What Is a Packing Slip? (w/ Downloadable Templates)

eCommerce businesses need to constantly check and double-check every order. Before a package is sealed and labelled, the online business has to confirm that all the items inside it are exactly what the customer ordered, including the exact counts of multiple identical items. 

And each small business shipping has a different approach to this problem. But there are four main ways to achieve this

• Single order - This is the simplest process. Each order is assigned a picker, who is an employee responsible for gathering the items and placing them in the box. The picker will pick all the items and bring them back to the packing station, usually one at a time. 
• Batch picking - Every picker is assigned a certain number of orders they need to pick in a single trip before returning all of them to the packing station. 
• Zone picking - Each picker is assigned a section of the warehouse. When an order contains items belonging to that section, the picker is notified and starts selecting the ordered items. The package passes through the sections, and each picker adds the items as it passes. 
• Wave picking - The warehouse is split into multiple sections, but instead of passing through multiple sections, the package is placed in a centralized position. The pickers from different zones select the items needed to complete the order and they bring them to the box to be packed. 

As you can imagine, it’s not very easy to get all the items right, especially when packing large orders. Barcode scanners make things easier, but the box is still double-checked before sealing. This is where the packing slip comes into play. Pickers might examine the package’s items and compare them with the packing slip, or they might even check each item off the packing slip as they go through the checking process.

Large orders may have to be split into multiple packages because the products are too large or heavy to fit into a single package, or because various items in a seller’s inventory may be stored in different locations. 

Packing slips ensure that a client will receive all the items they ordered when their order is spread out across multiple packages. 

Instead of receiving an invoice listing all the items in an order, pickers receive packing slips listing all the items that go into the same box. They pack each box individually, so the packing slip helps them stay organized and check if all the items belonging to a certain order have been packed.

Despite the fact that most eCommerce businesses put a lot of effort into making sure that all your items are packed and delivered, mistakes can still happen and you might receive a package that doesn’t contain all the items it should. 

If this happens, the packing slip acts as a record of what should be in the package. You can contact the seller and explain that a certain package was missing a particular item. 

This can be especially useful when your order is spread out across multiple packages because it enables the seller to identify the problem. 

The packing slip can also help you keep track of any inaccuracies that might show up in the order tracking.

Sometimes, your package can be damaged in transit. Now, if all the items in your order fit in a single box and all of them are broken or not functional, you can easily ask for a refund based on your invoice. 

But what happens if your order was split across multiple packages and only one of them was damaged? Should you return all the boxes just because one is damaged? 

Well, you shouldn’t because you don’t have to. You can simply keep the good items and use the packing slip to inform the seller of the damaged box and ask for a refund.

But what happens if the seller doesn’t want to reimburse you for the damaged goods? 

Well, if the goods are significant enough in costs you can take the problem to a small claims court, where the packing slip can serve as proof, along with the invoice and the receipt. 

Having the packing slip can prove that the items in a certain package were damaged during transit.

The packing slip can be very helpful when you ship internationally because it enables customs to estimate the value of a package. 

Even though most customs agents prefer using commercial invoices that show the value of the goods and their destination because they give them a clear estimate of the goods, the packing slip is still useful and might get your package cleared faster.

A Certificate Of Origin is a document issued by a business that exports goods to authenticate that the products they sell were manufactured in a particular country. 

In order to issue a Certificate Of Origin, the business has to include information regarding the products, their destination, and the seller’s address. 

A packing slip contains all that information, making it helpful for businesses that specialize in cross-border shipping.

A packing slip should include the shipping address and basic contact information to help carriers deliver the package in case the shipping label is somehow lost. In this case, the packing slip acts as a backup for the shipping label.

The packing slip should include a list of items that belong to each box. When the recipient receives an order, they can use the packing slip to check if the package contains all the items they ordered.

A packing slip should include a quantity column because customers frequently purchase more than one of a certain item. Using a quantity column reduces the length of the list when a customer buys multiple identical items.

Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) are numbers used by sellers to identify products in their stock. They don’t represent anything for the buyer, but including an SKU column on the packing slip helps the seller identify a product with greater accuracy. 

If the customer encounters a problem with a product, the SKU code can help the seller identify its cause.