What is a packing slip?

A packing list is different: it’s an export or freight document listing every carton, its weight and dimensions. This page is about the slip that goes inside an ecommerce parcel.

How a packing slip works in an Indian D2C or omnichannel warehouse

What’s on a packing slip

• Order number, order date and the sales channel (website or marketplace)
• Ship-to name and city
• Each item: SKU, item name, variant (size, colour, pack size) and quantity
• Carton count for multi-box orders, such as “Box 1 of 2”
• A returns note: how to start a return, and by when
• A gift message, if the buyer added one, with prices left off

Should a packing slip show prices? It doesn’t need to, and on a gift order it shouldn’t: the person opening the box isn’t the buyer. Leave prices off the slip, and send the buyer the GST invoice separately, for example by email, if your channel allows it.

Example: a packing slip for one order. The data is illustrative.

Field	Value
Order	WEB-48213, placed 12 Nov
Ship to	A. Sharma, Pune
Line 1	TS-BLK-M, Cotton T-shirt, black, size M: 2
Line 2	SK-NVY-F, Socks, navy, free size: 1
Cartons	Box 1 of 1
Returns	Start a return on the brand’s website within 7 days of delivery

How the pack station uses it

1. Print the slip with the pick list, or at the pack bench when the picked order arrives.
2. Check each item against the slip, by scanning its barcode or by counting.
3. Seal the box only when every line matches.
4. On a mismatch, hold the order and send it back for a re-pick.
5. Close out: put the slip in the box, label the parcel and add it to the courier’s shipping manifest.

Example: what a slip check catches. A warehouse packs 800 orders a day. Suppose the check at the pack bench finds a short or wrong pack on 0.5% of them: 800 × 0.5% = 4 parcels a day, or about 120 in a 30-day month, that would otherwise have shipped wrong. These are illustrative numbers, not a benchmark.

Packing slip vs other documents

Document	Who makes it	Where it goes	Legal document?
Packing slip	The seller’s warehouse	Inside the parcel	No, it’s a checklist
Tax invoice or bill of supply	The registered seller	To the buyer, and with the goods when they move	Yes, under GST
Delivery challan	The sender, when goods move for reasons other than a sale, such as a stock transfer or job work	With the goods	Yes, under GST rules
Shipping label	The seller, through the courier’s or marketplace’s system	Outside the parcel	No; it carries the AWB number the courier tracks
Packing list	The shipper of a freight or export consignment	With the freight and export papers	A commercial document, used by customs and freight forwarders
Pick list	The warehouse	Stays in the warehouse	No, it’s a work instruction

Common mistakes

• Printing before the pick is confirmed, so the slip lists items that were never picked.
• One slip for a split shipment. Each box should list only what’s in it and say “Box 1 of 2”.
• No returns instructions, which turns every return into a support ticket.
• Treating the slip as the invoice. The GST invoice is still needed; the slip doesn’t replace it.

Related metrics

• Pack error rate = orders found short or wrong at packing ÷ orders packed × 100. Example: 4 of 800 = 0.5%.
• Wrong-item complaint rate = delivered orders with a missing- or wrong-item complaint ÷ orders delivered × 100. Example: 6 of 3,000 = 0.2%.

Packing slips in the Indian context

• GST documents. Rule 138A(1) of the CGST Rules, 2017 says the person in charge of a conveyance carries the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be, and a copy or the number of the e-way bill. A packing slip is none of these.
• E-way bills. CBIC’s e-way bill guide says an e-way bill is generated for movement of goods of consignment value more than ₹50,000. For movement within a state, some states set a higher limit, so check your state’s rule.
• Delivery challans. Rule 55 of the CGST Rules lets the consigner issue a delivery challan instead of an invoice for goods moved for job work or for reasons other than a supply, such as stock sent to another warehouse.
• Amazon self-ship. Amazon.in’s seller blog guide to self-shipping (26 January 2016) says sellers can print the packing slip from the Manage Orders page in Seller Central, put it in the box, and stick the shipping label on the package. Check Seller Central for the current steps.

How Fretron CommerceOS handles packing

Fretron CommerceOS is order, warehouse and shipping software for Indian D2C, retail and omnichannel consumer brands. It is a separate product from Fretron’s freight TMS.

In Fretron CommerceOS, the packer scans each piece and closes the carton before the shipment is labelled. The CommerceOS page lists the pack, label and invoice steps as “In launch verification”.