Pickadoodl

Help

Everything you need to run a batch from start to finish. Stuck? Email support@drippincode.com.

Getting started

Every batch starts from New batch. Choose a location (required), then narrow the unfulfilled orders with optional filters: product type, include or exclude tags, and a date range. Save a set of filters as a named preset to reuse later.

After you review the matching orders, you choose who is handling the batch: I'll pick and pack it myself, or a separate picker and packer, whose names are asked for when each stage starts.

An order can only be in one open batch at a time. If you include an order that is already in another unfinished batch, Pickadoodl tells you which batch has it, so you never pick the same order twice.

Shopify admin integration

Send to Pickadoodl appears on Shopify's Orders list. Select orders, open More actions, and choose Send to Pickadoodl. It opens New batch with those orders preset.

Pickadoodl status is a block on each order's page showing whether the order is in a batch, with a link into it, or an Add to a new batch button. Shopify does not turn this one on automatically. Once per store: open any order, scroll to Blocks, click + Block, choose Pickadoodl status, and pin it so it shows on every order for all staff.

Orders older than 60 days show "Can't check batch status" on this block. That is a Shopify admin API limit, not a Pickadoodl problem.

Picking

The pick list is sorted by bin location in natural order (A2 before A10), then by SKU, so working the list follows a walk down your aisles. Without a bin metafield set in Settings, it falls back to a plain SKU sort.

Scan a barcode or SKU to check off units. Progress saves automatically, so you can close the tab and come back. Each line shows how many orders need the item and its available inventory, with a Low stock badge once you set a threshold.

If something is wrong with an item (short, damaged, on backorder), use the flag icon to record a reason. That marks every order needing it as an exception and keeps those orders out of fulfillment until you sort them out.

Barcode aliases

If you source a product from more than one supplier with different barcodes, register the extras as aliases in Settings. Any of them scans as a match while picking, packing, and receiving a return.

Camera scanning

Scan with camera reads barcodes with your device's camera. Browsers block camera access inside Shopify's embedded admin, so use it from a batch's picker link opened directly in a browser tab.

Picker links

Share picker link creates a link for one batch that works from any phone or tablet, with no Shopify account. Set it to expire after 24 hours, 3, 7, or 30 days, or leave it open-ended, and turn it off whenever you like.

Printing and exporting

Print pick list gives the classic printable layout. Export CSV and Export XLSX give the same bin, SKU, and quantity data as a spreadsheet. Add tags tags every order in the batch in Shopify at once.

Low stock and restock list

The Low stock page lists every variant at or below your threshold, broken down per location if you have more than one. The Restock list adds anything flagged short while picking in the last 30 days, and exports to CSV or XLSX for a supplier.

Packing & fulfilling

Packing works order by order: search or jump between orders, check off each order's items, and it advances to the next unpacked order. Orders can be flagged for the same kinds of exceptions as picking, including shipping issue.

With a turnaround rule in Settings, every batch gets a ship-by date (business days only), and batches approaching or past it are flagged in the batch header and on the dashboard.

Turn on Photo capture in Settings to let packers attach a photo of an order's contents or condition. You can require a photo for orders with a certain tag or above a dollar amount. Photos are kept 90 days and then removed automatically.

Print packing slips makes one slip per order using your Settings: logo, thank-you message, layout, and which sections show.

When everything is packed (and shipped, if you use labels), you move to Fulfill. Choose whether to notify customers and confirm. Orders flagged during the batch are excepted by default and held back. Afterward, the completion screen lists them with a Fulfill skipped orders anyway action for once you have sorted the problem out.

Shipping labels PRO

On the Pro plan you can buy and print shipping labels without leaving a batch. It uses your own EasyPost account, so postage is billed to you by EasyPost and never passes through Pickadoodl.

Set up

  1. Create an EasyPost account. A free account gives you a test API key (it starts with EZTK) that produces sample labels at no cost. Production keys start with EZAK.
  2. In Pickadoodl, open Settings → Carrier shipping, paste the key, and connect. It is stored encrypted and never shown again.
  3. Add the box sizes you pack in. Labels ship from your Shopify store address unless you set a different ship-from address there.

Using it

Once connected, packing an order asks for its weight (like "12 oz" or "1 lb 4 oz") and the box it went in. You can skip that and fill it in later. When every order is packed, the batch moves to a Ship step. For each order, Get rates shows carrier options and prices. Pick one and choose Buy label, then Print label opens the label PDF in a new tab so your own printer settings apply.

Get rates for ready and Buy quoted do the same for many orders at once. The cheapest rate is selected unless you choose another, and you confirm the total before anything is bought.

When you fulfill, each order's tracking number, carrier, and link go to Shopify with the fulfillment, so the customer's shipping email has real tracking. Labels stay on the batch's completion screen for reprinting.

When a label cannot be bought

If a label can't be bought (a bad address, no rates, a carrier problem), or you would rather skip it, flag the order as a shipping issue. It is handled like any flagged order: left out of the fulfill call by default and available under Fulfill skipped orders anyway once you have shipped it another way. You can also fulfill an order without a label from the confirmation screen.

Not supported yet: international orders (they need customs forms), voiding a bought label from inside Pickadoodl (do that in EasyPost), and multi-parcel orders. Negotiated rates from your own carrier accounts appear only with a production key, not a test key.

Returns

Open Returns and choose Receive a return to scan items back in. For each item, pick a reason (wrong item, damaged or defective, not as described, doesn't fit, changed mind, arrived too late, other) and add optional detail.

Each line has Received (what physically came back) and To restock (how many are resellable). Returned 3 and only 2 are sellable? Set To restock to 2.

Choose a location and click Restock to add the To restock quantities back to available inventory in Shopify. Only units not already restocked are sent, so clicking twice never double-counts, and every restock is listed in the return's history. A restock can't be undone from Pickadoodl, so correct a mistake in Shopify. It needs inventory write access, which you approve once when asked.

Return insights summarizes what came back over a date range by reason, product, and variant, with CSV export. These are counts of what was received, not a return rate.

Shopify Flow

Pickadoodl adds three triggers: Batch ready to pack (a batch finished picking), Exception raised (a picker or packer flagged something, one run per new flag), and Return received (a return was marked completed). In Flow, create a workflow and choose a Pickadoodl trigger as the starting point. If Flow is not installed on your store, Pickadoodl keeps working and simply sends nothing.

Team & roles

Add people in Settings → Team as Picker, Packer, or both. Once you have at least one, a batch's Change link offers a dropdown of eligible people, plus "Someone else" for one-off help. This is attribution, not access control: there is no login tied to a staff entry, it simply records who picked or packed in Reports and Analytics. A PIN is optional for confirming who is using a shared tablet.

Settings reference

Reports & analytics

Reports is your searchable batch history. Every batch is reprintable from here, filterable by date, status, location, picker, or packer, and you can add tags after the fact.

Analytics is the aggregate view over a date range: batches fulfilled, orders, units, average pick and pack time, exceptions, clean-batch rate, and a Team performance table. It also surfaces Patterns automatically once there is enough volume, like a bin behind a lot of damaged-item flags or a SKU with recurring short picks.

Plans & billing

Pickadoodl has three plans billed through Shopify: Free ($0, up to 75 orders a month), Standard ($10.99 a month, up to 1,000), and Pro ($19.99 a month, unlimited, and the only plan with shipping labels). Orders count once, when included in a batch that month. The cap is enforced when you create a batch or add orders: if it would push you over, the whole batch is blocked rather than created partway.

Troubleshooting & FAQ

I don't see the Pickadoodl status block on my order pages.

It has to be added once. See Shopify admin integration above for the add-and-pin steps.

An order I expected isn't showing up when I create a batch.

It is most likely in another open batch. Check Reports for a batch that already has it, or finish that batch first.

What does "excepted" mean?

The order, or one of its items, was flagged during picking or packing. Excepted orders are held back from fulfillment by default so you do not ship something with a known problem. Fulfill them anyway from the completion screen once resolved.

A product is a bundle or kit. How does it show on the pick list?

Bundle line items explode into their component items, each tagged "Part of bundle." Packing and the packing slip still show the original bundle.

Printing or exporting didn't do anything.

If a print or export fails, usually a connection hiccup, you will see an error telling you to try again. If it keeps failing, check your connection and reload.

Why doesn't camera scanning work in Shopify admin?

Browsers block camera access for embedded apps. Open the batch's picker link directly in a browser tab and the camera works. Photo capture is different: it hands off to your device's camera or photo picker, so it works inside Shopify admin.

My label won't buy.

Check the address on the order and that your EasyPost key is connected in Settings. If EasyPost returns no rates or an error, the order can be flagged as a shipping issue and handled another way. A test key buys sample labels only.