Brands overview

A brand is a single client or business whose orders, inventory, and work you manage in Packr. This page explains what a brand is, how it sits inside your workspace, and where brands show up across the app. It is for everyone — both 3PL operators and brand users.

Audience: Everyone

This page is for all roles. Anyone can view the brands they have access to in the Directory. Some related tasks — such as creating a brand — are admin-only and are called out where they appear.

Overview

In Packr, a brand is the unit you organize work around. Each brand has its own orders, inventory, tasks, shipping errors, members, and optional warehouse (WMS) connection. Brands live inside a workspace, and the people on a brand only see the data for the brands assigned to them.

  • See every brand you can access in the Directory.
  • Open one brand to work it in the Brand Work Desk.
  • Jump between brands using the brand switcher.

Brand vs Group: the same thing

The Directory screen labels brands as Group — you will see a GROUP column, a Create new group button, Group Admins, and a "Search all groups..." box. "Group" and "brand" mean the same thing: wherever the Directory says Group, read it as brand. Throughout the rest of Packr and this documentation, the term is brand.

How workspaces and brands relate

A workspace is the top-level container for your organization; brands live inside it. One workspace can hold many brands, and each brand belongs to exactly one workspace.

  • Admins and operators (workspace or 3PL admin roles) can see every brand in the workspace.
  • Brand users see only the brands they have been assigned to.

Switching workspaces changes which set of brands you see. To learn how membership and roles control brand access, see Access controls.

Where brands appear

Brands surface in three main places in Packr.

  • The Directory — the full list of brands you can access, at /directory/brands. Each row shows the brand name, admins, other users, open tasks, shipping errors, status, and a WMS connection badge when a warehouse is linked.
  • The Brand Work Desk — the single-brand home where you do the actual work for one brand. Selecting a brand opens it here.
  • The brand switcher — lets you move between the brands you have access to without returning to the Directory.

Screenshot: The Directory brand (Group) list. (pending capture)

Open a brand from the Directory

Use the Directory to find a brand and start working it.

  1. Go to /directory/brands.
  2. Use Search all groups... to filter by brand name, or scroll the list.
  3. Select a brand row to open it in the Brand Work Desk.

If you are not yet a member of that brand, Packr asks "Join <brand>?" before opening it. Choose Join & View to be added and continue to the Brand Work Desk. For what you can do once inside, see Working a brand.

Read a brand row in the Directory

Each row in the Directory packs the key signals for a brand at a glance:

  • GROUP — the brand name and icon, plus a WMS connection badge when a warehouse is linked.
  • 3PL ADMINS / GROUP ADMINS / OTHER USERS — the people on the brand by role; a warning marker appears when no admins are assigned.
  • OPEN TASKS and SHIPPING ERRORS — live counts you can act on.
  • STATUS — whether the brand is active or inactive.

The stats row at the top of the Directory totals these across all your brands (total, active, inactive, open tasks, shipping errors).

Tips

Tip

Connecting a warehouse to a brand is optional. A brand with a linked warehouse shows a WMS connection badge in the Directory; see Brand WMS mapping for how the link works.

Admin only

Creating a brand is an admin-only task. The Create new group (add) button in the Directory only appears for roles with the create-brand permission. See Managing brands.

Common questions

What is a brand? A brand is a single client or business you manage in Packr — its own orders, inventory, tasks, members, and optional warehouse connection. Brands live inside your workspace.

What is a Group? "Group" is simply the Directory's label for a brand — the two words mean the same thing. See Brand vs Group: the same thing.

Where do I see all my brands? Open the Directory at /directory/brands. It lists every brand you have access to. Admins and operators see all brands in the workspace; brand users see only the brands assigned to them.

Why don't I see a brand someone else has? You only see brands you are assigned to (unless you are an admin or operator). Ask a workspace or 3PL admin to add you. See Members and invites.

How do I open one brand to work on it? Select the brand in the Directory to open the Brand Work Desk for that brand. If you are not a member yet, choose Join & View when prompted.