For all the technological advancements that have happened because of, and in the world of, eCommerce and online sales, there’s some problems that seemingly never change – namely keeping an organized warehouse and a streamlined product distribution system. No matter what your business sells or how it handles transactions online, there will always be the need to keep a well-organized warehouse and product distribution system.

If you’re in the eCommerce game and you’re looking for ways to keep your warehouse organized and get easier access to your products, here’s a few tips we’ve pulled together to help keep things flowing smoothly:

Use the ABC method for storing products. Unless you’re a giant like Amazon, you can probably quickly identify a small portion of your inventory that routinely sells better than the rest. Since these products are going to be shipped and re-stocked more frequently, consider using the ABC method to group your products. The A category will be for top sellers and/or anything you run out of more often, the B tier is for average or above-average sellers, and C will be for anything that doesn’t quite keep up with the first two categories. Sorting them is the first step, and the next is…

Arrange your picking floor by item importance. For smaller eCommerce businesses, shipping time and flexibility is crucial to keeping customers happy. After you’ve sorted your products using the ABC method, consider rearranging your current warehouse storage to match this new product priority. Place the A products closest to your picking station (which we’ll get to in a second), keep the B items closer at hand, and don’t be afraid to set the C items aside for a time to keep them out of the way of the more vital items – of course, you’ll need to be careful not to make them TOO hard to get to, but de-prioritizing them in the face of items you’re going to need more immediately is going to help a lot in the long term.

Set up a picking/shipping station. Ecommerce businesses, more than any retailer with a physical storefront, really thrive on their ability fulfill orders promptly and receive new items without a lot of stress. Setting up a dedicated picking and shipping station near the front of the warehouse (or closest to the docking/receiving area, whichever is best for your location) and equip it with plenty of wire shelving and work stations to help your workers get their shipments picked, sorted, and ready to hit the road faster than before.

Keep everything labeled. It might sound like a pretty obvious tip, but proper labeling and identification will go a long way towards improving productivity. Use easy to read (and easy to scan) barcode and SKU labels on the same side of every box or item in storage to help cut down on the time spent trying to find, count, and/or process items when they go out on an order.

Streamline the picking process. Finally, after your warehouse is all organized, you’re going to want to do whatever you can to make the picking process as painless as possible to both help your workers stay productive (and avoid frustration) and help your customers get their orders even faster. Keep your aisle ways as clean and as wide as possible to allow for traffic, and consider investing in utility carts to help move product more quickly without needing to spring for the heavy stuff like a forklift (unless you deal in heavier items that really require bigger equipment).

With these tips, your warehouse and product storage will be running more smoothly than it ever has before. Now that it’s out of the way, there’s only one thing left to do – get out there and find your customers!