A pick list tells someone what to pull off the shelves to fill a set of orders. Shopify gives you a free way to print one, and apps take it further with batching, bin sorting and scanning. Here's how each option works and when to move from one to the next.
What a good pick list has
- One line per product, with the total quantity across all the orders in the batch.
- SKU and variant, so the medium and the large don't get mixed up.
- Bin location, sorted in walking order.
- Stock on hand, so shortages show up before the walk, not halfway through it.
- A way to mark progress, on paper or on screen.
Option 1: Shopify's Order Printer (free)
Since May 2025, Shopify lets you print pick lists from the Orders page using its Order Printer. You can set up templates for picking by order or by product, choose which fields to show, and sort by product name, SKU, order number and more.
- Set up a pick list template in Order Printer: pick by order or by product, and choose the columns.
- On the Orders page, select the unfulfilled orders you want to pick.
- Print the pick list from the bulk actions menu.
Good for: a few dozen orders a day, picked by one person who knows the shelves. Where it stops: you select orders from the Orders page, which works 50 at a time, and it's a printed list. Nothing confirms the right item went into the right box, and progress lives on paper.
Option 2: Export and sort in a spreadsheet
Export orders as CSV from Shopify, then use a pivot table to total quantities by SKU and sort by a bin column you maintain. It's free and flexible, but it's a manual step every run, and the sheet goes stale the moment a new order lands.
Option 3: A pick and pack app
A pick and pack app builds the list for you and keeps it live. In Pickadoodl, that looks like this:
- New batch: choose a location and filter unfulfilled orders by product type, tags or date range. Save the filters as a preset for tomorrow.
- Review: each order shows Ready or Out of stock. Orders that would exceed available stock are blocked before the batch is created.
- Pick: one list for the whole batch, any number of orders, sorted by the bin metafield you choose. Scan each unit, or print the list or export it to CSV or XLSX.
- Pack and fulfill: scan again per order at the bench, then fulfill from the app.
How to choose
| Order Printer | Spreadsheet | Pickadoodl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free | Free to 75 orders/mo, then $10.99 or $19.99 |
| Orders per list | What you select on the Orders page | Any, manually | Any number in one batch |
| Bin-sorted | Depends on your template | If you maintain a bin column | Yes, from a product metafield |
| Scan to verify | No | No | At pick and at pack |
| Tracks progress | On paper | On paper | Live, per batch |
| Best for | A few dozen orders a day | Occasional bulk runs | Daily batches and teams |
Tips that help whichever option you use
- Set up bins first. Even a simple aisle-shelf code like
A2-3in a product metafield makes every pick list faster. - One batch per location. Mixing locations sends pickers looking for stock that's in another building.
- Pick on a schedule. A morning and an afternoon batch beats picking each order as it lands.
- Check before you seal. If you don't scan, at least spot-check the high-volume items in each batch.
