Types of Order Picking and How They Work

There are many approaches to Order Picking, each designed to balance travel time, labor efficiency, accuracy, and complexity. For beginners, understanding the main types of picking helps choose the right approach for your operation. Below are the most common methods, how they work, and simple guidelines on when to use them.

1. Piece picking (single-order picking)

Piece picking is the simplest method: a picker follows a list and picks every item for one order at a time. It’s straightforward and easy to train, making it common in small warehouses and stores fulfilling single-order shipments.

• Best for: Low order volumes, large or fragile items, simple SKU ranges.
• Pros: Simple, low setup cost, minimal consolidation needs.
• Cons: High travel per order, less efficient at scale.

Example: A boutique selling artisanal ceramics receives a few orders daily—each order is picked individually to ensure careful handling.

2. Batch picking

Batch picking groups multiple orders and picks common SKUs in one pass. Instead of picking SKU A for one order, then SKU A for another order later, a picker collects all SKU A quantities needed across a batch of orders.

• Best for: High-volume SKUs, many small orders with repeated SKUs (e-commerce).
• Pros: Reduces travel, increases picks per hour.
• Cons: Requires consolidation stage where batch picks are sorted into individual orders.

Example: An online retailer selling accessories batches thousands of daily orders to pick the same sock SKU in one pass, then sorts them into individual orders at a packing station.

3. Zone picking

Zone picking divides the warehouse into distinct zones. Pickers are assigned to zones and only pick items stored within their zone. Orders move through zones for picks or are consolidated after zone picks.

• Best for: Large warehouses with distinct product families or very high throughput.
• Pros: Reduces picker travel, supports specialization and continuous flow.
• Cons: Requires good coordination and a consolidation strategy to assemble multi-zone orders.

Example: A supermarket distributor zones dry goods, refrigerated items, and frozen items into separate areas, with each picker focused on their zone's products.

4. Wave picking

Wave picking schedules picking tasks into timed waves based on shipping schedules, carrier cutoffs, or packing capacity. Within a wave, the operation may use piece, batch, or zone picking methods to meet a common deadline.

• Best for: Operations that must meet carrier schedules or synchronize with packing and shipping shifts.
• Pros: Better alignment with downstream processes, improved resource planning.
• Cons: More planning complexity; waves must be managed to avoid bottlenecks.

Example: A consumer electronics warehouse releases a morning wave to meet evening courier pickup times for expedited shipments.

5. Cluster (or multi-order) picking

Cluster picking uses trolleys or carts with multiple compartments so a picker can collect items for several orders during one tour. It’s similar to batch picking but organized physically to make consolidation easier.

• Best for: E-commerce environments with small orders that share products.
• Pros: Reduces trips and simplifies sorting at packing stations.
• Cons: Requires investment in carts and planning for compartment layouts.

Example: A cosmetics fulfillment center uses four-compartment trolleys to pick items for four orders concurrently, minimizing back-and-forth movement.

6. Automated picking (robotics and goods-to-person)

Automated solutions bring items to the picker using conveyors, shuttles, or robots (goods-to-person). These systems reduce or eliminate travel for human pickers and can dramatically increase throughput in high-volume operations.

• Best for: High-volume, high-density operations with predictable SKU demand and sufficient capital.
• Pros: High accuracy, lower labor per pick, compact use of space.
• Cons: High initial investment, complexity, and need for integration.

Example: A large third-party logistics (3PL) provider uses robotic shuttles to retrieve totes and present them to pick stations where operators perform final selections.

How to choose a method (beginner checklist):

1. Analyze order profiles: Are orders mostly single-item or multi-item? What percent of SKUs repeat across orders?
2. Measure SKU velocity: High-frequency SKUs benefit from batching or slotting near packing.
3. Assess warehouse layout and labor: Large facilities often gain from zone or wave picking; small warehouses may prefer piece or batch picking.
4. Consider investment appetite: Automation delivers gains but requires capital and integration time.
5. Start simple and iterate: Implement basic batching or slotting first, then move to more advanced methods as volumes grow.

Many warehouses use hybrid approaches—batch picking for fast-moving SKUs, zone picking for specialized areas, and waves to meet shipping deadlines. The key is matching the method to your business needs while monitoring metrics like picks per hour and accuracy to validate improvements.

Whichever method you choose, remember Order Picking is about reducing unnecessary travel, improving accuracy, and keeping an eye on total cost per order. Start with data, keep processes simple, and refine as volume and complexity increase.