, hard-fought victories. Gaining each and every customer is a difficult and costly task. In contrast, losing them – at times forever – often occurs in the blink of an eye. The shipment of the wrong item, a late delivery, or a damaged product can negate the cumulative impact of everything that came before it.

This is why in sports parlance the fulfillment process is the at bat in the ninth inning with the bases loaded. It’s the extra point in a tie game with seconds left on the clock – the clench putt on the 18^th hole, and the final lap for the checkered flag.

It is also why, regardless of what sector you serve – general merchandise, apparel, groceries, and the list goes on – the push to optimize fulfillment processes must be unrelenting. And while the ideal state and efforts to constantly improve will be unique to each organization, there are considerations that are directly applicable to any organization that sells online.

Notably, while technology is by default a necessary and singular element in these efforts, it is in no way the only factor. To determine if your fulfillment process is as optimized as it can be requires a careful and comprehensive look at the proverbial “people, processes and technologies” involved.

Five Steps to Optimize the Fulfillment Process:

1. Examine your current fulfillment process: With the exception of new operations that include the most advanced software and automation in greenfield facilities designed to realize their full potential, most brands rely on a fulfillment process that has been customized and updated over time as evolving demands require. Most include legacy IT systems – including those for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), order entry, warehouse management, etc. – that are no longer optimal, as well as older warehouse and materials handling equipment, and more than a few manual processes.

For this reason, efforts to optimize fulfillment should begin with a thorough and complete look at how fulfillment presently occurs. What does it look like and what are the steps involved? What happens from the moment an item arrives until a successful, on-time delivery is made?

A thorough review of the process will reveal where major problems exist. This analysis identifies areas in need of better automation or highlights steps that are inefficient. It also brings attention to teams requiring additional support, those experiencing overwork, or situations where frequent mistakes occur. For example, are you inserting packing lists in parcels – something which requires more machinery and an extra step when a simple label will suffice? Look at each step in the process and ask how it can be done better.

2. Dig into your data: For most businesses, the most dramatic gains to be made in the optimization of fulfillment operations center on technology. But which technologies make the most sense – from Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems, to robotic pickers, advanced sorters and conveyors, and automated mobile robots – depend on a wide range of factors.

Confirming the weight and size of the items you handle and the volumes involved is the first step in creating an order profile that is crucial to determine what the ideal materials handling systems look like. Are there popular SKUs that will always require manual handling? When are your peaks, and what do those volumes look like?

Answering these questions provides a baseline for any optimization effort. This foundation helps guide important decisions, such as whether to consolidate fulfillment into omnichannel facilities. It also helps in designing facilities that can handle peak demand while remaining cost-effective and realistic.

3. Seek an outside perspective: It is important to remember that while it is imperative not to be stuck with existing manual fulfillment processes because that’s how it’s always been done, it is equally important not to simply automate existing ways of doing things. Automation and technology accelerate workflows, and if applied to the wrong process can result in doing the wrong thing, just faster.

Seek an outside perspective to audit your fulfillment operation– one that not only understands technology, but what optimal fulfillment processes look like today, not just theoretically, but in practice. These individuals should have extensive expertise and experience in your industry and be able to point to real-world success stories.

4. Include people-focused improvements:Fulfillment leaders are keenly aware of the significant labor challenges facing warehouse and distribution centers, from attracting talent to retaining it.However, the impact of the fulfillment process on employees is often overlooked. An optimized fulfillment process is naturally more ergonomic and creates opportunities for upskilling, like learning to operate and maintain robotics. Even subtle changes – for example systems that enable pickers to slide items rather than lift them – can dramatically impact the health and happiness of those in warehouse roles.

A refined fulfillment process is also less complex and more intuitive for employees. This makes it easier to train and onboard new hires, including the extra help needed for peak periods.

5. Build the fulfillment process around the customer promise, then track outcomes in real-time: Do your customers expect same-day delivery? The customer promise not only determines basics such as when shipments must depart the warehouse, but also whether internal processes – such as how long it takes the order on the website to reach the warehouse, be picked, packaged and shipped – are adequate. The fulfillment process should reflect the customer promise, not determine it.

It's also imperative to measure the ultimate effectiveness of the fulfillment process. This includes tracking outcomes influenced by external partners like suppliers and carriers, as well as post-shipment activities. Metrics such as the percentage of orders that arrive on time, addresses where items more frequently arrive damaged, and other metrics must be tracked and mitigated.

By keeping these factors in mind, supply chain, logistics and shipping leaders can approach the optimization of fulfillment processes in a measured, comprehensive and effective manner. Most importantly, they can proceed knowing they have taken into account the most fundamental considerations required to ensure success.

Andy Lockhart, director of strategic engagement for North American warehouse solutions at Vanderlande, provides retail customers – including many of the world’s best-known brands – with the innovative, scalable systems, intelligent software and reliable services needed to optimize distribution and fulfillment operations. Drawing on his extensive experience in materials handling and e-commerce, Lockhart ensures that each retail customer is equipped and positioned for success in a dynamically changing business environment.

This article originally appeared in the November/December, 2025 issue of PARCEL.