Compliant Receiving Guidelines
The following guide walks you through how to properly ship your products to Ship Essential to ensure shipments are compliant and received according to our SLAs.
Sending Your Product to Ship Essential in 7 Steps
Whether you are sending your very first shipment to our warehouse, replenishing your existing inventory, or adding new SKUs, follow these 7 steps for a successful delivery.
Ensure all products in the purchase order are added to your e-commerce store
Upload Purchase Order & Carton Manifest into ShipHero
Schedule a pre-shipment inspection/QC (suggested)
Ensure that your cartons and pallets are properly labeled
Ensure that your units are barcoded and properly packaged. If necessary, ensure that your units and cartons are labeled with lots and expirations dates
Advance Shipment Notification Notice - Link
Your account rep will then provide you a delivery scheduling link to share with your carrier
Refer to our Receiving Timelines
1. Products added to e-commerce store
Prior to creating a PO, your Product and associated details must be added into your Shopping Cart (e.g. Shopify). Products will automatically import into ShipHero from Shopify when added or updated. If you are not using an integration, please send the product details to support@shipessential.com. You will be unable to enter your PO into ShipHero until all products have been added to the system.
2. Purchase Orders (PO) & Carton Manifest
A PO for all shipments must be uploaded into Ship Essential’s system ShipHero at least 5 business days prior to arrival. The PO must arrive ready to be received in our systems, including all required information (e.g., SKUs, quantities). You can either Create a PO directly in ShipHero, or Upload a PO into ShipHero. If additional work — such as adding missing details, correcting errors, or reformatting — is needed, it will be considered a Value Added Service (VAS) or Special Project, subject to additional fees (see FAQs).
Carton Manifest must be shared to ensure that receiving is completed quickly and efficiently.
If PO’s are received late it will affect the receiving timeline. Without a PO, we cannot receive product as it creates additional liability for our warehouse team in regard to inventory levels. Without receiving the product will take up valuable space and disrupt our workflow.
3. Schedule a pre-shipment inspection or quality check (suggested)
If you are sending inventory directly from the manufacturer to our facility, we highly recommend that you schedule a pre-shipment inspection. The right quality control program can be the difference between your brand’s success and failure. Quality inspections throughout the process are now standard and are a major contributor to the success of many top e-commerce brands.
Scheduling pre-shipment inspections will reduce the need for QC at the warehouse and speed up the receiving process. Reach out to support@shipessential.com to schedule a pre-shipment inspection.
4. Labeling Deliveries
Pallets, cartons, and individual units must arrive at our facility clearly labeled. Each carton must be labeled with the Brand Name and the PO Number. Cartons that arrive without proper labeling will be considered non-compliant.
SKUs
Each unit must be labeled with a SKU. SKUs should be packed in separate cartons. Cartons that contain mixed SKUs (ie. different sizes in the same box) will be subject to a Special Project fee for sorting. This will prevent miscounts and delays in receiving. SKU should also be added to your Shopping Cart (i.e. Shopify) prior to sending the PO.
Cartons (& Carton Numbers)
Have your supplier add carton numbers to each box: 1/25, 2/25. 3/25, etc. This will help our receiving team ensure we have received the correct number of cartons.
Pallets
SKUs must be clearly labeled on the outside of the pallets. If a pallet contains more than one SKU, this must be indicated on the pallet tag.
Lots & Expirations
Lots and expirations must be clearly marked on the individual products or case packs. Do not mix lots of the same product in one box. Please keep them in separate cartons so we can properly store your goods.
5. Barcoding & Product Packaging
Each unit must arrive at the facility with Barcodes. This helps us identify each product and avoids any delays and identification issues. If barcodes do not match, you may experience delays in receiving times. If units arrive at our warehouse without barcodes, we will barcode the items for you. However, this will be charged based on our Value Added Services and there will be an additional 5-7 days added to the receiving timeline to complete the barcoding.
Additionally, items should be properly packaged to move throughout the warehouse. Here is our Product Packaging guide.
6. Scheduling Deliveries
All deliveries to our warehouse must be scheduled in advance. Fill out an Advanced Shipping Notice (Link) with all of the necessary information, and an account manager will send you a link to book on our inbound calendar. LTL and FLT deliveries must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance. Unscheduled deliveries may be refused. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis and will depend on the size and nature of the delivery.
Please ensure the correct delivery address is used-
🏠 New York Shipping Address
[Your Company Name] / Ship Essential
Receiving Dept
850 3rd Ave
Suite 608
Brooklyn, NY 11232🏠 Los Angeles Shipping Address
[Your Company Name] / Ship Essential
Receiving Dept
2535 E. 12th St
Unit B
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Receiving Hours- Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm Local Time (Does not apply to general carriers ie UPS, DHL, FEDEX). Freight deliveries must arrive before 3:00 pm Local Time.
Please note: all floor-loaded shipments will require additional time to unload and will be subject to additional charges: $50 per labor hour.
7. Receiving Timelines
All deliveries must be scheduled in advance along with an ASN.
Once your goods have been delivered to our warehouse, the units will be scanned into pickable and overstock locations. Smaller deliveries will move through this process very quickly, while larger deliveries will take a little longer. Please refer to the following timelines for receiving items into our inventory:
<1 - 6 pallets: 48 business hours
6 - 12 pallets: 3-10 business days
More than 12 pallets: reach out to support@shipessential.com for an estimated timeline
Expedited Receiving may be accommodated at 2x Receiving Rate. Please reach out to support to request an expedited receiving.
These SLA's do not apply to non-compliant PO's. Please reach out to support@shipessential.com for an estimated timeline to receive non-compliant PO's.
FAQs
1. Why do I need to upload a PO prior to arrival?
Ship Essential aims to create an efficient operation. Without prior knowledge of a product’s arrival, we have no way of preparing space for your inventory or knowing what will be arriving. This disorganization can cause discrepancies and delays in the receiving process. A PO is necessary to ensure that your inventory is identified and processed properly.
2. What happens if I send a delivery to your facility without a PO, or if the PO is missing Information, such as SKUs?
If it’s a large delivery (such as a FTL) we may reject it. In that case, the trucking company would take it back to their warehouse and charge you a hefty fee. For smaller deliveries, we may accept the delivery and you will be charged $10/carton/day until we receive a PO, or the missing SKU information and are able to move the product into inventory.
3. Are there any best practices that you recommend?
We recommend that all of your goods have outer packaging so as to prevent damage and/or becoming dirty. For large deliveries, we recommend 1 SKU per carton. For small deliveries, we recommend 1 PO per carton with clear division for each SKU.
4. What qualifies as a Non-Compliant PO?
A PO is Non-Compliant if it’s not ready to be received in our systems (e.g., missing PO, carton labels, SKUs, barcodes, or labels) or requires additional work like sorting, QC, or labeling. Non-Compliance incurs $10/carton/day until the PO is complete, plus could incur VAS or Special Project fees. Follow the steps above to ensure compliance.