23 Dec

How to improve customer experience through picking?

When people talk about customer experience, they usually think about the website, sales support or the final delivery. However, many of the decisions that determine whether a customer feels satisfied or frustrated are made much earlier, inside the warehouse.

Picking is one of those processes that remain invisible to the customer, yet it is decisive for their experience. A picking error, a delay or confusion in an order is not perceived as a warehouse issue, but as poor service. No matter how well everything else works.

Improving customer experience through picking means understanding that every order is a promise. And that promise begins to be fulfilled or broken the moment someone goes to retrieve a product from a shelf.

The customer doesn’t see picking, but they feel its impact

Customers don’t know how many meters an operator has walked or how many decisions they had to make. What they do notice is whether the order arrives complete, correct and on time. And they certainly notice when something goes wrong.

Picking errors, preparation delays or incomplete orders create friction. Not only because of the problem itself, but because of the feeling of lack of control they transmit. When this happens repeatedly, trust starts to erode.

That’s why improving customer experience doesn’t start in the last mile, but in how each order is prepared inside the warehouse.

Fewer errors mean a better experience, even if no one says it out loud

One of the factors with the greatest impact on customer experience is error reduction. A wrongly prepared order forces the customer to complain, wait for a solution or reorganize their own work. All of that has a cost, even if it’s not always expressed.

Many errors don’t come from lack of attention, but from poorly designed systems. Operators preparing multiple orders without clear separation, long routes that encourage confusion, or processes that rely too much on memory.

Well-organized picking reduces the likelihood of errors by eliminating unnecessary decisions. When the system guides the work, the margin for mistakes naturally decreases. And when errors disappear, customer experience improves without needing explanations.

Speed is also part of the experience

For many customers, especially in e-commerce and demanding B2B environments, speed is no longer an extra. It’s part of the expected service. And that speed starts with picking.

A disorganized warehouse may prepare orders, but it will struggle to do so consistently and predictably. When each order is treated as an isolated case, delivery times become unreliable.

Organizing picking to work in batches, with clear routes and repeatable methods, makes it possible to meet deadlines without transmitting urgency. From the outside, the customer perceives reliability. Inside, the team works with less pressure.

The picking cart as an ally of customer experience

Even if the customer never sees it, the picking cart has a direct impact on their experience. A cart designed for multi-order picking allows several orders to be prepared at once without mixing them, keeping everything organized and reducing errors at the source.

When operators clearly know where each order belongs, the process becomes safer. There’s no doubt, no improvisation. Picking turns into a smooth and predictable task, which is essential when offering a consistent service.

In addition, a good cart reduces the mental load on the team. And a less overloaded team makes fewer mistakes. That difference ultimately reaches the customer in the form of correct orders and reliable deliveries.

Customer experience also depends on what happens next

Not everything ends when the last product is picked. Consolidation and order closing are just as important. Well-prepared orders that get mixed in overcrowded or poorly organized areas end up generating errors that customers clearly notice.

Clearly separating phases, keeping areas organized and having visibility over the status of each order makes it easier to close orders correctly and communicate better. When customers receive clear and consistent information, their experience improves even when issues arise.

Designing picking with the recipient in mind

Improving customer experience through picking requires a shift in perspective. It’s not just about picking faster or at lower cost, but about understanding that every operational decision directly affects how the customer perceives the service.

When picking is well designed, orders go out correctly, on time and without surprises. Customers may not explicitly thank you for it, but they notice. And they remember.

Customer experience doesn’t start when the order leaves the warehouse. It starts much earlier, in how it is prepared.

If you are reviewing your picking operation or considering how to reduce errors and improve service reliability, it’s worth analyzing whether your current method and picking carts are truly helping you deliver on what you promise to customers.

On the blog, we continue to explore how to organize picking so the warehouse works better and the customer feels it, even without realizing why.