What is the difference between a pick list and a packing slip?
A pick list is internal: one sheet covering many orders, grouped by item, used to pull stock in a single pass. A packing slip is the buyer's copy, one per order, listing what is in that box and travelling inside the parcel. Print the pick list first, then pack each order against its slip.
Two documents, two audiences
The names get used interchangeably and they are not interchangeable. One is a shelf instruction for you. The other is a contents list for the person opening the box.
| Field | Pick list | Packing slip |
|---|---|---|
| Who reads it | You, or whoever is picking | The buyer |
| Scope | Many orders at once | One order |
| Sorted by | Item and shelf location | Order |
| Quantities | Total units of each item across the batch | Units in this box |
| Prices | Not needed | Usually left off, because it is not an invoice |
| Where it ends up | A clipboard or a tote | Inside the parcel |
Pick once, pack once
Freeze the batch. Choose a set of orders and stop adding to it part way through the pick.
Print the pick list and pull every unit of each item in one trip to that shelf.
Bring the picked stock to the bench in totes, one per order or one per batch.
Print the packing slips and the labels together, in the same sequence as the pick list.
Pack against the packing slip, check each line, then close the box and apply its label.
Picking order by order doubles the walking. The whole point of a pick list is that you visit each shelf once, however many orders want that item.
What belongs on a packing slip
Keep it short: the order number, the ship-to name and address, the item lines with quantity and SKU, and one line telling the buyer what to do if something is wrong. Leave prices off unless the buyer asked for an invoice. A slip with prices on it inside a gift order is a complaint waiting to happen.
Where the documents come from
Shopify prints packing slips from the admin, one at a time or in bulk, and its Order Printer app covers branded templates for invoices, packing slips and pick lists. WooCommerce handles printed documents through extensions rather than through core. If you buy labels in a separate tool, printing all three there keeps the stack of slips in the same order as the stack of labels.
Mistakes that cost a pack
Three keep showing up. A packing slip that lists the whole order when only part of it is in this box, so the buyer opens a case about items still on the way. A pick list printed before a cancellation came through, so stock gets pulled for an order that no longer exists. Slips and labels printed in different sort orders, which is how the wrong label lands on the wrong box.
Key takeaways
- Pick list: many orders, grouped by item, stays with you.
- Packing slip: one order, goes in the box, no prices.
- Print the pick list at the shelf and the packing slips at the bench.
- If the box holds part of an order, the slip has to say so.
Both documents, out of the same batch
For orders that came from a connected store, we generate the pick list and the packing slips from the same batch you just priced. The pick list groups that batch by item, and the packing slips print per order in the same sequence as the labels, so the stack matches the boxes. The Workbench that batches those orders is part of Pro.
Related questions
No. An invoice is a request for payment and carries prices, tax and terms. A packing slip is a contents list for a box that has already been paid for. Some sellers print one document that does both, but if the parcel is a gift, or the buyer is a business with its own accounts payable, keep them apart.
It can, as long as it says so in plain words at the top and lists both order numbers. Add the tracking number to each of the orders as well, so both show movement rather than one of them looking unshipped. A single slip with no explanation reads to the buyer like a short shipment.
For a single-item order from a store that already emails a confirmation, a slip adds little. It earns its place once orders have several lines, once you take returns and need the order number to come back with the goods, or once someone other than you packs the boxes and needs something to check against.
Split it. A Shopify order that draws on two locations becomes separate fulfillment orders, one per assigned location, and each location picks only its own lines. Running one pick list across both produces a list that nobody standing in either building can finish.