What is dock-to-stock time?
Dock-to-stock time measures how quickly a warehouse receives incoming goods. The clock starts when a delivery arrives at the receiving dock and stops when the goods are put away and show as available stock in the warehouse system, ready to be sold and picked.
For e-commerce brands it is a key service level in a fulfilment contract. Until stock is received, your shop can’t sell it, even though it is physically in the building.
Core principle: Stock in the building isn’t stock you can sell. Dock-to-stock is the gap between the two.
What happens between dock and stock
- Arrival and unloading: the truck or container is booked in and unloaded.
- Check against the advance notice: cartons and pallets are counted against the advance shipping notice (ASN) or purchase order.
- Counting and inspection: items are counted by SKU, checked for damage, and batch and expiry dates recorded where needed.
- Labelling: items without scannable barcodes are labelled.
- Put-away: goods are moved to their storage locations and the system is updated, which syncs stock to your shop.
Typical targets
Many e-commerce fulfilment contracts set a dock-to-stock target of 24 to 48 hours for standard deliveries, with longer times agreed for containers, mixed-SKU cartons or peak season. Measure it as an average and as the share of deliveries received within the target.
What slows it down
No advance shipping notice
The warehouse doesn’t know what is arriving and has to identify every item.
Watch out for: Deliveries without an ASN are often received last, after announced ones.
Mixed and unlabelled cartons
Cartons with many SKUs and no carton labels must be opened and counted item by item.
Watch out for: Ask suppliers for single-SKU cartons with labels showing SKU, quantity and, where relevant, batch and date.
Floor-loaded containers
Cartons stacked loose in a container take hours to unload and palletise by hand.
Watch out for: Unloading fees for floor-loaded containers are higher than for palletised ones.
Missing barcodes
Items without barcodes need labelling before put-away.
Why it matters: Barcodes applied at the factory make receiving faster and more accurate.
Example: A brand ships 12 mixed-SKU pallets to its fulfilment centre without an ASN. Receiving takes four days while staff identify and count every item. For the next delivery, the brand sends an ASN and asks its supplier for one SKU per carton with carton labels, and the stock is live in its shop the day after arrival.
Frequently asked questions
What does dock-to-stock mean?
The time from goods arriving at the warehouse dock to being put away and available as sellable stock in the system.
What is a good dock-to-stock time?
For e-commerce fulfilment, 24 to 48 hours is a common target for standard deliveries.
What is an ASN?
An advance shipping notice: a message telling the warehouse what is arriving, in which cartons and when, so it can prepare.
How can I speed up receiving?
Send an ASN, use single-SKU cartons with clear labels, put barcodes on every item and ship on pallets rather than loose cartons.
