Case study · Retail operations
NovelOps
Operations software for NovelKeys, an online keyboard retailer.
Picking, packing and shipping with scan checks, stock by shelf location, and designer royalty payouts, in one system built inside the business that uses it.
- In daily use
- Built for one business
The problem
Every box has to be right, every day.
A retailer that ships its own orders has to put the right items in the right box, buy the right label, keep shelf stock in line with the store, and pay outside designers their share of sales. Done by eye and by spreadsheet, each takes time every day, and each mistake costs a reship.
NovelOps moves the checking into the system.
What we built
Pick, pack, check, ship. Then stock and royalties.
Pick lists
A batch of orders becomes one walk through the shelves, ordered by warehouse location.
Scan-checked packing
Every item is scanned into the box and checked against the order.
Box recommendation
The system recommends a box from the items’ dimensions, and remembers the box staff confirm for a given set of items.
Labels and carrier forms
Labels are bought and printed through ShipStation, along with the end-of-day carrier forms.
Stock by location
Every product has a shelf location with a printable QR label. Stock is moved and counted from a phone, and each quantity change is shown before and after for confirmation.
Holds and pre-orders
Orders on hold or waiting on pre-order stock sit in their own queues, kept in step with ShipStation.
Designer royalties
Royalties on designer products are calculated from sales, with a portal for outside designers.
How it works
From order to label.
- Orders arrive from Shopify and are sorted into ready to ship, on hold and pre-order.
- A packer starts a batch and follows a pick list ordered by shelf location.
- Each order is packed against a scan, with the recommended box shown.
- The label is bought and printed, and the order is marked fulfilled in Shopify.
Where it stands
In daily use at NovelKeys.
- Today
- Runs the operations of NovelKeys, the retailer it was built for. It is not offered to other businesses.
- Could become
- Designer royalty tracker: designers linked to products and rates, with payout statements made automatically.
- Box-aware shipping rates at checkout: the box chosen from product dimensions, so shoppers see the real rate.
- Bin locations and scan-to-count inventory.
- Longer term: the full fulfilment suite (pick, pack, label).
The film
