It does not matter whether your brand is just coming up or it is already established, as e-commerce fulfillment involves numerous moving parts. However, there is confusion over what is supposed to take place, the moment a client hits “purchase”.
Meanwhile, if you do not have a solid level of understanding of what e-commerce order fulfillment requires to develop positive client experiences, it will be hard to make a decision regarding which offer fulfillment technique and model suits your business.
That wrong choice can have great repercussions, such as delays in fulfilling orders and not satisfying clients, which are the two things that any e-commerce merchant wishes to avoid. This beginner’s guide to e-commerce fulfillment will inform you about how to have happier clients.
What is E-commerce Fulfillment?
E-commerce fulfillment can be defined as the whole process of order fulfillment, right from the point at which a client buys a product online to the delivery at their place of residence.
The process of e-commerce fulfillment usually begins when your client places an order virtually. The order then gets processed and transferred to your brand’s e-commerce fulfillment services provider. The e-commerce fulfillment services provider then kicks off the supply chain, which may either be you, your employees or an order fulfillment partner. Below are the processes involved in e-commerce fulfillment.
Order Fulfillment
Order fulfillment comprises the selection of products, packaging, and transportation of purchases to shoppers, particularly through shipping. E-commerce businesses can successfully manage their orders and offer a positive client experience by either fulfilling the orders by themselves or by paying for the services of an order fulfillment establishment. The process ends with a hitch-free delivery.
Order Management
Management of orders involves maintaining a full view of the process of fulfillment. Through efficient order management, your business tends to gain visibility into the status of each person’s order, order trends, returned orders, as well as incomplete orders.
Inventory Management
Inventory management is all about storing, placing orders, restocking, and forecasting your inventory to avoid stockouts.
In inventory management, you will need to be careful of the quantity of inventory you store. This is because too much inventory can hinder your cash flow, because there is a need to lease more warehouse space to have everything stored. Meanwhile, if you have too little inventory, you run the risk of being unable to meet customer’s demand.
Inventory management is a delicate balancing act that many businesses always strive to become better at over time.
Shipping
The process of shipping involves actual order shipment, and delivery options, including the shipping charges settled by customers. Factors that influence this process include both your inventory and the location of the warehouse, client locations, the delivery carrier, the kinds of products you are transporting, and shipping laws specific to the country.
An order fulfillment company can cater to the process of shipping, and a sound third-party logistics provider (3PL) can enable you to obtain bulk discounted rates with main shipping carriers.
Warehousing
Warehousing, which is the process of storing the inventory of your business, is a vital component of e-commerce fulfillment.
Fulfillment warehouses offer you a safe, secure, and organized storage option, where orders can be processed efficiently as soon as possible.
In a case where your e-commerce business is just growing and cannot store inventory in a garage, you can choose to partner with a fulfillment company, as a fulfillment partner helps to store your products in its warehouses. A fulfillment partner also takes care of the e-commerce fulfillment process.
Returns Management
Returns management involves the process of receiving, examining, and processing returned products. However, note that it is essential to get your return policy right. This is because managing returns is a costly and labor-intensive process. Moreover, the inspection and appropriate cataloging of rejected goods is quite tasking and time-consuming.
How to Plan Your E-Commerce Fulfillment Technique
Location
Where you choose to fulfill online orders is one of the greatest determining factors in the speed and affordability of shipping. Your fulfillment location is expected to be as close to your end clients as possible. This is because keeping shipping distances and transit times short minimizes operational expenses and makes it convenient to meet customer expectations for quick delivery.
Shipping as a Client Acquisition Technique
As any e-commerce merchant is aware, there is much more to your shipping technique than merely optimizing for cost. With same-day and two-day delivery periods now a rising expectation amongst virtual shoppers, there is barely room for mistakes.
Because there’s a belief that businesses should shoulder the cost of shipping, there is a highly costly recipe for securing the loyalty of customers. However, there are ways you can provide free and quick shipping without breaking the bank. They include:
- Offering economy-free shipping with paid expedited shipping.
- Baking the shipping expenses into your product costs.
- Provide free shipping as a premium loyalty program.
- Include a free shipping threshold.
Set Your E-Commerce Return Rule
E-commerce returns cause some of the serious headaches for merchants. Bear in mind that your returns policy will have a direct effect on the number of returns you will need to process. Although it may be quite tempting to enforce strict rules that keep return rates minimal, it can easily backfire on your business.
This is because the easier it is to return items, the more your clients will be, and the more likely they are to buy from you later on. Hence, your e-commerce return policy should strike a cautious balance between providing customers with flexibility and protecting your business’s bottom line.
The Right Fulfillment Model
A lot of e-commerce businesses are under pressure to provide faster delivery periods and surpass the expectations of clients while maintaining accurate order fulfillment.
Therefore, it is crucial to choose an efficient fulfillment model for your business, as it will help facilitate exceptional company growth. In that case, do not take the decision process with levity hands.