Batches are one of the most powerful tools in SKULabs for processing high volumes of orders efficiently — but when something goes wrong, it can slow your whole team down. This guide covers the most common batch issues and how to resolve them.
Issue 1: Out-of-stock orders are being pulled into batches
If orders with no available inventory are appearing in your batches, your team may not notice until they've already started picking — leaving them with nothing to pack. There are two settings that control this behavior and they work together.
Understanding the out-of-stock settings
Go to Settings and click Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section. This opens the Batch type editor. You'll see these two key settings:
Display out-of-stock items and allow out-of-stock orders to be added into the batch — Controls whether orders with no available stock appear in the batch at all.
Allow partially shipped orders to be added into the batch — Controls whether orders that have been partially fulfilled can continue to be batched.
How you configure these depends on whether you use partial shipments:
If you do NOT partially ship orders: Set Display out-of-stock items to Yes and set Allow partially fulfillable orders to be added into the batch to No. This lets pickers see out-of-stock items and flag them during picking — orders with out-of-stock items can be put on hold and removed from the batch rather than being accidentally partially shipped.
If you DO partially ship orders: Set Display out-of-stock items to No and set Allow partially fulfillable orders to be added into the batch to Yes.
Most common setup for teams that do NOT partially ship: Display out-of-stock items = Yes | Allow partially fulfillable orders into batch = No. This gives pickers a warning when stock is missing, without letting partially fulfillable orders slip through undetected.
Check your ship mode: use Batch ship, not Bulk ship
If your batch type's Ship mode is set to Bulk ship, SKULabs may bypass stock availability checks entirely. Switching to Batch ship mode restores these protections.
Go to Settings and click Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section to open the Batch type editor.
Find the Ship mode field on the right side of the editor.
Change it from Bulk ship to Batch ship (default).
Click Save.
Note: Even with Batch ship mode enabled, you can still choose to bulk ship from the cleared batch screen after picking is complete — you're not locked out of that option, you just get stock protection during the batch creation stage.
Dropshipped orders appearing in batches
If you've sent an order to be dropshipped or fulfilled externally, it may still appear as eligible for a batch. When a dropship PO is created for an order in SKULabs, the order's status changes to Awaiting Fulfillment — but this status alone does not prevent it from being pulled into a batch. The best way to prevent this is to ensure the Ship mode is set to Batch ship (see above), which applies stricter eligibility checks during batch creation.
Issue 2: Orders split across warehouses aren't batching correctly
If you have multiple warehouses and orders with items stored across different locations, batches may not behave as expected — for example, one warehouse's picker starting a batch and the other warehouse's items never getting batched separately.
This typically happens when the Batch type editor isn't restricted to specific stores. Each warehouse should have its own batch type configured with only its relevant stores checked.
Go to Settings and click Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section to open the Batch type editor.
Scroll down to the Stores section on the right side. Check only the stores that this batch type should pull orders from.
If you have multiple warehouses, create a separate batch type for each one with only its relevant stores checked, so pickers see only orders they're responsible for.
If an order has items at both Warehouse A and Warehouse B, each warehouse should run their own batch independently — the order won't be marked as fully shipped until both warehouses have completed their portion.
Tip: If a batch is pulling in orders with 0 stock, check the Stores checkboxes in the Batch type editor — it may be pulling orders from a store linked to a different warehouse. Also verify warehouse links in Settings > View all store settings > (pencil icon) > (choose warehouses).
Issue 3: A batch was accidentally cleared or deleted
If someone accidentally cleared a batch while trying to remove a single order — or deleted a batch entirely — the orders can often be recovered.
Go to Settings and click the Advanced tab at the top of the page.
Look for the Troubleshooting section.
An admin on your account can use the tools there to restore a recently cleared batch.
If the restore option isn't available or you can't locate the batch, contact SKULabs support with the batch number and we can investigate on the backend.
Tip: To avoid accidentally clearing an entire batch when trying to remove a single order, use the individual order removal option rather than the batch-level clear action. These are separate controls — take care to select the right one.
Issue 4: Batch type editor — what each setting does
Here's a reference for every field in the Batch type editor. Access it via Settings > Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section.
Left side — order selection and picking
Name — The name of this batch type, visible to pickers when they start a batch.
Share — When enabled, this batch type is visible to all users on your account, not just the creator.
# of orders/bins — The maximum number of orders per batch. Keep this manageable — very large batches can slow picking and cause errors.
Order preference — Controls which orders are prioritized (e.g. Simplest first, oldest first).
Picking Order — Controls the order in which items are presented to pickers (e.g. Ascending A-Z by location).
Memorized shipments — Whether to include orders with memorized (previously used) shipping configurations.
Display out-of-stock items and allow out-of-stock orders to be added into the batch — See Issue 1 above for full explanation.
Allow partial fulfillment — Whether orders can be shipped with only some items fulfilled.
Allow partially shipped orders to be added into the batch — See Issue 1 above.
Display and allow picking from out-of-stock locations — Whether pickers can be directed to pick from a location that shows 0 stock.
Same orders only — Every order in the batch must contain the exact same combination of items and quantities. Useful for assembly-line style fulfillment.
Right side — shipping and printing
Picking mode — Controls the picking workflow. Guided steps (default) walks pickers through each item one at a time.
Ship mode — Batch ship (default) is recommended — applies stock checks and guides the shipping process. Bulk ship generates all labels at once and can bypass out-of-stock protections.
Bin scans — Whether bin barcodes must be scanned during picking. Required enforces accuracy.
Post-shipping audit — Whether a final check is required after shipping.
Address validation — Whether orders must have a validated address to be included.
Payment status — Filter orders by payment status (e.g. Include only paid orders).
Warning unprocessable orders — When enabled, SKULabs checks the batch for cancelled, archived, and deleted orders before picking and shipping. Recommended to leave on.
Print packing slips / Print shipping labels — Controls when these documents are printed during the batch workflow.
Stores — Checkboxes for which stores this batch type pulls orders from. Only check the stores relevant to this batch type.
Tags (Include / Exclude) — Filter which orders appear in this batch type based on their tags. Use Include to only pull orders with specific tags, or Exclude to block orders with certain tags from appearing.
Issue 5: Orders aren't appearing in batches at all
If orders you expect to see in a batch aren't showing up, review these fields in the Batch type editor (Settings > Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section):
Stores — The store the order came from must be checked here.
Tags — If the order has a tag in the Exclude list, or is missing a tag required in the Include list, it won't appear.
Payment status — If set to "Include only paid orders," unpaid orders won't appear.
Address validation — If set to require a valid address and the order's address isn't validated, it will be excluded.
Order status — Batches pull orders in Processing status. Orders in On Hold or Awaiting Fulfillment status will be excluded.
Order total / item count filters — If you've set minimum or maximum values for order total, number of lines, or number of items, orders outside that range won't appear.
Frequently asked questions
Can I remove a single order from a batch without clearing the whole batch?
Yes. Inside an active batch, you can remove individual orders without affecting the rest of the batch. Be careful not to use the batch-level clear action — use the per-order removal control instead.
Why did a batch complete without any labels being generated?
This can happen if all orders in the batch were out of stock and SKULabs had nothing to ship. Check that your Batch type editor's out-of-stock settings are configured correctly (see Issue 1 above).
Can two warehouse pickers work on the same batch at the same time?
Not within a single batch — a batch is assigned to one picker at a time. For multi-warehouse orders, each warehouse should run its own separate batch using a batch type restricted to that warehouse's stores.
How do I know which settings are causing the problem?
Go to Settings > Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section to open the Batch type editor, and review the Ship mode, out-of-stock settings, Stores checkboxes, and Tags filters. If you're still unsure, contact SKULabs support with an example batch or order number and we can look at the specific configuration.
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