When creating FBA shipments in Amazon, sellers often confuse packing groups and split shipments because they can appear together during the shipment workflow.
While related, they are not the same thing.
📦 What is a Packing Group?
A packing group is how Amazon organizes items within a shipment.
Amazon groups products together based on factors like:
Size
Prep requirements
Product type
Fulfillment needs
👉 Packing groups help Amazon organize how items are packed and processed.
📍 What is a Split Shipment?
A split shipment happens when Amazon sends your inventory to multiple fulfillment centers.
Instead of shipping everything to one warehouse:
Some items may go to Texas
Others to California
Others to Florida
👉 Split shipments are about where inventory is being sent.
🔍 Key Difference
Packing Groups | Split Shipments |
Organizes items within the shipment | Divides inventory across warehouses |
Based on item characteristics | Based on warehouse routing |
Affects packing workflow | Affects shipment destinations |
Can exist without split shipments | Often creates multiple packing groups |
📦 Example
You create one shipment with:
Books
Electronics
Oversized toys
Amazon may:
Create separate packing groups for each item type
AND split them across multiple fulfillment centers
👉 This means one shipment can have:
Multiple packing groups
Multiple warehouse destinations
⚠️ Important Notes
Multiple packing groups do not always mean split shipments
Split shipments often create multiple packing groups
Both are normal parts of Amazon’s FBA workflow
💡 Why Understanding This Matters
Knowing the difference helps you:
Understand Amazon shipment workflows better
Avoid confusion during shipment creation
Organize box content correctly
Troubleshoot inbound shipment issues more easily
🔄 How It Works in AccelerList
Within AccelerList:
Packing groups and split shipments are displayed based on Amazon’s shipment structure
Amazon determines both automatically during shipment creation
👉 AccelerList reflects the data returned by Amazon.
✅ Summary
Packing Groups = how Amazon organizes items inside a shipment
Split Shipments = how Amazon distributes inventory across warehouses
They are connected, but they serve different purposes in the FBA shipment process.