Each day, thousands of products are picked, packed, shipped and headed to countless customers. While most don’t think about the scope or what happens behind the scenes, it’s evident that fulfillment is a massive part of ecommerce. Moreover, customer expectations have changed – people want their items shipped low-cost or free and to arrive at their door swiftly. In other words, fulfillment has become a critical part of the customer experience.
It's easy for businesses to make any number of common fulfillment mistakes. However, there are ways to prevent and handle issues that arise. This article will cover frequently made ecommerce fulfillment mistakes and what to do instead.
Outdated technology has a variety of negative effects on the ecommerce fulfillment processes, including:
To mitigate these issues, invest in or work with a 3PL partner that uses modern technology infrastructure and integrated systems that offer automation, scalability, real-time visibility and enhanced security. This improves operational efficiency, provides better customer experiences and gives ecommerce retailers a more competitive position in the market.
Warehousing is a critical component for ecommerce. Having enough space is essential for growth. However, it’s also important to have the flexibility to meet your business's demand ebbs and flows. Empty space can cost you, but you must remain adaptable to meet peak season demands.
Another common warehousing mistake is layout. Proper layout and management are a necessity for streamlined operations. High-volume products should be optimally located, making it easier to access them for packaging and shipping. Vertical space should also be used to your advantage, providing more storage while keeping areas open for better warehouse navigation, making picking, retrieval and fulfillment operations faster.
Maximize and optimize how you use your warehouse space. Start by assessing how it’s currently used and identify spaces not used in full. Then, do things like storing items by size, using vertical storage or removing obsolete inventory. Ecommerce businesses can also work with a 3PL service with the knowledge and expertise to help you optimize your warehousing operations.
If you don’t have a handle on your inventory, it can affect your ecommerce business in numerous ways. For example, retailers with poor inventory management experience stockouts, overstock and shipping delays. Poor inventory organization may mean you struggle to find items in your warehouse. Other common inventory management issues include incorrect data, tracking discrepancies and the inability to meet fluctuating customer demands.
Use inventory management best practices. This means having the right software, a streamlined warehouse layout, setting periodic automatic replenishment (PAR) levels, forecasting, conducting stock audits and working with reliable suppliers.
Ecommerce brands that lack a clear returns policy and processes may find themselves deterring customers. Returns management has become a part of the fulfillment landscape – and how you handle it has a big impact on the customer experience. Consumers look for a clear policy before they purchase and want a seamless experience if they do. In fact, 89% of consumers are less likely to buy from a retailer after a bad return experience, while 97% will buy again after a positive one. Treating returns as an afterthought can cost you, making it essential to examine your process.
Implement returns management processes. Use returns management best practices to create a policy, implement a returns prevention strategy and a workflow for getting returned items back in circulation more quickly.
Communication is key for efficient and streamlined operations. It also goes a long way in preventing customer, partner and stakeholder dissatisfaction. Ecommerce businesses must look at how they communicate throughout the supply chain, otherwise they can experience inefficiencies, errors and disruptions. Lack of strong communication can lead to:
To address these issues, businesses should invest in robust communication channels, implement integrated systems and establish clear protocols for information sharing among different departments involved in the fulfillment process. Effective communication enhances coordination, reduces errors, and improves overall efficiency in the fulfillment chain.
Poor or inefficient packaging leads to damaged products, customer complaints and a higher number of returns. It can also create higher carrier costs, especially with excess packaging materials that lead to a higher DIM weight. Packaging and the unboxing experience have become an important part of the customer journey. Consumers want it to be memorable and engaging.
Optimize your packaging materials, processes and shipping costs while also creating a personalized brand experience for customers. Ensure that your packaging is recognizable and that it arrives damage-free.
Assessing your fulfillment operations to prevent common mistakes is crucial – otherwise it can cost you time, money, labor and resources. Working with an expert 3PL for ecommerce fulfillment has numerous benefits. To find out how Cart.com can optimize fulfillment, contact us today.