Why several locations change everything
With one warehouse, an online order is simple: stock is there or it is not, and one team ships it. Add branches and each order raises questions. The website says three are available, but they are in three different shops. Which shop sends it? What if that shop sold its last one over the counter ten minutes ago? Who pays for a parcel sent from the far end of the country when a nearer branch had stock?
Using branch stock for online orders is attractive. It widens what you can offer without buying more stock, shortens delivery and makes click and collect possible. It also turns shops into small warehouses, which they were not designed to be. The planning is mostly operational, and the software follows from it.
Decide which stock is sellable online
- 01
Which locations offer stock online?
Why it mattersPerhaps the warehouse and the larger shops, not every kiosk. Each location added brings stock and operational burden.
- 02
How accurate is each location's count?
Why it mattersShop stock drifts through theft, damage, misplaced items and unrecorded sales. If counts are unreliable, online promises will be too.
- 03
How much is held back?
Why it mattersA safety buffer per location, such as not offering the last one or two units, absorbs errors and counter sales in progress.
- 04
Which products are excluded?
Why it mattersDisplay items, fragile or bulky goods a shop cannot pack, and lines reserved for walk-in customers.
- 05
How quickly do sales reach the website?
Why it mattersA counter sale must reduce online availability promptly. The slower the update, the larger the buffer needed.
- 06
Is stock in transit counted?
Why it mattersItems moving between branches or arriving from suppliers can be promised with a longer lead time, or not at all.
The link between the tills and the website carries all of this. Our Shopify POS integration page describes it for one common setup, and our comparison of real-time and scheduled data sync covers how fresh the figures need to be.
Write the routing rules
Routing decides which location fulfils an order. Every rule favours something, so the rules express what the business values. Write them in plain language first.
| Rule | Favours | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Nearest location to the customer | Delivery speed and cost | Can drain popular branches and ignore overstock elsewhere |
| Location with the most stock | Keeping shops in stock for walk-in customers | Longer delivery distances |
| Warehouse first, shops as backup | Efficient picking and packing | Uses shop stock only when needed, so fewer orders benefit |
| One location that has every item | A single parcel | May pass over a nearer branch |
| Split across locations | Fulfilling orders no single location can | Several parcels, higher cost, more confusion for the customer |
| Capacity limits per branch | Protecting shop staff from overload | Orders pass to less ideal locations on busy days |
In practice the rules are applied in sequence: prefer a single location that has everything, among those the nearest with stock above its buffer, within its daily capacity, and split only as a last resort. Decide too whether the customer may choose a branch, as they do for collection, or whether the system chooses unseen.
Choose the fulfilment methods you support
- Ship from warehouse. The baseline. Efficient, with trained staff and proper packing.
- Ship from shop. A branch picks, packs and hands the parcel to a courier. Needs packing materials, a collection schedule and time in the working day.
- Click and collect from branch stock. The customer reserves an item that is already in the shop. Fast, and it depends on the count being right.
- Click and collect by transfer. The item is sent to the chosen branch from elsewhere. Slower, and it uses your own transfers.
- Local delivery from branch. A shop delivers nearby the same day with its own or a local service.
- Returns to any branch. Customers expect to return online purchases in a shop. Decide where returned stock goes and how the refund is issued.
Start with one or two methods and a handful of branches. Each method added multiplies the cases staff must learn and the exceptions the system must handle.
Prepare the branches
- 01
Give staff a clear queue
A screen or device showing orders to pick, in order of deadline, with an alert when a new one arrives. Email printouts get lost.
- 02
Set a time to respond
For example, accept or decline within a set period during opening hours. Orders left unanswered pass to another location.
- 03
Make picking simple
Product image, code, location in the shop where known, and a scan to confirm the right item.
- 04
Provide packing and labels
Materials sized for what the branch sells, a label printer and a fixed place to hold parcels for collection.
- 05
Agree courier collections
Daily pickup times determine the order cut-off shown to customers.
- 06
Organize the collection desk
Where customers go, how identity is checked, how long uncollected orders are held.
- 07
Recognize the work
Online orders fulfilled by a branch should count toward its results. Otherwise staff will serve the customer in front of them and leave the parcel for later.
A worked example
A bookshop chain opens branch stock to online orders
This example is invented to show rules and exceptions together. A chain of nine bookshops with one small warehouse wants to offer its full range online.
- Sellable stockThe warehouse and the five largest shops offer stock. Each shop holds back one copy of every title. Signed and damaged copies are excluded.
- RoutingWarehouse first if it has every item. Otherwise the nearest shop that has everything. Orders are split only when no single location can fulfil them, and never into more than two parcels.
- MethodsDelivery, and click and collect from a chosen shop. If the chosen shop lacks the title, the customer is shown the wait for a transfer before paying.
- Branch toolsEach shop has a tablet with the picking queue. Staff have two opening hours to confirm an order, scanning each book.
- ExceptionIn the first month, shops cannot find about 1 book in 25 that the system says they have. A not found button sends the order to the next location at once and flags the title for a stock check.
The not found cases cluster in two shops and in the children's section, where books are misplaced by browsing customers. A weekly count of that section in those shops halves the rate, and no customer waited longer because rerouting was automatic.
Design the exceptions before launch
| Situation | What should happen |
|---|---|
| Branch cannot find the item | One tap sends the order, or that line, to the next location. The stock count is corrected and flagged |
| Branch does not respond in time | The order is reassigned automatically, and the manager is told |
| No location can fulfil a line | The customer is told promptly and offered a wait, a substitute or a refund for that line |
| Item is damaged when picked | Treated as not found, with the reason recorded |
| Customer does not collect | A reminder, then a refund and return to stock after a stated period |
| Order is cancelled after picking | Stock goes back on the shelf and into the count the same day |
| Return to a different branch | Refund issued from the original payment. Stock added where it now sits |
Measure these from the first day: the share of orders rerouted, by branch and reason, the time from order to dispatch, and collection orders ready on time. A branch with a high not found rate has a stock accuracy problem that also affects its walk-in customers.
Multi-branch order checklist
Multi-branch ecommerce checklist
0 of 11 checkedWhat to do next
Pick two branches and count fifty products in each against what the system says. The match rate tells you how large a buffer you need and whether shop stock can be promised online yet. Then ask the shop managers what would have to change in their day.
Our guide on connecting ecommerce to ERP and inventory covers the stock integration behind all of this. Tell us how many locations you have and how they are connected today.
Common questions
Should every branch fulfil online orders?
Not at the start, and perhaps never. Begin with the locations that have reliable stock counts, space to pack and staff time. Small or very busy shops may be better left out, or used only for click and collect of items they already hold. Add locations as the process proves itself and stock accuracy is confirmed.
How do we avoid selling stock a shop no longer has?
Three measures work together: fast updates from the tills to the website, a safety buffer that holds back the last unit or two at each location, and regular counts to keep shop records accurate. Even so, some misses will occur, so the system needs a quick way for a branch to pass an order on.
Is it better to split an order or wait for one location?
It depends on what your customers value and what parcels cost you. Splitting gets items out sooner and costs more in shipping and packaging, and it can confuse customers who receive part of an order. Many retailers prefer a single location where possible and limit splits to two parcels, telling the customer clearly.
Who gets credit for an online sale fulfilled by a shop?
Decide this with shop managers before launch, because it shapes behaviour. If a branch does the picking and packing and receives no recognition in its results or targets, online orders will be treated as a nuisance. Many businesses credit the fulfilling branch, and some share credit with the branch where the customer lives.
What systems are needed for multi-branch fulfilment?
A single view of stock across locations, kept current by the tills and the warehouse, a set of routing rules, and a tool for branches to receive and confirm orders. These may come from your ecommerce platform, a point-of-sale system, an order management system or an ERP, depending on scale. Write the rules first, then see which system can apply them.
