Key Takeaways
- Shopify merchants need a warehouse management system (WMS) for Shopify that provides real-time inventory visibility, fast order processing, and reliable Shopify WMS integration.
- Common warehouse challenges, like slow picking, stock inaccuracies, and multi-location complexity, can be solved with a purpose-built Shopify warehouse management
- Descartes Peoplevox is the best WMS for Shopify sellers that want faster fulfilment, accurate stock control, and a strong Shopify warehouse integration that scales.
Warehouse performance directly impacts the customer experience on Shopify. As your order volume grows, you may start seeing issues like slow picking, inaccurate stock counts, or delays caused by manual workflows. When these problems start affecting delivery times, it’s time to invest in a warehouse management system for Shopify.
In this article, we break down what makes the best WMS for Shopify, common warehouse challenges Shopify merchants face, and how a Shopify WMS integration helps you scale your operations without adding unnecessary complexity.
Table of Contents
What Makes a Good Shopify WMS? Top 5 Things to Look For
A warehouse management system for Shopify must support high-volume order fulfilment, maintain accurate stock levels, and integrate seamlessly with your store. Shopify acts as the front end for sales, while the WMS powers the back end of your warehouse operations. When these systems communicate in real time, your business gains speed and accuracy.
A strong Shopify WMS integration should:
1. Real-Time Inventory Visibility
Your WMS Shopify integration should sync stock instantly between your warehouse and Shopify. Real-time updates prevent overselling, keep quantities accurate, and ensure customers always see what’s truly available. This is especially important when you sell across multiple channels.
2. Automated Order Processing
A Shopify warehouse management system should automatically import and route orders using rules you define. This automation speeds up order turnaround, reduces manual work, and helps your team process more orders with fewer mistakes.
3. Shopify Warehouse Integration for Multiple Locations
As your business grows, you may operate multiple warehouses. A strong WMS Shopify integration helps you manage all locations in one place and automatically sends orders to the right warehouse based on stock availability or customer location. This lowers shipping costs and improves delivery times.
4. Accurate and Efficient Returns Management
Managing returns manually can cause inventory discrepancies and delays in getting products back into available stock. A good Shopify WMS updates inventory as soon as items are checked back in, ensuring accurate counts and quick refunds for customers.
5. Actionable Warehouse Reporting
A warehouse Shopify integration should help you make better decisions. Reporting and forecasting tools highlight top sellers, slow movers, and future purchasing needs. This helps you maintain a balanced inventory and avoid stockouts.
Common Shopify Warehouse Challenges
Growing Shopify stores face several warehouse management challenges that become harder to solve without a dedicated WMS.
Inaccurate Stock Levels
Shopify merchants often struggle with phantom inventory. This is when Shopify shows stock that isn’t actually available. This leads to overselling, fulfilment delays, and frustrated customers. A Shopify WMS integration eliminates these inaccuracies by updating stock the moment products are picked, packed, returned, or received.
Manual Workflows Slow You Down
Picking lists printed on paper, spreadsheets for tracking orders, and manual data entry slow down fulfilment. As order volumes increase, these processes break. A Shopify WMS automates repetitive work, allowing your team to fulfil more orders in less time.
Growing Customer Expectations
Shoppers expect fast shipping and easy returns. A warehouse management system for Shopify helps you meet those expectations by improving accuracy, reducing errors, and accelerating fulfilment.
Managing Multiple Inventory Locations
As soon as you scale beyond a single warehouse, your data becomes scattered. A robust WMS Shopify integration centralises your stock levels, so you always know where inventory is located and how fast it’s moving.
How Shopify WMS Integrations and Automation Work
Shopify is built to work with third-party systems. A Shopify WMS integration connects your store with your warehouse operations so both remain synchronised.
Unified Inventory and Order Data
All Shopify orders flow directly into the WMS. Inventory updates flow back out to Shopify and other channels. This creates one source of truth for your entire operation.
Automated Fulfilment Flows
With a WMS Shopify integration, you can automate:
- Picklist generation.
- Priority order handling.
- Shipping label creation.
- Returns workflows.
This automation eliminates the delays that occur when your team handles each step manually.
Multi-Warehouse Support
Many Shopify merchants use multiple locations or outsource part of their operations. A warehouse management system for Shopify keeps all locations in sync and ensures each order is sent to the best fulfilment point.
Shipping Carrier Integrations
A strong WMS Shopify integration connects directly to major carriers. This allows you to compare rates, print labels instantly, and automatically send tracking numbers back to Shopify.
Why Peoplevox Is the Best WMS for Shopify Merchants
If you’re a large or fast-growing Shopify seller, Peoplevox is the best WMS for business because it helps you process orders faster, reduce errors, and maintain accurate inventory across all locations. Peoplevox is purpose-built for high-volume ecommerce brands and provides a strong and reliable Shopify WMS integration that does not disrupt the rest of your tech stack.
Its mobile app guides your team through optimised pick paths, prevents errors with barcode validation, and updates inventory instantly. With the Shopify integration, you can:
- Synchronise stock levels in real time.
- Import orders instantly.
- Push tracking information back to Shopify.
- Operate multiple warehouse locations.
Built to support growth, Peoplevox removes the friction that slows down Shopify fulfilment. It becomes the operational backbone of your warehouse without replacing your existing systems.
Growing Shopify businesses like DISSH, a renowned Australian fashion brand, rely on Peoplevox to scale their operations. DISSH recognised its urgent need for a WMS that could connect to Shopify and simultaneously streamline operations, enhance accuracy, and support expansion.
With Peoplevox, DISSH improved efficiency, increased accuracy, gained full visibility into warehouse operations, and achieved a 45% increase in fulfilment productivity.
Below, you can watch another customer success story from UK Shopify sellers Bully Billows and discover how Peoplevox enabled their growth journey.
Book a Peoplevox demo today to discover how we can solve your Shopify business’s warehouse management challenges.
Shopify WMS FAQs
What Is a Shopify WMS?
A Shopify WMS is a warehouse management system designed to integrate with Shopify. It helps merchants manage stock levels, automate order picking, improve warehouse accuracy, and speed up fulfilment.
Do I Need a Warehouse Management System for Shopify?
You likely need a WMS if you’re experiencing slow picking, inaccurate stock counts, overselling, or difficulty managing multiple warehouse locations. A WMS helps you scale by automating manual work and improving real-time visibility.
Can a WMS Integrate with Multiple Shopify Locations?
Yes. The best WMS systems for Shopify support multi-location inventory. They keep all sites in sync and route orders to the optimal warehouse automatically.
