Most dispatch tasks repeat on every order. Someone checks which service the customer paid for, picks a carrier, checks the items, prints the shipping label and copies the tracking number back to the sales channel. When order volume doubles, so does all of that, and the usual fix is another pair of hands at the packing bench.
The pressure usually shows at peak first. Temporary staff need training before they're useful, rushed decisions put express orders on standard services, and every packing mistake becomes a reship and a customer service email. By the time it's clear the process can't keep up, your team is already stretched.
Zenstores covers both sides of the problem. On the warehouse floor, it works as a lite WMS for pick, pack and dispatch, batching orders and checking every item with scan-to-pack. Behind that, Zenstores Automations routes each order to the right carrier and service, prints the shipping label, adds customs documents and sends tracking back, so the same setup that handles 50 orders a day handles several thousand.
- Every sales channel feeds one dispatch queue
Orders from Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and WooCommerce import into Zenstores within seconds of being placed, with the address, items and shipping choice already there. Your team works from one queue, so adding a new channel doesn't add another login to check or another place for orders to get missed. Every order then passes through the same set of rules, whichever channel it came from.
- Zenstores Automations assigns the carrier and service to every order
Rules run the moment an order lands, using any field on the order: value, weight, destination, SKU, tags, channel or the customer's order history. Any order that doesn't match a rule, or has a missing address or a failed booking, is flagged for review straight away. That way your team only touches the orders that need a decision, and everything else moves on to picking.
- Orders reach the warehouse already batched and prioritised
Zenstores groups orders into batches by size, service and location, either automatically or at a time you set, such as your daily dispatch cut-off. You can run separate batches for standard, express and same-day orders, each with its own cut-off, and VIP, gift and international orders are surfaced first. Nobody spends the start of the shift sorting orders, so your team goes straight into picking and packing.
- Scan-to-pack checks every item before the box is sealed
Your team scans each item as it goes into the box, and Zenstores checks it against the order. A wrong item is flagged before it's packed and logged against the order, so mistakes don't turn into reships and customer service time, which is another workload that grows with volume. Because the scan catches errors as they happen, new pickers can get up to speed within an hour, which matters when you bring in extra hands for peak. Once the last item is confirmed, dispatch takes over.
- The shipment books and the shipping label prints as the box closes
When the last item is scanned, Zenstores books the carrier and the shipping label prints automatically, straight to your printer with no PDFs to open or print by hand. Rules can send an order to a specific workstation and printer, and packing slips, invoices and customs documents print at the same point in the flow. For international orders, HS codes, IOSS numbers and CN23 forms are added automatically for carriers including DHL Express, FedEx and Royal Mail. Tracking numbers then push back to the sales channel and your customer as soon as the order is dispatched.
i have been using Zenstores for past year and half and so far and im loving this app for making it extremely easy to print labels. this app offers integration of multiple accounts so all you orders can be shipped using only 1 app which is fantastic. it saves a ton of time by automatically fetching all customer details and once you have printed the label it will add the tracking number to the order which again is very convenient. customer service is very good especially online chat where you can get help instantly so all in all a very good app. really amazing job by app creators
Everfresh Butchers
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Zenstores print shipping labels automatically, or does someone have to click print?
Zenstores prints shipping labels automatically. Labels go straight to your printer with no PDFs to open, and the label prints the moment the last item in an order is confirmed by scan-to-pack. A rule can also send an order to a specific workstation and printer, which is useful when different teams or product types are packed at different points in your warehouse.
What happens to orders that don't fit any of my rules?
They're flagged for review rather than left unassigned. Zenstores also flags orders with a missing address, a failed carrier booking or other issues as soon as they happen, rather than at dispatch. Your team sees exactly which orders need a decision and leaves the rest to run automatically.
Will the same setup still work if our order volume grows?
Yes. Zenstores applies your rules to every order in the same way, whether you're shipping a handful a day or thousands, and there's no upper limit on how many orders a batch can hold. Nutrition Geeks scaled monthly orders by 750% on Zenstores, using custom automation flows to cut fulfilment times and reduce pick and pack mistakes as they grew.
Do I need a full WMS to automate pick, pack and dispatch?
Not if dispatch is where the work is piling up. Zenstores works as a lite WMS for the dispatch end of your warehouse, covering batching, scan-to-pack, carrier routing and customs. It runs alongside your existing stock system, such as Unleashed, and handles dispatch rather than inventory control.
Can I keep using my own Royal Mail and DPD accounts?
Yes. Zenstores works with your existing carrier accounts, or you can ship on Zenstores' pre-negotiated rates. Your rules, batching and dispatch flow work the same either way.
How long does it take to get set up?
Most businesses are fully live within a day. The Zenstores team migrates your existing rules from whatever platform you're on and connects your carriers, so there's nothing to rebuild yourself and no developer needed.
