Fulfillment Business Cycle

What is a Fulfillment System?

A fulfillment system enables businesses to store inventory inside warehouses, manage stock levels, process customer orders, and deliver products to end users.

The fulfillment process begins when a customer joins the platform and registers products in the system. These products are then transferred into warehouse storage, prepared for orders, shipped to receivers, and tracked throughout their lifecycle.

Fulfillment Lifecycle Overview

The fulfillment process follows a structured sequence of business operations.

Customer Onboarding

Every fulfillment operation begins with creating a customer account.

The customer account acts as the owner of products, pickup requests and orders.

Before the customer can start using fulfillment services, the account must be configured by the fulfillment administrator.

Product Registration

Product registration is the first inventory-related activity performed by a customer.

During this stage, the customer informs the fulfillment system about the products they own and plan to store inside warehouses.

Products may be created individually or imported in bulk using Excel files. Learn more about how to create products

Initial Inventory State

A newly created product is not automatically available for order fulfillment.

Although the inventory exists in the system, the warehouse has not yet physically received the products.

Therefore, all newly registered inventory is initially classified as Available To Pickup.

Product Pickup Request

After products are created, the next step is moving inventory into the warehouse.

Products cannot be sold, packed, shipped, or included in customer orders until they are physically received and stored inside a warehouse.

To begin this process, the customer creates a Pickup Request.

During request creation, the customer chooses:

• Products
• Quantity to be stored
• Warehouse
• Pickup Type

Inventory Reservation

Once a pickup request is created, the requested quantity is reserved for warehouse receiving.

Pickup Types

The customer must choose one of two pickup methods when creating the request.

Self Pickup

The customer personally delivers products to the warehouse.

• No driver is required.
• The customer transports products to the warehouse.
• The warehouse staff receives and stores the inventory.

Ask For Pickup

The customer requests a driver to collect products and transport them to the warehouse.

• A driver must be assigned.
• The driver collects products from the customer.
• The driver delivers products to the warehouse.
• The warehouse staff receives and stores the inventory.

Pickup Request Status Flow

Every pickup request follows a predefined status lifecycle.

Self Pickup Status Flow

Ask For Pickup Status Flow

Driver Assignment

Driver assignment is only available for requests using the Ask For Pickup method.

Before a driver can be assigned, the request must satisfy the following conditions:

• Pickup Type = Ask For Pickup
• Status = BOOKED

Once assigned, the driver receives the pickup request on the mobile application and proceeds to collect products from the customer.

Receiving Products

Once products physically arrive at the warehouse, the receiving process begins.

Self Pickup Requests

When the customer delivers products directly to the warehouse, the administrator changes the pickup status manually from:

Ask For Pickup Requests

Once the driver completes the collection process, the driver will update the request status via the driver mobile app using the following workflow:

Shelving Inventory

After products are received, warehouse staff must assign the inventory to storage locations inside the warehouse.

For each product, the administrator records:

• Expiration Date
• Shelf Location
• Received Quantity
• Damaged Quantity

The system only displays shelves that are:

• Active
• Not Full
• Located in the selected warehouse

Receiving Example

Consider a pickup request containing a product with

First Receiving Operation

Result:

• 20 items stored across warehouse locations on Shelf #2.
• 10 items remain to be received.
• 0 damaged items.

Second Receiving Operation

Final Result:

• Total Inventory: 28 items stored across warehouse locations:
  • 20 items located on Shelf #2.
  • 8 items located on Shelf #10.
• 2 damaged items.
• 0 items remaining to receive.

Inventory Available For Orders

Following up on our earlier example (where the customer requested a pickup of 70 out of 100 items), once the receiving and shelving processes are fully completed, those items are officially moved into active stock.

Here is how the customer's total inventory balances out after all workflow steps are finished:

Order Creation

Once products have been received by the warehouse and successfully stored on shelves, the inventory becomes available for fulfillment operations.

At this stage, the quantity previously marked as Available To Pickup is converted into Available To Order.

The customer can now begin creating orders by selecting products and specifying the required quantity for each item.

Order Fulfillment Lifecycle

After an order is created, responsibility shifts from the customer to warehouse operations.

Warehouse staff are responsible for preparing, collecting, verifying, and dispatching the order until it reaches the shipping company.

Order Status Flow

1. NEW

NEW is the initial status assigned automatically when a customer creates an order.

The order is now waiting for warehouse processing.

2. UNDER-PREPARING

Once warehouse operations begin processing the order, the status changes to UNDER-PREPARING.

During this stage, warehouse staff review the order and prepare it for item collection.

3. COLLECTING-FROM-SHELVE

The order is now prepared and ready for physical item collection from warehouse shelves.

A picker user must be assigned to collect the requested products.

Order Confirmation Methods

After collecting the required products, the picker must confirm the order.

1. Picker Application

   The assigned picker receives the order on the mobile application and confirms completion directly from the app.

2. Manual Confirmation:

   Administrators can manually confirm the order from the picker page. See Picker Page Documentation.

4. CONFIRM-BY-PICKER

The picker has confirmed that all requested products have been collected from warehouse shelves.

Warehouse staff must now verify the collected inventory and prepare the shipment for dispatch.

Order Verification Process

1. Navigate to Orders.
2. Open Check Order page.
3. Enter the order barcode.
4. Click Check Order.
5. Enter each product SKU to scan.
6. Click Check SKU.
7. Select the package type (Warehouse Package or Seller Package).
8. Click Update Order Status.

5. READY-TO-DISPATCH

All warehouse preparation activities have been completed.

The order is packed, verified, and waiting to be assigned to a shipping company.

6. ASSIGNED-TO-SHIPPING-COMPANY

At this stage, the order is handed over to a shipping company.

Warehouse staff select the shipping company and define the number of shipment boxes required for the order.

Shipping labels are then generated and attached to the shipment.

7. DELIVERED

DELIVERED is the final fulfillment status.

The shipping company has successfully completed delivery and the order has reached the receiver.