Ecommerce fulfillment – The must have strategy for brands looking to win loyal customers

Ecommerce is evolving at pace. Customers shopping habits are changing and their demand and expectation are constantly increasing.

Consumers, when they want something, they want it now, even during challenging and unique times. 

Sellers, navigating these demands is difficult, at the best of times. 

Fulfillment processes and costs have direct impacts on your balance sheet.  

Getting your ecommerce fulfillment right, first time, is vitally important. 

What is fulfillment?

It is the process of storing your products and then picking, packing and dispatching orders to customers. 

E-commerce fulfillment applies to both business to business (B2B), where larger quantities are shipped to retailers and business to consumer (B2C), where customers complete orders online on your website or via an online marketplace and the products are delivered straight to their door. 

In both cases, once the transaction is completed, the fulfillment process starts. 

It is rather a complex process, with many moving parts from receiving product, warehousing, picking, packing and shipping orders, then keeping track of the orders and ensuring that they are received on time and in peak condition. 

So, what actually happens?

1. Receiving 

Firstly, you need an inventory (complete list of your products), before you can fulfil your customer’s orders. 

All you do is send us your inventory and we will fulfil this on your behalf. 

2. Warehousing 

In simple terms this is the organisation and storage of your products. 

Each of your products will have a unique SKU (a stock keeping unit – a unique number used to internally track the inventory) and must have a dedicated storage location. 

If you have a larger operation then we will put your products in a shelf, bin or on a pallet. 

We will ensure that our warehouse will keep your products secure and protected, giving you visibility into what you have available to despatch to your customers. 

3. Order Processing 

Once we receive an order it will be processed. 

The steps involved are picking, packing and getting them ready to despatch.  

A packing slip is used, which notes the quantities and storage of locations of each product ordered, this may also include instructions on which packing materials were used e.g. bags, tape, bubble wrap, air fill or any custom packaging.

Finally, a despatch label will be added to the package.

4. Despatch 

Once the order has been processed and is ready to send, it must be despatched, without delay. 

Once we despatch your order you will receive tracking information that can be shared with your customers, to keep them updated on the expected eta of their much-anticipated delivery. 

5. Returns management 

Depending on the item quality, return reason, and your returns policy, the product can either be restocked as available inventory or disposed of due to malfunction.

Can you afford not to have a fulfilment partner? Give us a call today to discuss your fulfilment requirements.

Thinking outside of the box. It’s what 3pluk do.