Pickware now maps orders the way Shopify processes them: An order can be split into multiple fulfillment orders, and stock is managed per location instead of only as a total. This lets you define which part of an order is fulfilled from which place and with which shipping method.
Once the changeover is active for you, you will see a short notice about it the next time you log in. Nothing changes for your day-to-day business: Orders are imported, picked and shipped as usual. Multiple locations are available with Pickware Professional and Enterprise. How to set up a second location is described in Set up a second location.
What is a location?
A location is a physical place from which you fulfill goods to customers - for example a shipping warehouse, a branch store with Shopify POS or a pop-up store.
Every location has its own address and its own stock. The address is used as the sender address on shipping labels, so make sure to enter it completely.
A Pickware location is linked to exactly one Shopify location. Using the three-dot menu in the locations overview, you define which location is your default location.
What is a warehouse zone?
What used to be called warehouse is now called a warehouse zone: a defined area at a location in which goods are stored on bin locations, for example main warehouse, replenishment warehouse, returns warehouse or pallet warehouse. Every location has at least one warehouse zone, and every warehouse zone belongs to exactly one location.
Your previous warehouses are now warehouse zones and keep their name, bin locations and stock. Nothing changes in how you manage bin locations.
By default, a warehouse zone inherits the address of its location. Only if a warehouse zone needs a different address, for example as a shipping address for supplier orders, do you enter it there directly. How to move warehouse zones to a new location is described in Set up a second location.
What is the default warehouse zone?
Every location has exactly one default warehouse zone. Pickware books stock into or out of this warehouse zone when a process knows the location but does not specify a warehouse zone. The default warehouse zone of your default location is also the fallback when a process does not provide a location at all.
The default warehouse zone applies in both directions, for stock receipts and for stock issues. It is therefore not purely a shipping zone.
Where the default warehouse zone applies
Adding stock without a warehouse zone: Stock that is booked in without specifying a warehouse zone ends up in the default warehouse zone. There it is placed on the product's default bin location, if one exists, otherwise on Unknown.
Setting stock externally: If you set the stock via an import or the API, Pickware books the difference in the default warehouse zone. For the stock of a location, this is the default warehouse zone of that location. For the total stock, it is the default warehouse zone of the default location. The stock import from Shopify also books into the default warehouse zone of the location.
Picking and shipping: When shipping a fulfillment order, the default warehouse zone is preselected. With the Only consider default warehouse zone filter, you calculate pickability using only this warehouse zone. The number of pickable orders per picking profile also refers to the default warehouse zone.
Fulfillments from Shopify: When a fulfillment is imported from Shopify, Pickware books the stock out of the default warehouse zone of the assigned location. This applies as long as you have not set a different Warehouse zone for fulfillments in the Shopify location assignment.
Goods receipt and returns: Separate defaults apply here, namely the default goods receipt warehouse zone and the returns default. The default warehouse zone only steps in if these are not available, for example because the goods receipt warehouse zone has been deactivated.
Selection fields: In the Pickware Admin and in the WMS App, the default warehouse zone is preselected.
Rules for the default warehouse zone
The first warehouse zone of a new location automatically becomes its default warehouse zone and default goods receipt warehouse zone.
You set a different warehouse zone in the locations overview via the three-dot menu of the warehouse zone with Set as default warehouse zone. A deactivated warehouse zone cannot become the default warehouse zone.
A default warehouse zone cannot be deleted. The default warehouse zone of the default location also cannot be deactivated.
If you want to move a default warehouse zone to another location, first set a new default warehouse zone at the old location.
What is a fulfillment order?
A fulfillment order is the part of an order that is fulfilled from one location with one shipping method. An order can have multiple fulfillment orders, for example when parts come from different locations or are shipped with different shipping methods.
Pickware takes over the split automatically from Shopify. If you want to split a fulfillment order, merge it or move it to another location, you do this in Shopify. Pickware takes over the change. The shipping method of a fulfillment order cannot be changed in Pickware.
You can find the fulfillment orders of an order in the Fulfillment orders tab on the order, and all fulfillment orders in the overview under Warehousing.
Pickability is calculated per fulfillment order. The order as a whole shows the overall picture: If one fulfillment order is pickable and another is not, the order is considered partially pickable.
What changes in your day-to-day business
Each fulfillment order is picked and shipped separately. In the WMS, each fulfillment order appears individually. The shipping label uses the shipping method of the fulfillment order.
Fulfillment orders on hold do not reach the warehouse. If Shopify puts a fulfillment order on hold, for example due to suspected fraud, it is imported and displayed with the state On hold, but it only appears in the WMS once Shopify releases it again.
Pickware reports back to Shopify. As soon as picking starts, the fulfillment order in Shopify is set to In progress.
The state of the fulfillment order decides on picking, not the order status. If you archive an order in Shopify that has not yet been fulfilled, it is set to Completed in Pickware. Its fulfillment orders remain open, just like the fulfillment orders in Shopify, and continue to appear in the WMS. If an order should not be fulfilled, cancel it in Shopify.
Pickability is calculated across all warehouse zones of your location, no longer only across the default warehouse zone. If you want the previous behavior, activate the Only consider default warehouse zone filter in the order overview.
What you should check once after the update
Address of the main location. During the update, Pickware created a location called Main location and placed all your warehouse zones there. Its address is initially empty. Enter it under Warehousing → Locations → Main location. Your previous sender address for shipping labels is stored as an alternative address at the main location, so label printing continues to work unchanged.
Update the WMS App. The current version knows locations. Each device is assigned to a location and shows only its fulfillment orders, warehouse zones and stock. Existing devices are automatically assigned to the location of their previous warehouse zone; you change the location in the app settings.
What changes compared to the previous warehouse logic
Before: The stock of all warehouses was combined into a single total and transferred to one linked Shopify location. Orders at other Shopify locations were considered external and were not processed by Pickware.
Now: Each Pickware location can be linked to its own Shopify location. Stock is exported per link. Orders are assigned to the location that Shopify specifies, and location changes in Shopify are taken over automatically. Reserved stock is managed per location.
Where do I find which setting?
Some settings have moved:
Sender address for shipping labels: in the configuration of the respective location, no longer in the general settings.
Stock sync with Shopify: in the Shopify location assignments card on the detail page of the location, no longer in the Sales Channel settings.
Availability in the plans
Splitting an order into fulfillment orders: all plans.
Creating additional locations and linking multiple Shopify locations: with Pickware Professional and Enterprise. With Starter and Advanced, you continue to work with one location. How to set up a second location is described in Set up a second location.