WMS selection checklist: questions to ask before you buy

Before you talk to any vendor

Write these down first. Without them, every demo looks good.

• Your process, step by step: receiving, put-away, picking, packing, shipping and returns
• Your volumes: orders, lines and units per day, and your peak
• The systems it must connect to: accounting, ERP, e-commerce platforms and carriers
• The problems you want solved, ranked by how much they cost you
• Who will run it day to day, and who will configure it

Questions to ask every vendor

• Does it support our pick methods: single order, batch, zone or wave?
• Can it track what we need: bins, lots, expiry dates, serial numbers, pallets?
• Which scanners and mobile devices does it run on, and is there an app for them?
• Do you have a ready-made integration with our accounting or e-commerce system, or does it need custom work?
• Who sets it up, and what does that cost: configuration, data loading, training?
• What does go-live look like, and what support do we get in the first weeks?
• How is it priced: per user, per transaction, per site? What's charged one time and what monthly?
• How does it handle returns, exceptions and mistakes?
• What reports come standard, and what does a custom report cost?
• What happens to our data if we leave?

Run demos with your own scenarios

Give each vendor the same three or four real situations, such as a rush order, a partial shipment or a short pick, and ask them to show those. A standard demo shows what the software does best. Your scenarios show what it does for you.

Check references that look like you

Ask for customers with a similar size, industry and systems. Ask them what was harder than expected and how long it took before the team was comfortable.

Plan the rollout before you sign

Most of the effort is not the software. It is bin locations, labels, clean item data, training and the cutover plan. Ask for a dated, phased rollout plan, and decide who on your side owns each part.

A note on our own software

We make Fulfillt WMS, so we are not neutral about it. In our consulting work we recommend whichever system fits the operation, including systems we don't make.