Multi-warehouse order routing software: choose the right node before the order goes wrong

Multi-warehouse order routing software is what you start searching for after the second warehouse stops feeling like a superpower. The first warehouse gives you speed and regional coverage. The second warehouse gives you a new problem: deciding, in real time, which building should fulfill each order.

If you route wrong, you pay twice. You pay now in shipping cost, transit time, and labor churn. You pay later in cancellations, late shipment penalties, and retail deductions that arrive like a surprise tax.

The goal of routing software is not to make you faster in theory. It is to make you predictable in practice, even when demand spikes and inventory is moving across nodes.

Why routing becomes a make-or-break system as soon as you add nodes

With one warehouse, the routing rule is simple: everything ships from here. With two or more, every order becomes a decision. Those decisions stack up quickly, and small routing mistakes become a steady leak of margin.

Routing also affects customer experience. Customers do not care which node shipped the order. They care when it arrives, whether it arrives complete, and whether tracking updates make sense.

As networks scale, routing turns into the control tower. If the control tower is weak, the network can still ship, but it cannot ship consistently.

Distance-based routing is the first trap

Many systems start with the simplest routing logic: ship from the closest warehouse. That is a good instinct because distance often predicts shipping cost and transit time.

The problem is that distance does not know whether a warehouse can actually execute the order. It does not know if inventory is sellable, reserved, or quarantined. It does not know if the location is past cutoff, short on labor, or missing packaging materials.

Multi-warehouse order routing software has to consider operational reality, not just geography. Otherwise, you ship from the closest node and still miss the promise.

Inventory accuracy is the input routing cannot live without

Routing engines are only as smart as their inputs. If inventory counts drift, routing will make confident choices based on inventory that does not exist in the building that is supposed to ship it.

That is why scan discipline matters. Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment at G10, describes the baseline that prevents drift: "You want everything to be scanned in the warehouse, nothing done on paper." When inventory moves without scans, the routing engine is flying blind.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO at G10, describes the standard that makes routing data trustworthy: "A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point that you touch it." Without that standard, routing becomes a series of expensive guesses.

Inventory states keep routing from double promising the same unit

Routing is not just about where inventory exists. It is about what that inventory can be used for right now.

A unit can be on hand but reserved for a retail PO. It can be on hand but waiting inspection. It can be on hand but already packed for a carrier pickup. If your routing logic does not understand those states, it will allocate inventory that is not actually available.

State-based routing prevents a common failure: shipping a D2C order from a node because the system thought inventory was available, then discovering at pick time that the units were committed to a different obligation. When states are modeled correctly, routing decisions stay aligned with what the warehouse can actually execute.

Cutoffs and carrier pickup windows are the hidden routing rules

Shipping speed is not only distance. It is also timing. A warehouse that is farther away but still before cutoff can deliver faster than a closer warehouse that already missed the last pickup.

Routing software should consider cutoff times, carrier schedules, weekend behavior, and service level commitments. This is especially important for marketplaces where ship-by windows are strict and metrics are measured.

Maureen Milligan, Director of Operations and Projects at G10, points to the standard that made timing so sensitive: "Amazon kind of set the standard between same-day shipping and getting everything in two days." When customer expectations are that tight, routing has to be time-aware.

Channel-aware routing prevents the wrong priorities

Not every order should be treated the same. A high-margin D2C order might justify faster shipping. A marketplace order might require the safest node to protect performance metrics. A wholesale order might require a node with specific packing and pallet capability.

Channel-aware routing uses policies to enforce those priorities. It is how you avoid treating every order as first come, first served, which is a polite way to say first mistake, first disaster.

John Pistone, Chief Revenue Office at G10, describes why marketplace reliability is not optional: "Amazon can change their mind about something in a heartbeat and just shut your business down." Routing should reduce that risk by choosing nodes that can execute reliably.

Retail compliance capability has to be part of routing

When retail is part of your channel mix, routing is not just a speed decision. It is a compliance decision.

A node that can ship D2C beautifully might not be the right node for a retailer shipment that requires strict labeling, carton rules, and routing guide adherence. Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience at G10, describes the strictness: "Walmart's pretty intense with their labeling rules." He also describes the consequence of missing details: "Dick's Sporting Goods is the same; if you don't do it right, you get those massive chargeback."

Multi-warehouse order routing software should allow you to route retail POs only to nodes that have the right templates, workflows, and training. Otherwise, the network ships fast and gets billed slow.

Exceptions are unavoidable, but routing should make them visible fast

Even great operations have exceptions: damages, short picks, and carrier disruptions. The difference is whether the system shows the exception early enough to reroute or recover.

Milligan describes the value of real-time transparency: "What these real-time portals provide our customers is 100% visibility." When routing decisions and execution status are visible, teams can intervene before an exception becomes a late shipment.

Routing software should not just decide where an order goes. It should help you see when that decision is failing, and help you correct it while time still exists.

How G10 approaches multi-warehouse routing

G10 was founded in 2009, and it supports brands that have to balance speed, accuracy, and compliance across channels. G10 supports B2B and D2C e-commerce, retail, wholesale, and HAZMAT-compliant fulfillment, with same-day shipping and custom capabilities.

G10's proprietary ChannelPoint WMS supports rule-based, multi-warehouse order routing that accounts for inventory states, cutoffs, and channel requirements. Routing is not treated as a bolt-on feature. It is treated as the control tower for a network.

If your network is growing and routing decisions are turning into daily manual work, bring your current node map, your cutoff schedules, and two recent examples where an order shipped from the wrong place. You will leave with a plan to route automatically, reduce exceptions, and keep speed from turning into expensive surprises.