The second warehouse was supposed to fix everything.

You did the math. West Coast customers were waiting 5-7 days for packages from your New Jersey warehouse. Shipping costs were eating your margins. A Phoenix location would cut transit times in half and save you thousands per month.

So you signed the lease, set up the racking, hired the team, and… created a whole new category of problems.

Now you have two inventory systems that don’t talk to each other. Someone has to manually decide which warehouse ships each order (and they’re guessing half the time). Split shipments turn into customer service nightmares because nobody knows which package has which items. And when a customer calls asking “where’s my order?”, you spend ten minutes piecing together what happened across two locations.

The second warehouse was supposed to make things better. Instead, it doubled your operational complexity without doubling your capacity to manage it.

This is what “multi-warehouse” actually looks like

It’s 2 PM. Order comes in from Chicago: 3 items.

Without proper routing, here’s what happens:

Someone checks Phoenix inventory. Two items in stock. Someone checks New Jersey inventory. One item in stock. Someone decides to ship from Phoenix because it’s “closer” (is it? they’re not sure, but it feels right). Phoenix picks and ships two items, then realizes they don’t have the third. They message someone. That someone messages New Jersey. New Jersey ships the third item separately. Customer gets two packages on different days with two tracking numbers and no explanation of why their single order arrived in pieces. Customer calls: “Where’s my order?” You spend ten minutes across three browser tabs figuring out what happened.

With Vectis, here’s what happens:

Order comes in. Vectis checks both warehouses automatically. Vectis sees the inventory split and creates two shipments: two items from Phoenix, one from New Jersey. Both warehouses see their assignments immediately. Customer gets a single order confirmation with two tracking numbers, clearly labeled “Package 1 of 2” and “Package 2 of 2.” Everyone knows what’s happening. Nobody calls.

That ten minutes of confusion? It just doesn’t happen. Multiply that by fifty orders a day and you start to understand why people pay for routing software.

How routing actually works (it’s not magic, it’s logic)

When an order arrives, Vectis asks four questions:

Where’s the inventory? If only one warehouse has everything, route there. If inventory is split across locations, create split shipments automatically. No human decision required.

Where’s the customer? A customer in Los Angeles should ship from Phoenix, not New Jersey. Vectis calculates shipping zones and knows that “closer” usually means “faster and cheaper.” (Usually. Not always. Which brings us to…)

What’s the actual cost? Sometimes the “closer” warehouse isn’t cheaper. Carrier contracts vary by location. Your Phoenix warehouse might have better UPS rates while New Jersey has better FedEx rates. Vectis compares real rates across your connected carrier accounts before deciding.

What are your rules? You can configure warehouse priority (prefer Phoenix when both have stock), geographic routing (West Coast orders always go to California), or just override manually when something weird comes up. The system handles the 95% that’s routine. You handle the 5% that’s not.

One dashboard. Every warehouse. Actually current.

The spreadsheet you’re using to track inventory across locations? It’s wrong. It was wrong the moment someone forgot to update it after a shipment. It’s been wrong ever since.

Vectis shows you real inventory, in real time, across every location:

SKU	Phoenix	New Jersey	3PL	Total
WIDGET-BLU-SM	150	89	200	439
WIDGET-BLU-LG	0	45	100	145
GADGET-PRO	75	75	0	150

You can see problems before they become customer service tickets. Phoenix is out of WIDGET-BLU-LG, so either transfer from the 3PL or stop routing those orders to Phoenix. GADGET-PRO isn’t at the 3PL at all, so don’t send those orders there. Total inventory is dropping across the board: time to reorder before you’re writing “sorry, we’re out of stock” emails.

Split shipments without the drama

Split shipments are inevitable when you have multiple warehouses. The question is whether they create confusion or just… work.

For your warehouse teams: Each location sees only their portion of the order. Phoenix sees “pick items A and B.” New Jersey sees “pick item C.” Nobody’s confused about who ships what. No Slack messages asking “did you already ship this?”

For your customers: One order confirmation with all items listed. Two tracking numbers, clearly labeled: “Package 1 of 2: Items A, B (shipping from Phoenix)” and “Package 2 of 2: Item C (shipping from New Jersey).” Automatic notifications as each package ships. They know what’s coming and when.

For customer service: One screen shows the complete order with the status of each shipment. When someone calls asking “where’s my stuff?”, you can answer in fifteen seconds instead of ten minutes. You can see that Package 1 delivered yesterday and Package 2 is out for delivery today. No digging through multiple systems.

Your 3PL is just another warehouse

Using a third-party logistics provider for overflow, specific SKUs, or regional fulfillment? Vectis treats them like any other location.

Orders route to your 3PL based on your rules: send them overflow when your warehouses are slammed, route specific product lines there, or use them for regions where they’re faster. The 3PL updates status via API integration (or manual entry if they’re old school). Inventory syncs so you always know what they have on hand. Tracking flows back to your sales channels automatically.

Your customer doesn’t know a 3PL fulfilled their order. They don’t care. They just get their package on time. That’s the point.

Adding a warehouse takes fifteen minutes, not fifteen days

No implementation project. No consultant. No “onboarding specialist” scheduling calls for next week.

Basic info: Name, address, timezone, contact. The stuff you already know.

Carrier accounts: Which carriers ship from this location? Connect them.

Inventory: Import via CSV or count manually. Your choice.

Routing rules: When should orders go here? Set your preferences.

Team access: Who can see and manage this warehouse? Add them.

Fifteen minutes later, orders are routing to your new location. Each warehouse operates independently with its own carriers, workflows, and teams. Vectis coordinates everything so you don’t have to.

See it work with your actual locations

30-minute demo. Bring your warehouse addresses and we’ll show you real routing scenarios for your specific operation.

We’ll walk through how orders route automatically between locations, how split shipments work in practice, how to set up rules that match how you actually operate, and how inventory stays in sync without the spreadsheet.

No slides. No “let me show you our vision.” Just a screen share showing how your orders would flow through the system.

Schedule a demo →

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Common questions

How many warehouses can I add?

Depends on your plan: 1 warehouse on Starter, up to unlimited on Enterprise. Most customers have 2-5 locations. See pricing for the details.

What if my warehouses use different carriers?

That’s normal. Each warehouse can have its own carrier accounts, rate preferences, and shipping rules. Phoenix uses UPS, New Jersey uses FedEx, your 3PL uses whoever’s cheapest: Vectis handles it.

Can I manually override the routing?

Yes. Automatic routing handles the routine stuff, but you can reassign any order to a different warehouse before it ships. Customer requests their order ship from a specific location? Override it. Warehouse is slammed and you want to redirect volume? Override it.

What about warehouse management (WMS) features?

Vectis includes WMS-lite: pick lists, packing stations, bin locations, inventory adjustments. The basics that most operations need. For complex warehouse operations (wave picking, zone routing, labor management), we integrate with dedicated WMS systems.

How does inventory transfer between warehouses work?

Create a transfer in Vectis. Source warehouse picks and ships. Destination warehouse receives and confirms. Inventory updates automatically at both ends. No spreadsheet required.