What is a Warehouse?

A Warehouse (or Fulfillment Center) is a dedicated physical facility built for receiving bulk freight shipments from manufacturers, organizing items into bin locations, and processing customer orders for shipping carriers (UPS, FedEx, DHL).

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)

While an ecommerce platform (like Shopify) handles storefront orders, a WMS (Warehouse Management System) controls internal physical warehouse operations:

  • Receiving & Putaway: Scanning incoming shipment pallets into specific rack bins.
  • Pick Lists: Generating batch picking routes for warehouse staff.
  • Pack Verification: Weight-checking boxes before printing carrier shipping labels.

Common Confusion

Developer Takeaway

WMS & Storefront Webhooks: Build robust webhook retry handlers for inventory_levels/update and fulfillments/create events sent by third-party WMS software (like ShipBob, Flexport, or Anchor) to prevent stock desynchronization.