In this article, we’ll take you through the techniques you need to ensure smooth handling and circulation within your e-commerce warehouse.

You’re about to launch your e-commerce business. First deliveries from suppliers will arrive any day now. It’s time to think about storing your goods in your storage facility. Before going into detail about your storage options, it’s important to make sure that your warehouse is properly equipped.

The essentials for organizing your e-commerce storage space

It must include :

  • one or more vents, ventilation ;
  • an electrical installation that complies with compliance regulations, a climatic installation;
  • Storage equipment in perfect condition: cupboards, racks, shelves;
  • perfectly unobstructed traffic lanes, for the free movement of your order pickers and pallet trucks or self-propelled forklift trucks.

Warehouse layout: the choice of shelving and the type of mezzanine or storage platform will depend on the company’s activity and the type of products sold:

  • How loads are stored: by the unit, by the case or by pallet. In fact, there are shelving systems specially adapted to the storage and handling of each type of packaging.
  • The shape and weight of loads, which place particular demands on the structure.
  • The size of the storage bins, which also depends on the handling method. A few centimetres are all that’s needed for manual gripping, whereas with the help of a machine, a clearance of 7.5 cm in width and 10 cm in height is required.

Optimize your storage space

Goods warehousing must have a clear objective: to rationalize order-picking times. There are several analysis methods. The ABC method or Pareto’s Law is a 1st basis for this reflection. The aim is to assess the turnover rate of loads in order to organize storage spaces accordingly.

entreposage
  1. Class A: the 20% of items representing approximately 80% of the total stock value;
  2. Class B: the following 30% of items which represent approximately 15% of the total stock value;
  3. Class C: the remaining 50% of items representing around 5% of the total stock value.

Other warehouse layout methods :

There are also methods for managing traffic in e-commerce storage areas and optimizing flows. These warehouse layout methods are also determined by the nature of the goods.

It’s a question of determining whether the priority is to move older goods out of the warehouse – for example, in the case of food products – or, on the contrary, to gain rapid access to newer goods. These two types of flow are known as LIFO (Last in – First out) and FIFO (First in – First out) systems, and require either two-way or one-way handling.

In conclusion, the smooth running of your business depends in part on the layout of your storage areas, which must be optimally organized.