Successfully fulfilling ecommerce orders is not always an easy feat, but it’s definitely possible. It takes the right systems, processes and methods in place to accurately fulfill your online orders and keep customers coming back to make repeat purchases.
Outsourcing order fulfillment to the best ecommerce fulfillment company for you can help your business tremendously. By streamlining your ecommerce order fulfillment process, this helps your company run at a smooth pace, increases customer satisfaction, plus saves time and money.
Discover the key factors to successfully fulfilling your ecommerce orders below:
Receiving Inventory
One of the first steps to this process is sending your fulfillment provider your inventory. Once received, quality checks are done to make sure the products aren’t damaged or defected, and your inventory is then logged into the inventory management system.
Note: No inventory should ever be sitting for several days in the warehouse, because customers can’t buy what is not in stock.
Warehouse Organization
The extreme organization of the fulfillment center(s) can play a huge part in how your fulfillment providers’ staff is able to rapidly and accurately ship your company’s orders. An organized warehouse with modern warehouse management technology makes the order fulfillment process run smoothly, and saves time. Additionally, being organized just makes it much easier for the warehouse staff to locate, pick and pack your products.
Technology
Partnering with an ecommerce fulfillment center equipped with robust technology helps your business run effectively. Modern technology solutions and software that inform you about the details of your business are crucial to your success.
For example, order management software permits you to see the status of each order and its location in real-time. Inventory management software informs you on how much stock is available and alerts you when stock is low. This can be extremely helpful in preventing hiccups or delays in your supply chain.
Fulfyld’s powerful technology seamlessly integrates with any platform to simplify your shipping process. This allows your order information to automatically update without you having to do any extra work on your end.
Communication
The old saying “communication is key,” still reigns supreme when it comes to success in ecommerce order fulfillment. Communicating every step of the way after your customer places an order is greatly necessary and can pay off in the long run. Using simple communication tools like emails, text messages and push notifications keeps customers informed on the details of their order, and limits additional emails inquiring on the status of their purchase.
Not only does this keep customers in the loop, but it also builds trust and makes them feel secure about shopping with your company. Additionally, staying in communication with your customers brings forth the opportunity to ask for reviews on their purchase and ask about their shopping experience. If customers had a great experience, they will be much more inclined to share this experience with others.
Order Processing and Shipping Flexibility
Order processing is when a customer’s order is received through your online ecommerce store, then order confirmation is sent to the customer and your warehouse or fulfillment provider picks, packs and ships the item(s) to your customer. A true key to successful order fulfillment is making sure your customers receive the right product in the right timing.
When shipping, it is important that your fulfillment provider has the capability and flexibility to meet your company’s needs—currently and in the future. Can your fulfillment provider scale up and ship more if necessary? If, for whatever reason, you needed to scale down and cut back, do they have the ability to do that as well? These are important factors to having a successful ecommerce order fulfillment strategy, and its essential to partner with a fulfillment provider who has the bandwidth to handle such tasks.
Returns Management
Contrary to popular belief, returns aren’t always a bad thing. Hear me out, okay? Every time a customer returns a product, it is not because they didn’t want it or because it was damaged. Sometimes customers order the wrong size, color or product altogether, hence why they would like to return it. This is when it pays to have a good returns management process. An efficient returns management process gives you the opportunity to effectively handle returns by exchanging and shipping new items quickly or promptly refunding their money.
This proves to customers that your returns process is safe and secure. In turn, customers will feel more inclined to buy from your company again in the future.
Upgrade Your Order Fulfillment with Fulfyld
At Fulfyld, our aim is to make ecommerce order fulfillment as simple as possible for you. We are dedicated to handling the dirty part of ecommerce so you can focus on other areas of your business. Contact us today to take your order fulfillment to the next level!
