Why packing lists can give you more accurate inventory, operations, and accounting

The packing slip is a key shipping document that just might get the least love.

What is a packing slip?

It is that piece of paper awkwardly shoved behind the shipping label in that pouch, or is sitting between you and your items, separating you from continuing your unboxing therapy.

What do I do with this awkward piece of paper? Most people might send it straight into the garbage with a half-broken down box...

Packing slips tell you what is supposed to be in your package, so that you can account for what you order and receive.

Why is it important for businesses to properly process packing slips?

Packing slips are essentially receipts, confirming that you've received the contents of that package. Packing slips contain critical information about your orders, vendors, SKUs, products, descriptions, units of measure, and quantities. 

What is involved in receiving and accounting in eCommerce?

A single order could come in over many shipments, packages, and packing slips. It's important to account for your received packages and items, so you don't discover missing items before it's too late. Buyers should only pay for items that they receive, not items that they order.

In eCommerce, 15% of packages are lost, damaged, delivered to the wrong address, stolen by "porch pirates", or contain the wrong items, as reported by the New York Times.

​Nearly 20% of eCommerce products are returned. That's a lot of room of errors and exceptions to happen between shipment and receiving.

In an increasingly digital world, the packing slip is still obviously on paper. 

What's a solution to organize and process packing slips, to go from paper to digital? 

Photon Commerce introduces a unique solution missing in the industry. It digitizes, organizes, and reconciles all of your packing slips. It reads the packing lists, whether they are a paper scan or a PDF, extracts all of the data, and imports them all into your inventory and accounting software. It even automatically matches packing slips to invoices, order confirmations, and POs down to line items, SKUs, and quantities. 

Photon Commerce digitizes tens of thousands of packing slips a day across millions of items for modern eCommerce and logistics businesses large and small. No more manual data entry, reconciliation over endless spreadsheets, or arguing with your suppliers on where your missing items are. With more accurate inventory, prevent stock-outs, wrong orders, and angry customers.

Reach out at packingslips@photoncommerce.com to see how you can organize all of your orders, SKUs, receiving, invoicing, inventory, and accounting.