The Internet is still king and will remain so until at least the end of this decade. E-commerce is part and parcel of this cyber age.
Like with in-person orders, online orders require speedy, faultless e-commerce fulfillment. What good’s an e-commerce site that can’t properly complete the next step of fulfilling the order?
Step up your company’s online game by heeding these five important considerations for e-commerce fulfillment.
1. Stock Management
An essential part of the fulfillment process is stock management. You need to know the quality and quantity of your stock before processing orders.
Mark products with stock-keeping units (SKUs) to easily track your items. You should also update your inventory regularly.
Next, do audits regularly to manage your inventory and verify you’re properly implementing your process. Audits also let you do quality control and gauge damaged and outdated items.
2. Order Processing
It’s imperative to send confirmation notifications to customers when they place their orders through email, your website, or online marketplace. Your e-commerce platform should have features that automatically trigger alerts.
Confirmation emails should have all the important details: the order summary, tracking number, and more. With order processing, be sure to use the appropriate software. Moreover, you should integrate multiple e-commerce channels.
3. Picking
After an order is confirmed, you should send a picking list to the fulfillment warehouse to search for the designated products to pack and ship. A picklist should name each item’s aisle, shelf, color, quantity, size, etc.
A notable Courier Brisbane comments that all successful businesses need to also have an effective order prioritization system that quickens the picking process. Automation tools will streamline both your picking procedure and fulfilment process.
E-commerce fulfillment services can integrate with your e-commerce platform to expedite the process, too.
4. Packing
Raising brand awareness these days involves more than simply advertising your product online. Using your brand colors and logo in your packaging is also involved. The packaging should represent your brand while keeping the items intact and safe.
Be sure to label your packages appropriately, provide the right receiver details and delivery address, and follow the courier company’s packing standards. By doing so, you’ll avoid delivery delays, damaged items, and product returns.
Pack your products in cardboard boxes with the help of a cardboard supplier.
5. Shipping
Last but not least is shipping. Calculating shipping costs can be difficult, especially with multiple carriers. Try an e-commerce platform like Ecwid to simplify the process.
It syncs with local and national carriers to provide real-time shipping rates. In addition to digitizing shipping tasks, you should choose fulfillment partners that are close to your customers.
Seamless E-Commerce Fulfillment
E-commerce fulfillment is a dangerous game. A company can be misled into thinking that fulfilling online orders is somehow easier than doing business the old-fashioned way.
E-commerce can attract a spike in new customers. However, without diligent planning of its fulfillment process, a company can fail to retain them. The glitziest e-commerce platform ever created loses exponential value when the fulfillment side fails.
Uncover more enterprise hacks in the site’s Business section.
Leave a Reply