Shopify Order Fulfillment: Assign Warehouse Aisle Locations to Variants

Efficient order fulfillment is crucial for any e-commerce business. For Shopify merchants and developers, assigning a warehouse aisle location to each product variant can significantly simplify the picking and packing process. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the steps to use metafields and custom data to assign variants to specific warehouse aisle locations. We'll also show you how to customize your packing slip to include this information.

Why Assign Warehouse Aisle Locations?

Assigning aisle locations to your product variants can:

• Reduce Picking Time: Quickly locate items in the warehouse.
• Minimize Errors: Ensure the right items are picked and packed.
• Improve Efficiency: Streamline the entire order fulfillment process.

Step 1: Use Metafields to Assign Aisle Locations

Metafields allow you to store additional information for your Shopify products. In this case, we'll use them to store the warehouse aisle location for each variant.

Creating Metafields

• Go to your Shopify admin panel.
• Click on Settings at the bottom left.
• Select Metafields.

Add a New Metafield Definition:

• Click on Products.
• Click on Add definition.
• Name your metafield (e.g., "Warehouse Location").
• Select the type as Single line text.
• Save your metafield definition.

• Go to your Products section.
• Select a product and navigate to its variants.
• Scroll down to the Metafields section.
• Enter the aisle location for each variant.

Step 2: Customize Your Packing Slip

To make the warehouse aisle location visible on your packing slip, you'll need to edit the packing slip template.

Editing the Packing Slip Template

Navigate to Packing Slip Settings:

• Go to Settings in your Shopify admin panel.
• Click on Shipping and delivery.
• Scroll down to Packing slips and click on Edit.

Enter the Following Code:

{% for item in order.line_items %} {% if item.sku == line_item.sku %} {% assign metafield = item.product.metafields.custom.warehouse_location %} {% endif %} {% endfor %} Warehouse Location: {{metafield}}

This code snippet will loop through the line items in the order, match the SKU, and assign the warehouse location metafield to the variable metafield. Finally, it will display the warehouse location on the packing slip.

Step 3: Test Your Changes

1. Create a Test Order:
   • Place a test order to ensure everything is working correctly.
2. Print the Packing Slip:
   • Go to the order in your Shopify admin.
   • Click on Print packing slip.
   • Verify that the warehouse aisle location is displayed correctly.

By assigning warehouse aisle locations to your product variants and customizing your packing slip, you can greatly enhance your order fulfillment process. This small change can lead to significant improvements in efficiency and accuracy, ultimately benefiting your bottom line.