Common Mistakes Businesses Make When Managing Order Fulfillment
3 Common Mistakes Businesses Make When Managing Order Fulfillment
If you're running an e-commerce business, you must deal with many orders to fulfill daily. According to Shopify, almost 60% of shoppers have made an international purchase online within the past six months, 45.5% of which come from North America. As you can see, online order fulfillment now makes up as much as half of shopping orders. Unfortunately, some businesses still have a lot to learn about successful order fulfillment, and here are some common mistakes.
1. Poor Packing Materials
You have an amazing bunch of products people are itching to buy. Regardless of how good the product is, if you don't package it properly, it'll break up during transit. When it comes to appropriate packaging, you must think beyond a pretty package that showcases your branding. You must be mindful of the type of packing materials you use, whether you're dealing with electronics, furniture, or other fragile items. Some materials may need packing peanuts, bubble tape, or foam packaging that fits snugly around the shape of the item.
2. Unprofessional Inventory Management
Before you ship any items out, you should develop a professional way to manage all your inventory. Account for everything you currently have in stock and note when items are getting too low. Don't wait until your most popular items completely run out before restocking. An inventory manager should begin reordering items once they get below a certain percentage.
3. Lack of Communication
Good customer service is a must. Whether you're dealing with business-to-business products or regular consumers, pay attention to what customers are telling you about your product delivery. They should have fast ways of contacting you in case there is a problem like late shipment or damaged products. By interacting with and responding to your customer's needs, you can make the necessary adjustments so that you don't lose your customers to competitors.
Online order fulfillment is a big business for anyone in the e-commerce sector. However, there's more competition out there, so if you don't do your due diligence, you may lose customers and develop a bad reputation. If you're relying on products online, you need a company that will avoid the above mistakes. You can trust our company to send the items you need in a timely fashion. Contact us today for more information.