“Paid Successfully.” When the order system displays this page, for customers in front of the screen, your order fulfillment process maybe just a step in their minds.
They just want to know when and where their items will arrive under the conditions they wish.
However, for e-commerce business owners, the order fulfillment process is no easy task!
This process involves multiple steps and people. Coordinating them all is a process that usually requires continuous improvement and improvement to reduce costs, satisfy customers and enable employees to work with maximum efficiency.
Four Strategies to Improve Your Ecommerce Order Fulfillment Process
Maintain an Attractive Refund Policy
Your return policy is an integral part of your e-commerce order fulfillment process. But how exactly does this support your business?
In short, when the customer receives the order, the order fulfillment is not over yet. On the contrary, once he or she is satisfied with the service provided by your company, it is over.
Therefore, you need to develop an effective return policy so that you can process returned orders and issue refunds when required.
Warehouse Management System Seamless Integration
Now that products come from all over the world, the truth is that you may not produce the items you sell online in-house.
Your products are likely to be transported to storage in warehouses by various distributors and delivered directly to your customers.
Embrace Warehouse Automation
If you are not familiar with automation, it may sound daunting-is it really safe to hand over control of your business to a computer?
Many companies insist on what they know, even if they are aware of the problem’s inefficiency and crux. The idea of radical change can be daunting, leading to an attitude of “know your demons better.”
However, automation does not mean that robots will run your warehouse. On the contrary, this means that all time-consuming manual steps are prone to eliminate human error.
For example, when your warehouse operators receive an order, the automated system can let them know strictly which packaging option should be used, the most efficient order picking, and the best courier service to use.
When you receive orders from different channels, the execution of the order may become complicated. Having a standardized, automated fulfillment process avoids confusion and enables your warehouse staff to sort out orders as quickly as possible.
Enable End-to-End Order Visibility
Now you need to make sure that you can see everything in the entire supply chain.
In simple words, this means that both you and your supplier should be able to access the same catalog, inventory, and order fulfillment process-know precisely what items are available, quantities and locations.
Besides, the e-commerce customer you are browsing should check whether an item is in stock and the amount is small or essential, how many things are available.
This clarity is called end-to-end visibility and is an essential aspect of customer satisfaction and accurate order fulfillment.