The E-commerce Fulfillment Audit: 10 Things to Check Right Now

Fulfillment problems are expensive — in returns, bad reviews, account penalties, and lost customers. Most of them are preventable. Here are 10 things to check in your fulfillment operation right now.

1. Picking Accuracy Rate

What percentage of orders are picked correctly? Above 99.5% is good. Below 99% means you have a process problem costing you in returns and reshipments.

2. On-Time Ship Rate

Are you shipping within your stated handling time? Consistently late shipping damages marketplace metrics and customer trust.

3. Damage Rate by Carrier

Track damage claims by carrier. If one carrier consistently causes more damage, renegotiate or switch.

4. Return Processing Speed

How long does it take a return to be received, inspected, and restocked? Every day a returned item sits unprocessed is a day it's not available for sale.

5. Storage Layout Efficiency

Are your best-selling SKUs closest to the packing station? Velocity-based slotting can reduce pick time by 20–30%.

6. Packaging Cost per Order

Are you using the right size packaging for each product? Oversized boxes cost more in materials, void fill, and dimensional weight shipping charges.

7. Peak Season Capacity

Do you have a plan for Q4 volume? The time to prepare is Q2, not November.

8. Supplier Lead Time Accuracy

How often do suppliers deliver on the date they promised? Track lead time variance by supplier.

9. Shrinkage Rate

Are your inventory counts matching your system records? Unexplained shrinkage above 0.5% needs investigation.

10. Landed Cost per Unit

Do you know the true cost of each unit including freight, duties, receiving, and storage? You can't protect margin if you don't know your real cost.

The fix: Score yourself on all 10. Any area below standard becomes your priority for the next 30 days.