Any shipment received at an Amazon fulfillment center without box content information is subject to fees that Amazon assesses. InventoryLab has built options to provide this information into your workflow to make your life easier!
This article details entering box content and printing 2D Barcodes.
Have a barcode scanner? Check out this article for steps on scanning items to assign them to boxes - Add Box Contents Using a Scanner
2D Barcode Label Requirements
The 2D barcode labels generated by InventoryLab are PD417, the recommended type by Amazon.
Amazon also recommends printing these labels using either a thermal or laser printer. Their support article states:
We recommend thermal or laser printers for printing your 2D barcode labels. Do not use inkjet printers. To prevent the PDF print area from scaling, make sure the printer’s scaling settings are set to none or 100%. We also recommend that you periodically test your barcodes by scanning them.
For more information, please refer to their article- Send to Amazon: 2D barcodes for box content information
Box Content Settings
To provide box content using 2D barcodes, you must have this option turned on both in Seller Central and in InventoryLab.
Turning on 2D Barcodes in Seller Central
Log in to Seller Central and click the Settings gear in the upper right corner.
Hover over it and select Fulfillment by Amazon from the drop-down menu, as shown below:
Locate the Inbound Shipping section and confirm that the option for 2D Barcodes for Box Content Information is Enabled.
If not, click the Edit button.
Select Enable in the 2D Barcodes for Box Content Information section, then click Update.
Turning on Box Content in InventoryLab
When creating a new batch on the List>List & Prep page, set the Provide Box Content option to On- Using 2D Barcodes.
With this selection, you're all set to generate 2D barcodes for your boxes during the Box Content portion of the batch workflow.
Assigning Items to Boxes
Note: Amazon allows up to 100 items per box but only 700 characters per 2D Barcode label. Due to variables that affect the number of characters needed per item, we have set the limit to a maximum of 40 ASINs per box to prevent issues.
After you have created all your shipments on the Proposed FBA Shipping page, you will be brought to the Box Content page.
To begin, click the shipment you want to begin working on towards the top of the page. If the batch had multiple shipments, they will be listed individually.
This page has the following sortable columns:
Shipments Area
• Shipment Name
• Shipment ID
• Prep Type
• Destination
• Qty
• Total Boxes
Box Contents Area
• Title
• MSKU
• Exp Date
• Qty
• Box Information
We automatically create the first box for you, as is shown in the panel to the right side of the screen. If you need additional boxes, click the + button to create a new box.
To assign an item to a box Choose the box you’d like to put your items in on the right-hand side.
Adjust the QTY and click the +Add to Box button
Boxing in Progress will be displayed if only a portion of the items have been assigned. This indicates that you have more of the item that has not yet been given a box designation.
To move your contents to a different box, click Move and select the new box in the dropdown menu
You can see the total number of items left to assign in a shipment at the bottom left of the page.
Boxing Complete will be displayed once you have finished assigning the items.
Estimated Box Weight
To make sure you don't overfill your boxes, the Est. Contents weight will be displayed.
The weight is based on the item package weight of the items in the box, estimated to the nearest hundredth of a pound.
Dollar Value
Having the Display Dollar Value for Box Contents enabled in your settings makes it so the cost/unit and list price values of the items assigned to your boxes are visible on the Box Content page and packing lists.
The Dollar Values will automatically be displayed for each box.
This setting can be managed anytime under Settings>List>Box Content Settings.
Action Items
After clicking the three vertical dots in the box content area, a dropdown menu will appear with the following options:
• Print Box Packing List – this action allows to print a packing list for your box.
Select if you would like the list to include images of the items in the box or not, then a new tab will open and your browser’s printing functions will take over.
You will also see the option to remove the box.
For more information on packing lists, please see - Box Content - Print a Packing List
• Remove Box- this action will remove the box
Clicking the Copy Box Icon will allow you to copy an already assigned box
Clicking the Printer Icon will allow you to print the barcode
Show FNSKU/Show MSKU/Show ASIN – clicking the gear icon allows you to change the view for all items in boxes to either show as FNSKUs, MSKUs, or ASINs
Removing all Boxes
If you need to remove all of your boxes, click the Trash icon
A pop-up will appear to make sure all boxes should be removed. To proceed with deleting all of the boxes, click Remove All Boxes.
If the boxes contained any items, those items will need to be reassigned to a new box.
Note: Deleting boxes may cause the box numbers in Seller Central not to match up with the box numbers in InventoryLab for the shipment. For more information, please see - Your Shipping Labels With Box Content
Create or Copy Boxes in Bulk
If you tend to have a large number of boxes per shipment, you can create them in bulk in a couple of different ways.
Bulk Creating New Boxes
You can bulk create new boxes by clicking on the blue + button. A prompt will appear where you can enter the number of boxes you need and click OK.
Copying Existing Boxes
If you need to create multiple boxes with the same items, copying boxes may save you some time!
To copy a box, click the Copy Box icon next to the box name and select Copy Box.
You will be asked how many copies of this box you would like to make.
Note: The default value will be the maximum number of exact boxes that can be copied, but you can change the value manually if needed. The value must be greater than 0. If you attempt to change the value to something higher than the maximum number of exact boxes that can be copied, you will see a warning message.
After clicking OK, you’ll see a message letting you know the boxes are being copied.
Print 2D Barcode Labels
Once items have been assigned to boxes, you can print the 2D barcodes for them individually or in bulk.
To print a 2D barcode label for an individual box, click the printer button next to it.
The 2D barcode label will open in a new tab to be printed using your browser's printing functions.
Note: If your labels don't seem to be opening, try these steps- My 2D barcode labels or shipping labels aren't opening!
After you've assigned all of your items to boxes for a shipment, you can print the 2D barcode labels for the boxes in bulk by clicking the Printer Icon next to the shipment name.
Or, if you've finished assigning all of your items to boxes for all of the shipments created in the batch, you can print 2D label barcodes for all of them in bulk by clicking the Print All 2D Barcodes and Choose Carrier button.
Once either button is clicked, the applicable 2D barcode labels will open in a new tab to be printed using your browser's printing functions.
If you're not ready to complete your shipment(s) yet, click Cancel on the next screen to return to the Box Content page.
Purchase Shipping
After completing the box content information for your shipments, it's time to print 2D barcodes (if you haven't already) and purchase shipping labels. You can purchase shipping and complete them without ever leaving InventoryLab.
Workflow steps to complete SPD (Small Parcel Delivery) shipments:
Workflow steps to complete LTL (Less Than Truckload) shipments:
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