Why SOPs Matter at 200 Orders/Day
At 50 orders/day, I could manage everything myself. Past 200 orders/day, that stopped working:
- I needed 3-5 people in operations just to keep the floor moving
- Without SOPs, each of my people did things slightly differently
- Mistakes compounded on my floor: wrong product shipped, late dispatch, missed return, inventory mismatch
- Customer complaints increase → reviews drop → conversion drops → I end up spending more on ads just to hold revenue where it was
SOPs aren’t bureaucracy. In my experience, they’re the difference between a brand that scales and one that implodes.
SOP 1: Daily Order Processing (8:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
- 8:00 AM — I download orders from all channels (Shopify, Amazon, Flipkart) into our OMS
- 8:30 AM — My team flags exceptions — COD orders above ₹2,000 (verify via WhatsApp), out-of-stock items, incomplete addresses
- 9:00 AM — We pick orders — I generate pick lists by zone (to optimise packing). One person picks, another verifies.
- 10:00 AM — We pack orders — QC check (right product, right size, no defects) → pack → add invoice → add thank you card → seal box
- 11:00 AM — My team labels and manifests — Print shipping labels, create manifest in courier partner system
- 12:00 PM — We hand over to the courier — Courier pickup. I verify all packages are scanned and the manifest matches.
SOP 2: Customer Support (9:00 AM – 7:00 PM)
- My response time target: WhatsApp within 15 minutes, email within 2 hours
- The priority matrix I run: Payment issues > delivery problems > product queries > general inquiries
- ‘Where is my order?’ — I check tracking, provide an update. If delayed beyond EDD, my team proactively messages the customer with an updated timeline.
- Return/exchange requests — I verify the order, confirm return eligibility, initiate reverse pickup, and communicate the refund timeline.
- Complaints — Acknowledge, apologise, offer a fix (replacement/refund + discount on next order). It gets escalated to me if it’s unresolved after 2 attempts.
- My end-of-day rule: I log all unresolved tickets. Zero inbox policy — every query gets at least a first response.
SOP 3: Inventory Management (Daily + Weekly)
Daily
- I update stock counts after order processing
- I flag any SKU below the reorder point (typically 14-day supply)
- My team reconciles physical stock against system stock for the top 10 SKUs
Weekly
- We run a full physical stock count (rotate categories — all SKUs counted at least once per month)
- I review slow-moving inventory (no sales in 30 days) — and consider discounting or bundling
- I place reorders for fast-moving SKUs
- I update procurement forecasts based on the last 4 weeks’ trends
SOP 4: Returns Processing (Daily)
- Receive return package — I open it, photograph the contents, and check it against the return request
- Quality check — Is the product resellable? I sort into three categories: A (resellable as-is), B (needs repackaging), C (damaged/defective — write off)
- Restock A/B items — I update the inventory count immediately
- Process refund — My team processes it within 3 business days of receiving the return
- Log return reason — I track it in a spreadsheet: wrong size, didn’t like, defective, wrong product sent, then run a monthly analysis to reduce future returns.
SOP 5: End-of-Day Reconciliation (6:00 PM)
- Orders processed vs orders received — I hold my team to shipping every order same day (for orders received before 2 PM)
- Payment reconciliation — I match orders in Shopify against payment gateway settlements
- Courier handover verification — I confirm all packages were picked up and flag any missed pickups for priority the next day.
- Support ticket summary — I log open tickets, escalations, and patterns — the same complaint from multiple customers tells me it’s a systemic issue
Need Help Building Operations?
At Growww Tech, my team and I help D2C brands build scalable operations — from SOPs to tool selection to team structure. Let’s build your operations backbone.
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