E-commerce businesses rely on operating efficiently. In 2026, they’re under more pressure than ever to deliver fast and accurate fulfillment.
Many e-commerce businesses don’t have frontends; instead, they’re working on behalf of drop shippers and other companies looking to sell their merchandise and get it out to customers.
So, what are e-commerce businesses doing? How are they generating efficiency to create the margins they need?
Prioritizing lean practices
One of the biggest changes being seen in the industry right now is the prioritization of lean practices. Warehouse operators are looking for ways to reduce waste and create more energy-efficient systems. These include things like cross-docking and optimized space utilization, including more vertical storage. Lean workflows are also being integrated into these processes.
Lean isn’t something that applies solely to manufacturing anymore. Instead, it’s a general principle that can be applied across workflows and industries. Warehouses are using this fact to ensure that they’re gaining efficiency without sacrificing speed or costs.
Focusing on returns
Another development is the increased focus on return optimisation. Many e-commerce businesses are adopting a triage-based approach to this process, despite the impact that it might have on their margins. For example, many companies are using computer vision to make quick assessments of returns. If returns appear to be in order, then they’re processed accordingly and customers receive a refund. The stock is then returned to shelves if it’s valuable or disposed of otherwise.
This immediate resale and routing is a massive efficiency driver. Returns are often something that can clog up warehouses and stop them from operating efficiently. But with computer vision taking over some of the slack, this is less of a risk. Companies are more likely to get the results they want.
Single-span warehouse spaces
E-commerce businesses are also looking into single-span warehouses. These don’t have any interior columns or structures allowing companies to make use of the internal space however they want.
The benefits of this are extraordinary. Firms that are able to re-imagine their interior spaces without the constraints of columns or support structures have more options. Instead of buying a 5,000 square foot warehouse with restrictions, they can use the area that they paid for according to their workflows and operational requirements.
This change is significant because it breaks with conventional warehousing which isn’t single span. Interior spaces often have clutter or support structures that make it difficult to operate shelving in the way the company wants.
Partnering with flexible fulfillment providers
E-commerce businesses are also looking into partnering with flexible fulfillment providers. These offer scalable, tech-enabled warehousing. One of the nice things about fulfillment providers is that it enables entrepreneurs to create the brand and marketing, while the distribution channels are taken care of by a third-party company. This means that anybody can now access massive capital investment without having to necessarily have the expertise themselves. They don’t need to understand fulfillment at all.
This is particularly helpful for existing e-commerce businesses that want to test new markets. It’s ideal for when they need to scale or move into new areas.
Integrating omnichannel commerce systems
Software is another area which is helping e-commerce businesses develop and boost warehouse efficiency. New tools are becoming available all the time, created by software houses that really understand how warehouses work and the issues they face.
The main tool is Central Order Management Systems (OMS). These sync inventories across online and in-store platforms, including marketplaces and 3PL channels, all in real-time. What this means is that companies can flexibly source products and ship from the store. They can also avoid problems like overselling, warning customers when they’re running low on stock and when they should buy. This makes warehouses much more responsive to order flows. If demand management is off, it means that the company can still source products from various stores and areas depending on where it still has inventory. It doesn’t necessarily have to rely on its central repository.
Improved picking strategies
Then there are developments in picking strategies. This part of the business is very simple but also essential. The way that staff collect items from shelves in warehouses and then place them into zones for orders and shipping is critical.
Many of the top brands use zone picking. This means that pickers operate in a specific zone they know and understand, allowing them to find and locate products faster. Sometimes there’s also batch picking. This works well in high-volume businesses. If a company knows that it’s going to get 50 orders of the same product in a day, then it only needs to collect them from the shelf and place it in the shipping zone once, reducing the need for workers to walk backwards and forwards. Cluster picking or grouping similar orders is another example of this in action. This massively reduces the time it takes to fulfil orders. Simply picking a single order from the shelf can reduce the amount that can be picked per hour, but when batch picking and zone picking are implemented along with other strategies, it reduces pick time and every worker is more productive.
Where all technology is assisting with scanning, voice-directed picking, and light-directed picking systems are improving accuracy and speed considerably. Again, these remove the amount of manual work that pickers are required to do.
Optimizing warehouse layout and slotting
Related to picking is the optimization of warehouse layout and slotting. The idea is to put high-velocity SKUs near to packing stations using various forms of analysis to determine which are the most popular. Then combining this with efficient aisle design and direct pass enables pickers to increase their picking speed by 30-50%.
Some companies have directives for how fast pickers need to walk to obtain items. Making aisle design better and providing directed picking parts reduces time to fulfillment.
So there you have it, some of the ways that e-commerce businesses are increasing warehouse efficiency in 2026. They’re making systems more accurate and faster at the same time.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
