Order Fulfillment comprises a series of steps from receiving an order to shipping it when someone purchases online from your e-commerce store. Timely and cost-effective completion of orders is the most critical and final step in the sales funnel. Pandemic has now changed sales and commerce strategies a lot. Customers’ cost and estimated delivery time are two main concerns, so the less you delay order fulfillment processes, the higher the customer retention rate you’ll achieve. As a partner with Red Stag, you can count on end-to-end order fulfillment that meets your and your customers’ needs.
Many external factors play an important role in the success of your business and the order fulfillment process. Some of these are given below.
Warehouses Locations
Look for a warehouse in geographical proximity to your final customer because they often want to check out the store and its products. It will build up their trust and sense of security. In addition to it, this will also enable faster, cheaper, and more effective shipping.
Fulfillment Process Automation
From receiving the order to shipping, the process must be automated. Using automated software, steps like order processing, packing, picking, and return and exchange services must be seamlessly managed. There are plenty of platforms available that offer a lot of integrations to optimize and automate this process.
Shipper-Carrier Relationship
There must be effective communication with delivery service providers, and you must try to make processes easier for better collaboration with them. It will also aid you in improved planning in case of order delays.
Delivery Options
Effective parcel shipping is essential for your successful business. Therefore, it would be best to avail services of multiple parcel shipping providers. It will also enable you to switch delivery companies whenever one is facing difficulty or causing significant delays. Furthermore, it will also fulfil customer requirements if they don’t trust one source and want to opt for another one.
Customer Service
Customers’ orders must be fulfilled accurately in a consistent time frame. Communication of tracking numbers and follow-up after order delivery will also boost their trust. Keep a record of unfulfilled orders. Double-check the package by matching it with the product ordered before final sealing.
Order Fulfillment Process
You can choose any of three order fulfillment processes depending on your store location, needs, volume, and strengths and consider customers’ needs. These options are a third-party method, dropshipping, and merchant order fulfillment process.
Also, avoid errors like wrong picking and packaging or misreading labels,which cause a bad customer experience. Keep records of the items available to restock and maintain high inventory levels. Ifthe process of order fulfillment is delayed, be transparent to customers and try to inform them beforehand. You may need to hire extra staff to manage a high volume of customer orders when sales surge. International shipping protocols have changeda lot in these years- focusing on it and making a practical plan for timely delivery to customers will be beneficial.
Veeramachineni Lalitha
I am Finance Content Writer. I write Personal Finance, banking, investment, and insurance related content for top clients including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Edelweiss, ICICI BANK and IDFC FIRST Bank. My experience details : Linkedin