Case Pack Shipments
Hopstack's Case Pack feature provides Amazon FBA merchants with more control over their outbound shipments. This feature allows you to consolidate your items into cases and ensures that your shipments are not split by Amazon. In this article, we will explain how to use the Case Pack feature for smoother and more efficient FBA outbound shipments.
Aspect | Case Pack | Regular Pack |
|---|---|---|
Packaging Method | Items are grouped in cases. | Items are released individually or in uneven units. |
Control Over Shipments | Merchants have more control. | Amazon determines packaging. |
Flexibility | Offers flexibility for merchant preferences depending on chosen case configuration. | Less packaging flexibility since it is dependent on Amazon’s split of the resultant shipment plans. |
Handling Expiry Dates | Cases contain SKUs with the same condition or expiry date. | Varies in handling expiry dates. |
Merchant Involvement | Requires specifying case configurations and quantities. | Involves less direct merchant input. |
Efficiency | More efficient for specific packaging requirements. | May require additional steps if Amazon splits shipments. |
How to Access the Case Packs Feature
Method 1: From the Stock Ledger Screen
When releasing inventory for a client to create Amazon shipments, under the packing method, users will now be prompted to specify the packing method through a dropdown menu. This dropdown has two options:
Case Pack - Consolidates SKUs into cases and sends this case configuration to Amazon. Amazon accepts this case configuration as-is and allows the prep center to fulfill it as they intend to do.
Regular Pack - Creates a shipment request for specified quantities of SKUs to be sent to Amazon. Amazon takes this information and decides the destination address based on its internal logic.
Method 2: FBA Dropship Consignment Creation
When creating a dropship consignment, users can specify the Packing Method if the type of shipment chosen is FBA Dropship. Under this, users can choose to specify whether it is a Case Pack (prep center/merchant determines shipment destination and quantities) or Regular Pack (Amazon determines shipment destination and quantities)
Workflow Changes
The following part of the document highlights the top-level changes that occur if the packing method chosen for an FBA order is Case Pack.
Receiving:
No major change from the previous workflow. However, few things to note are:
The items should match the number of cases/quantity configured.
Conversion from case packed to regular or modification to meet case packed requirements.
Any excess/over-received stock moves to a receiving buffer for putaway.
General Note on Expiry Dates:
Cases should contain SKUs in the same "condition" or expiry date.
Hopstack allows only a single expiry date per SKU for clarity and consistency.
If a discrepancy arises, always pick the earliest expiry date.
Picking and prepping do not have any significant changes as compared to the regular workflow.
Packing Process:
After starting the packing flow, there is a new screen for shipment plans with the Packing Method as Case Pack.
The confirmation screen will display the SKU, Quantity, Number of cases, Quantity in case, and Expiry date.
Packers are expected to type in the box dimensions and weight for each SKU.
Thereafter, users can confirm details, proceed to packing, and generate shipment labels as usual.
The connected printer will print out as many labels as the number of cases specified in the order during creation.
Limitations of Case Pack Feature as of Writing:
Users cannot add multi-bundle products to case packs.
Bulk uploading case-pack consignments is not supported.
Editing shipment plans for case-pack shipments is restricted.
These limitations are as of writing the guide on 11th September 2023. Any changes to the functionality of this feature may result in changes in the above pointers.