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Ship from Store

Also known as: Distributed Fulfilment | Classification: fulfillment-pattern

Context

Online demand cannot be fully served from central warehouses — either because of localised stock imbalance, proximity to customer, or warehouse capacity constraints. Store inventory is available but currently invisible to the online fulfilment network.

Forces

Force Tension
Warehouse OOS but store has stock Online order fails; store inventory is stranded
Customer wants fast delivery Shipping from distant warehouse increases transit time
Stores have untapped fulfilment capacity Idle staff and space during low-traffic periods
Carrier integration needed at store level Stores were not originally designed as fulfilment nodes

Solution

Route the online order to the nearest store that holds sufficient inventory. A fulfilment order is created for the store. A picking task is generated for store staff. The item is packed and handed to a carrier at the store. The customer receives standard shipping tracking.

Sequence

sequenceDiagram
    participant OMS
    participant SIM as Inventory (SIM)
    participant Store as Store (POS/WMS)
    participant Carrier
    participant C as Customer

    OMS->>SIM: Query ATP per store (within delivery radius)
    SIM-->>OMS: Store A: qty 3, Store B: qty 1
    OMS->>OMS: Route order → Store A (score: proximity + stock)
    OMS->>Store: Create Fulfilment Order + Picking Task
    Store->>Store: Associate picks item
    Store->>Store: Pack shipment + print label
    Store->>Carrier: Hand over parcel
    Carrier-->>OMS: Tracking number assigned
    OMS->>C: Shipping confirmation + tracking link
    Carrier->>C: Deliver to customer address
    Carrier-->>OMS: Delivery confirmed
    OMS->>OMS: Close Fulfilment Order + Order

Business Objects

Object Role State Change
order Customer commitment confirmed → closed
fulfillment-order Store pick instruction created → picking → dispatched → delivered
picking-task Associate work item pending → in-progress → completed
inventory-item Store stock quantity decremented on allocation
shipment Physical parcel packed → dispatched → delivered

Capabilities Required

Capability Minimum Level Why
order-orchestration 🟨 3 — Integrated Automated routing considering store stock and proximity
inventory-visibility 🟨 3 — Integrated Real-time store-level ATP for routing decisions
fulfillment-execution 🟨 3 — Integrated Store-level pick-pack-ship workflow
store-inventory 🟧 2 — Fragmented Store inventory visible to online channels
store-operations 🟨 3 — Integrated Store staff can execute fulfilment tasks

Trade-offs

  • Extends fulfilment network without additional warehouse investment
  • Reduces distance to customer → faster delivery, lower carrier cost
  • Monetises stranded store inventory
  • Improves sell-through and reduces markdowns
  • Store staff require training for pick-pack-ship tasks
  • Packaging and carrier contract must be available at store level
  • Concurrent shopper and fulfilment operations compete for the same stock
  • Returns attribution becomes complex (store vs. online)
  • Inventory shrinkage: store-level shrinkage is typically higher than warehouse, causing routing decisions based on inaccurate ATP
  • Capacity limits: store fulfilment must be capped to avoid disrupting in-store experience (e.g. max N ship-from-store orders per hour per store)
  • Process: ship-from-store
  • Validation Rules: ship-from-store-requires-routed-order, fulfillment-order-dispatch-requires-picking-complete