WooCommerce PickingPal

WooCommerce PickingPal is a shipping and fulfillment accuracy app that helps you ship orders faster and more accurately, and reduce returns. Scan your order barcode, scan your items, and let PickingPal do the rest! No scanner or barcodes? We’ll help with that, too. Visit PickingPal.com.

Installation

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1. Download the .zip file from your WooCommerce account.
2. Go to: WordPress Admin > Plugins > Add New and Upload Plugin with the file you downloaded with Choose File.
3. Install Now and Activate the extension.

More information at: Install and Activate Plugins/Extensions.

Usage

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1. Once a new order comes in, print the PickingPal Pick Ticket / Invoice (included)
2. “Pick” all of the order items from inventory, pull up the PickingPal main screen, and then scan the Order barcode on the Pick Ticket. This will load all the Order items into “Unpicked items” section of the screen
3. Scan the barcode of each picked item, and let PickingPal go to work. > If you’ve picked the correct item, PickingPal will display a green indicator, provide an “OK” confirmation tone, and move that item to the “Picked items” section. > If you’ve picked an incorrect item, PickingPal will display a red alert indicator, and provide a “NOT FOUND” warning tone.
4. Along the way you’ll see a progress indicator and once the order is pick-complete, the system will confirm it onscreen and audibly too with a 100% pick-complete tone!

Printing PickingPal Pick Tickets

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In WordPress Admin, visit WooCommerce > Orders

Print One (1) Pick Ticket

Find the Order you would like to ship, and click the “Print Pick Ticket” action button.

Print Multiple Pick Tickets

Using the checkbox on the far left, select the Orders you would like to ship, then use the “Print Pick Ticket” option from the Bulk Actions dropdown.

Scan Order Barcode on Pick Ticket

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In the WordPress Admin, visit WooCommerce > PickingPal: Using your barcode scanner, scan the Order barcode on the PickingPal Pick Ticket.

Scan barcode

Order Loaded

Once the Order is loaded, you’ll see that all the Order line items appear in the “Unpicked items” list, and the cursor has moved to the Product SKU field above. Now, you’re ready to start scanning barcodes on items themselves.

Scan Barcode on Order Items

Grab your first Order item (the physical item you’re shipping) and scan the barcode on that item. In our example, we’ll start by scanning the White, Medium, Crew Neck Undershirt item.

Picking Progress

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During a successful barcode scan, you will see and hear the following visual and audible “OK” notifications.

• Progress bar will show an increase % scanned, and the grey shaded area will grow
• Green “product found” indicator
• “OK” audible sound

Repeat the above process for each picked item: Once picking is complete, PickingPal will show the progress indicator at 100%, play a “pick complete” audible sound, and reset the cursor into the Order Number field to prepare for the next Order barcode scan.

Scanning Incorrect Items

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During a scan of an incorrect item, you will see and hear the following visual and audible “NOT FOUND” warning notifications.

• Progress bar will NOT show an increase % scanned, and the grey shaded area will NOT grow
• Red “product not found” indicator
• “NOT FOUND” audible sound (a buzz)

Scan Log

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PickingPal maintains a log of all “pick complete” Order scans. If an Order has not been scanned or has not been “picked complete” (where 100% of items have not been successfully scanned), it will not appear in the log. To search for an Order, enter the Order # in the upper right Search box, or navigate through the Order pages using the Navigation arrows at the top and the bottom of the Scan log table.

Setup and Configuration

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Pick Ticket Template Setup

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PickingPal comes with a configurable Pick Ticket Template.  To Customize the Pick Ticket:

1. Select/Upload a Banner Image. Max: 300px wide
2. Add in up to 5-6 lines of your Company Information such as your company name, address, phone/fax, and email
3. Use the bubble help for additional information
4. Save Changes.

Example of Customized Pick Ticket

Customizing Your Pick Ticket & Packing Slip Layout

You can use the default Pick Ticket & Packing Slip templates, or create and style your own. Create your own Pick Ticket & Packing Slip by following these steps:

• Copy the woocommerce-pickingpal-template folder from the woocommerce-pickingpal plugin directory to your /wp-content/themes/{your-active-theme}/woocommerce/ directory
• If you are utilizing a child theme, you may need to create the /woocommerce/ folder first within that theme folder
• Edit the templates as you wish

Template Files template_list.php – Pick Ticket (Orders View) template_slip.php – Packing Slip (Within PickingPal) If you run into any trouble with the Custom Template, simply remove the woocommerce-pickingpal-template folder. This will reset the system to use the included Pick Ticket & Packing Slip Templates.

Export Setup

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Your item barcodes can contain as little as your SKU and the SKU’s barcode, or additional information such as Product Name, Price, Color, Size, or any other attribute you feel would be helpful to have printed on the barcode label. PickingPal helps facilitate the creation of barcode labels by allowing you to easily create a CSV Export file with the raw data needed to generate the barcode labels. Think of this as a big mail-merge file that you can send to your barcode label provider. Use the check boxes in the “Select Export Fields” column to determine what fields you want included in your CSV Export file. Use the Export Field Order to determine what order you want the fields in. Simply drag the fields to reorder them.

Export

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The Export section allows you to select the barcode label records you would like to export. Select one, a few, or all of them for export. The columns and column order are based on the Settings > Export Setup section. Using the check boxes on the far left, select one or more records for export. You may fill in the QTY values before you Export to CSV, which will include those values in the CSV. Otherwise, you may directly edit your CSV and enter in the barcode quantity values using your favorite text editor or spreadsheet. When ready, just click the “Export (*.CSV)” button to download the CSV barcode label file. Provide your barcode CSV file to your barcode label printing provider.

FAQ

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Can I create barcode labels myself?

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A. Yes! There is a great Free Online Barcode Generator tool available at BarCodesInc.com. Simply enter your SKU into the field provided to generate a valid barcode image.  Repeat the process for each SKU you have and save the barcode images. There is also a variety of label stickers available at your local Office Supply store that may be used to print your barcodes on via a laser or inkjet printer. Just find the size that best suits your needs.

I don’t want to create my own barcode labels. Can anyone help me purchase barcode labels?

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A. Yes! There are many online companies that can help you with your barcode label printing needs. PickingPal can assist you with this as well. Just visit our website and get in touch with us through our Contact Us section.

Where do I find a barcode scanner?

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A. You can find a selection of corded and wireless barcode scanners on Amazon.com or eBay. PickingPal can assist you with this as well. Just visit our website and get in touch with us through our Contact Us section.

What barcode scanners is PickingPal compatible with?

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A. PickingPal should work with any wireless or wired barcode scanner that will successfully connect to a PC, MAC, or even Tablet (via Bluetooth or MicroUSB).

Can I use PickingPal from a tablet using wifi?

A. Yes, this is possible with the use of a bluetooth-enabled (Android & iOS) or microUSB (Android) scanner. We have tested this configuration with some finger/mini/handheld laser barcode scanners .

Can I use a scanner app on my mobile phone with PickingPal?

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A. Yes, this is possible with the use of a bluetooth-enabled (Android & iOS) or microUSB (Android) scanner. We have tested this configuration with some finger/mini/handheld laser barcode scanners. PickingPal has been tested on mobile devices with screen sizes as small as 5″.

Is there a PickingPal Mobile App for iOS or Android?

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A. Not at this time, but it is under consideration.

Does PickingPal work with shipping software solutions such as ShipStation or Ordoro?

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A. PickingPal is a perfect complimentary tool to use in conjunction with your favorite shipping software. Once you’ve verified your Order items have been properly picked through PickingPal, you can use any shipping software to generate the needed shipping labels. Check with your shipping software provider to see if they support Order barcodes. If they do, you can use the Order barcode on the PickingPal Pick Ticket to quickly look-up orders when generating shipping labels.

Can I add (insert Order or Line item data here) to the PickingPal Pick Ticket?

A. Yes. Please refer to the “Customizing Your Pick Ticket Layout” section above.

We use the WooCommerce Print Invoice & Packing List (PIP) Extension. Can a barcode be added to those documents?

A. Yes. Please refer to the “Creating Custom Templates“ section of the PIP documentation.

Version Updates

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Version 1.3.0

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Pick Lists Pick lists are helpful to the picking/shipping team because they help improve picking efficiency. A pick list is a consolidated view of what inventory items are needed across multiple orders, allowing the picking staff to avoid going back to the same warehouse/bin location multiple times. For example, if you have 3 orders, each having two quantity units of SKU1 & SKU2, a pick list will show a line of (6) of SKU1 and (6) of SKU2 that are needed for the 3 orders. Instead of having to manually go through each Pick Ticket to count the total number of items that are needed for a specific item, a PickingPal pick list does that summarizing automatically. Printing a Pick List

1. Visit WooCommerce > Orders view
2. Tick the checkbox next to the orders that are ready for shipment
3. Use the “Print Pick List” option from the Bulk Actions dropdown
4. Click the “Apply” button

A print dialog window will open, allowing for the printing of the pick list.

Warehouse Location(s) A new warehouse location feature has been added to allow store owners to assign one or more physical warehouse locations to a product. For example, in a row of 20 storage racks, each rack having 5 shelves, and each shelve providing room for 4 cartons, there would be 400 possible stock locations to store goods. Instead of guessing where inventory is stored, a warehouse can assign a name or identifier to each of the 400 locations, and store the exact location of that product inside the Product record of WooCommerce. In the above example, we could define a location such as R1S4P2 to signify Rack 1, Shelf 4, Position 2, and store R1S4P2 inside the Product record of WooCommerce, and allow that value to be displayed on the PickingPal Pick Ticket or Pick List. Setting Up Warehouse Locations

1. Visit WooCommerce > PickingPal
2. Click on the “Settings” tab
3. Scroll down to the “Warehouse Location” section
4. Click “Add Location“

Fields Enabled – tick checkbox to enable or disable warehouse location. Pick Ticket – choose “Show” to allow the warehouse location value to show up on the PickingPal Pick Ticket. Setting it to “Hide” prevents it from showing. Pick List – choose “Show” to allow the warehouse location value to show up on the PickingPal Pick List. Setting it to “Hide” prevents it from showing. Label – Enter in a descriptive name for the warehouse where the inventory is stored. For example if you have a warehouse in New York, enter in “New York” or another descriptive value in the label field. In the example above, we have identified a warehouse in the Los Angeles zip code of 90021. Assigning Warehouse Locations After creating and enabling a warehouse in PickingPal > Settings, you may then assign a warehouse location to a Product.

1. Visit Products > Products
2. Open a Product
3. Warehouse locations can be assigned on the “General” tab for the following types of products: Simple product, External/Affiliate Product, and Product Bundle
4. Warehouse locations can be assigned in the “Variations” tab/section for Variable products

In the example above, we have assigned location B7 to the LA (90021) warehouse location. When the Pick Ticket or Pick List is printed out, the warehouse location will either be shown or hidden, depending on the Show/Hide setting defined.

Version 1.2.2

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Additional Product SKUs For stores that would like to utilize more than one SKU per product/variation, PickingPal has introduced an Additional SKU feature. This is helpful for businesses who source products that come with a manufacturer barcode already installed on the product, and the store does not want to create new barcode labels for those items. For example, a store may resell an electronics device that comes from the original manufacturer with the manufacturer’s UPC barcode label on it. The store selling that item may want to create their own internal SKU for that item, but utilize the manufacturer’s barcode label for scanning purposes. PickingPal’s Additional SKU feature allows you to create alternate skus (i.e. UPC, EAN, ISBN) for each product for barcode scanning purposes. Once enabled, for each product in your catalog, you can define an alternate SKU for scanning purposes. In the screenshot above, we have shown the creation of a “UPC” Additional SKU. Once defined, we can now input a UPC value for every product (including products with variations) that correlates to the value printed on the manufacturer’s barcode label. At shipping time, as long as your product has a barcode equivalent to the UPC (or whatever number barcode is on the product), you can scan that barcode for picking verification on an order in place of the SKU. PickingPal supports scan-picking for the WooCommerce native SKU, plus any additional skus you have created for that product via the Additional SKU feature. Fields:

• Enabled: Check to enable this Additional SKU on the Product page inside of WooCommerce admin
• Product Page: Hide/Show – Determines whether or not the Additional SKU is displayed on the front-end website’s product page (under native SKU)
• Label: Field label describing the Additional SKU’s value (i.e. UPC, EAN, ISBN, Etc.)

Version 1.2.0

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Support for back order items For stores allowing back orders, PickingPal now supports this by separating the pick window into in-stock items (top) and back ordered items (bottom). In cases of back ordered items, PickingPal will always use a top-down scan order. Meaning it will scan/verify items at the top first, then proceed down the list. It will not prevent back ordered items from being scanned, but it will allow the shipper to scan the items that are currently in stock, and then come back at a later time to ship the back ordered items once they are in stock. Partial scan support In earlier versions, PickingPal would not register scan events into the log until the order was 100% Pick-complete. Starting in version 1.2.0, PickingPal logs every pick event separately and allows orders to be partially scanned. When an order has been partially scanned, a scan log entry will be created in the Log view. To view the details of the a scan log, just click on the date/time link and a pop-up box will appear. The first column indicates the total quantity, and the third column indicates the number of items that have been picked for the line item. Added printable Packing Slip based on items picked A “Packing Slip” has been added in this release to allow shippers to print the items that are being currently shipped. Pick Tickets are used to pick orders, but there may be occasions where an order cannot be shipped complete. In these cases, a Packing Slip may be printed to show what items are actually being shipped. Once the Print Packing Slip button is pressed, a print dialog will appear and show a form similar in appearance to the Pick Ticket. The Packing Slip will include Quantity Order, Quantity Shipped, Quantity Backordered columns and values. Quantity override barcode For stores that ship large multiples of the same item, where the item quantity is pre-sorted and counted, the new quantity override barcode may be used to avoid having to scan the item many times. This is especially helpful when a shipper has to scan over 20 of the same item. To print the barcode, visit the PickingPal > Settings tab, and use the Print Quantity Override SKU link. To Use Quantity Override: Visit the PickingPal main tab, load the order Scan the Quantity Override barcode, an Override item dialog will appear. Scan the barcode of the item you want to override the quantity. Enter the override quantity amount in the Qty field, then click the Pick button to pick that quantity of the item. New “Print Pick Tickets” filter in Orders view To make locating orders that need picking easier, a new “Print Pick Ticket” filter has been introduced in the Orders view. This view will show only those orders that have not had Pick Tickets printed. Once a Pick Ticket has been printed on an order, it will no longer show up in this filtered view. Update to log interface The log view has been simplified and now includes only 3 columns. Any orders that are 100% pick complete will have a check to the right of the date/time of scan. To view the details of the scan log,  just click on the date/time link and a pop-up box will appear. The first column indicates the total quantity, and the third column indicates the number of items that have been picked for the line item.