Plan shipping and fulfillment for my new online store
A simple packing, shipping, and inventory routine with rates, timelines, and what to do when things go wrong.
The prompt
Help me set up shipping and fulfillment for my new online store.
Products, sizes, and weights: [DETAILS]
Expected orders per week at launch: [NUMBER]
Where I ship from and to: [LOCATION; domestic only or international]
Where I'll store inventory: [home, storage unit, third-party warehouse]
Shipping I want to offer customers: [free over $X, flat rate, calculated]
Carriers available to me: [LIST or "not sure"]
Previous step (optional): [PASTE my channel choice and margin calculation, so shipping fits the platform's rules and my margins]
Give me:
1. A recommendation for my fulfillment model now (self-fulfill, print-on-demand / dropship, or third-party fulfillment) and the order volume at which to reconsider.
2. Packaging choices per product, aiming for the smallest safe box to keep rates down.
3. A shipping-pricing approach that protects my margins, with the math using my numbers (mark carrier rates [CONFIRM]).
4. A daily order routine: check orders, pick, pack, label, hand off, mark shipped, send tracking.
5. A basic inventory system: reorder points, a weekly count, and a tracking table (SKU | On hand | Weekly sales | Reorder point | Supplier lead time).
6. A playbook for lost, late, and damaged parcels and wrong items, plus customer message templates for each.
7. International shipping basics if relevant: customs forms, duties, restricted items.
Keep it simple enough for one person to run.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Projects & Operations prompts
What to fill in
- DETAILS
- NUMBER
- LOCATION; domestic only or international
- home, storage unit, third-party warehouse
- free over $X, flat rate, calculated
- LIST or "not sure"
- CONFIRM
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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