Why sort
Why sort labels before packing
Marketplace PDFs list orders in the order they came in. A kurti, then a mug, then another kurti. Packing in that order means walking back and forth to the same shelf.
Sorted by SKU, the labels follow your stock instead. You take ten of one product, stick ten labels, and move on. Fewer trips, and fewer wrong items in the wrong box.
Example: before and after sorting
| Position | In your PDF | After SKU sorting |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | KURTI-RED-M | KURTI-RED-M (order 1) |
| 2 | TSHIRT-BLK-L | KURTI-RED-M (order 3) |
| 3 | kurti-red-m | MUG-01 (order 5) |
| 4 | No SKU found | TSHIRT-BLK-L (order 2) |
| 5 | MUG-01 | TSHIRT-BLK-L (order 6) |
| 6 | TSHIRT-BLK-L | UNKNOWN SKU (order 4) |
Reading SKUs
How the SKU is read on each marketplace
Each marketplace prints the SKU in a different place, so each has its own reader.
Flipkart
The SKU is read from the product table printed on the label itself, the one with the columns SKU ID, Description and QTY.Sort Flipkart labels by SKUMeesho
The SKU comes from the Product Details table on the label, which also has Size, Qty, Color and Order No. columns.Sort Meesho labels by SKUAmazon
Amazon labels do not print the SKU, so it is read from the item description on the matching invoice page.Sort Amazon labels by SKU
Sorting rules
How labels are sorted
The rules are simple and predictable, so you always know where a label will end up.
SKUs are cleaned up first
Extra spaces are removed and letter case is ignored, so “kurti-red-m” and “KURTI-RED-M ” count as the same SKU. Numbers sort naturally, so SKU-2 comes before SKU-10.Unknown SKU group
If a label has no readable SKU, it is not dropped. It goes into an “UNKNOWN SKU” group after the known SKUs, and the file shows a warning.Orders with more than one SKU
An order with several products is sorted by its SKUs joined together in alphabetical order, so identical mixed orders still end up next to each other.Stable order
Labels with the same SKU keep the order they had in your PDF. Sorting never shuffles orders within a group.
More ways to sort
Pickup sorting, colour and size
Sort by pickup (Meesho)
Pickup sorting groups labels by courier so each courier’s parcels are ready together when the pickup arrives.
Couriers recognised on Meesho labels: Delhivery, Xpressbees, Shadowfax, Ecom Express, Valmo, Valmo Plus, Ekart, DTDC, Blue Dart, India Post, ElasticRun, Shiprocket and SWA.
Labels without a recognised courier go into an “Unknown pickup” group. Turn on SKU sorting as well and labels are grouped by courier first, then by SKU inside each courier. Flipkart and Amazon PDFs do not support pickup sorting.
Colour with size, or size with colour (Meesho)
Meesho’s Product Details table has Size and Color columns, so Meesho labels can also be sorted by colour and then size, or by size and then colour. Sizes are understood by name, from XS to XXXL, Free Size and numeric sizes, so M comes before L and not after it.
SKU sorting, colour with size and size with colour are alternatives. Choose the one that matches how your shelf is arranged.
Summary page as a picking list
Turn on the SKU and order summary to get A4 page(s) at the end of the PDF listing each SKU with its number of orders and total quantity, plus a courier breakdown when pickup details are found. Print it and pick stock from it before you start packing. For more on working with a whole day of files, see how to organize shipping label PDFs.
Sorting options
Other ways to sort shipping labels
SKU sorting is the most common kind of shipping label sorting, but you can sort shipping labels in other ways too. Courier pickup sorting groups labels by courier before the SKU shipping label sorting runs inside each group. On Meesho, colour with size and size with colour sorting are also available.
For shipping label order sorting, leave the sort set to None. Labels then stay in the same order as the pages of your original PDF.
Shipping label PDF sorting happens on the file itself. You sort shipping label PDF pages without splitting the file first, and the result is one new PDF with the labels in the order you chose.
FAQ
SKU sorting questions
Where SKUs come from, what happens when one is missing and how courier sorting fits in.
See all questionsRelated tools and guides
- Flipkart label cropperSort Flipkart labels by SKU ID.
- Meesho label cropperSort Meesho labels by SKU, colour with size or size with colour.
- Amazon label cropperSort Amazon labels using the SKU from each invoice.
- Organize many label PDFsMerge every file of the day and sort all labels together.
- Print sorted labels 4 per A4Keep each product’s labels on the same A4 sheets.
- Shipping label PDF cropperHow labels are cropped before they are sorted.
- How to sort shipping labels by SKUA step-by-step guide to sorting a day’s labels.
- Sorting and summary FAQMore answers about sorting, privacy and supported PDFs.
Pack one product at a time
Upload your Meesho, Amazon or Flipkart label PDFs, turn on SKU sorting and print labels in the order of your shelf.