Why a fixed routine beats packing as orders arrive
Packing each order the moment it lands feels fast, but it breaks your day into pieces. You stop, find the product, hunt for tape, then do it all again an hour later. A fixed routine groups the same jobs together. You confirm orders at one time, pack at another and hand over at a set hour. Mistakes get rarer and the work gets quicker. It also tells buyers what to expect. If orders placed before noon ship the same day, say so on your product pages and keep that promise.
The daily routine, step by step
- Morning: open every new order since yesterday's cut-off and check the address, pincode and phone number.
- Confirm COD orders with a quick call or message before you pack them.
- Print a pick list and collect every item for the batch from your shelves.
- Pack each order, checking the item, size and quantity against the invoice.
- Print the invoices and shipping labels together, and put both on or in each parcel.
- Hand the parcels to the courier before the pickup cut-off and get the count signed.
- Mark the orders as shipped and send buyers their tracking numbers.
- Evening: clear the problems - failed pickups, wrong addresses and returns.
Confirm orders before you pack
A few minutes of checking saves a wasted parcel. Look for missing house numbers, wrong pincodes and phone numbers with too few digits. Check that your courier serves the pincode at all. For cash on delivery, a short call or message asking the buyer to confirm cuts fake and impulse orders. If you cannot reach a buyer, hold the parcel for a day rather than ship it blind. A returned COD parcel costs you shipping both ways and earns nothing.
Invoices and paperwork
If you are registered under GST, the invoice is not optional. The CGST Act says a registered seller must issue a tax invoice before or at the time the goods are removed for supply. So print it with the label, not days later. Put a copy in the parcel or email it, and keep yours for your records. For big shipments, check the e-way bill rule too. The CGST Rules require an e-way bill when a registered person moves goods with a consignment value above ₹50,000. Most single parcels sit well below that, but a bulk order may not.
Set a pickup cut-off and work back from it
Your courier's pickup time decides your whole day. Ask your courier or aggregator when the rider usually comes, then set your own cut-off an hour or two earlier. Orders confirmed before that time ship today. Orders after it ship tomorrow. Stock your packing table the night before with boxes, tape, filler and labels. Then the morning goes to packing, not to hunting for supplies. On busy days, such as a festive sale, book an extra pickup rather than let parcels sit overnight.
Handling the orders that go wrong
Every day brings a few problems. A rider misses the pickup, a product turns out to be out of stock, or a buyer changes the address after you pack. Deal with each one the same day and tell the buyer what is happening. If you must cancel because you cannot ship, refund fast and say sorry. India's E-Commerce Rules also say you cannot charge buyers a cancellation fee unless you bear similar charges when you cancel an order yourself. Keep a simple log of each problem. After a month, it shows which fix will save you the most time.
Close the day with tracking updates
Before you stop, mark every shipped order and send the tracking number. Buyers who can see where their parcel is send fewer "where is my order" messages. Check yesterday's parcels for any that are stuck, and chase the courier early. On The Storemate, buyers can look up their order and its tracking number on your store's order-status page, and each order gets a GST-correct invoice. Build the routine once and write it down. Then anyone who helps you can run it.