Let’s face it, the customers are the bread and butter of your business. Without your clients, there wouldn’t be a business to begin with. Happy customers are the customers that keep your business going. Therefore, it becomes your job to ensure that your customers are satisfied every single time.
How do you keep the customers happy? It all comes down to the order fulfilment process. The boom in online shopping has been especially unprecedented. The online shopping world has grown from obscurity to a multibillion-dollar business over the last several decades. Who would have thought that one day, we wouldn’t have to leave the house to get everything that we needed?
Purchasing something on the internet has become a regular activity for millions of individuals all around the world. The number of individuals purchasing products and services online has risen faster than it has in the past. Your business order fulfilment procedure is critical to both your online and in-store business’s success. It has an impact on the customer experience as well as the efficiency of your operations.
To keep your customers happy, you need an excellent order fulfilment system in place. Before you do that, however, you need to understand what the order fulfilment process entails. When it comes to enhancing your eCommerce order fulfilment process, one of the first things you should do is calculate your order fulfilment cycle time.
If you can do this, it will provide useful information about the present efficiency of your order fulfilment. It’s critical to keep track of this indicator since a quick fulfilment process might affect client satisfaction ratings, which in turn decides your online business’s profitability. Especially if your business has a big demand for online order fulfilment. It is not uncommon in the eCommerce sector for the order fulfilment cycle to take days or even weeks. Some aspects, such as foreign shipping, are beyond your control.
Keeping all of these factors in mind, this is how you go about optimizing the order fulfilment process for your business:
Your Website Must Be User Friendly
You’re not going to get any customers if they are turned off right away by your website. Customers and potential leads will notice your website first when communicating with your company.
This means that your website should be well-organized. Order placing, recording, processing, and, finally, the fulfilment process are all made easier with user-friendly websites. You will save yourself a lot of hassle down the road if you make this a priority from the beginning.
Improve the Way Your Ordering System Works
The first step in order fulfilment optimisation is to find methods to improve the ordering system. Tackle the issue at its source and business will run a lot smoother. Orders may be botched up if you don’t have a good ordering system in place, and consumers may be unsatisfied.
Every customer will have a different volume of order and the type of order they place. This must be tracked by the ordering system. To improve your system, you need to boost the efficiency of your order management (the processes involved in managing customer orders or purchases).
To make these operations more effective, businesses require an order management system. Invest in a system that records orders automatically. The system should also be able to automate the majority of your company’s order and warehouse management procedures. The system you choose must be able to link it with the top warehouse execution systems on the market.
Keep A Detailed Record of Your Inventory
The basis of a company’s order fulfilment process is inventory management. Therefore, it is crucial that your business always stays on top of your inventory. Your inventory record should be a comprehensive list of stuff in a logical sequence.
A good inventory system in place guarantees that the correct number of items and stocks are kept on hand. Inventory management also helps you to maintain track of inventories and determine what things need to be manufactured or purchased. Customers can only buy things that are in stock. By staying one step ahead of your inventory system, you’re already completing a very critical part of the order fulfilment process.
A good way to go about this is with a database. You can check the amount of goods in stock using a database. Begin by keeping track of your items and organizing them by quantity and kind in a notepad or spreadsheet. A database can keep track of stock discrepancies as well as the amount of goods in stock. Any inconsistency may result in a loss for your company, so everything must be closely checked.
Ensure That Your Products Are Handled Safely
One overlooked aspect of the order fulfilment process is product handling. Did you know that this is actually a very important step? Product handling entails careful storage to ensure that the product lasts as long as possible.
To maintain the safety of their products, most businesses use one of two standard storage procedures. They either keep everything in-house or outsource it to a third-party storage company. In-house storage simply means that the company is accountable for the things it sells. The corporation maintains a facility or a warehouse to keep its merchandise in this situation.
If you opt for the second approach, this means you enlist the help of a third-party company to watch over your items when you choose an outsourced storage partner. Because of the cost savings involved, some business owners choose this sort of setup.
Maintain Excellent Customer Service All the Way
Excellent customer service should be one of the backbone of your company. Not just before the sale, but after the sale too. After-sales service is often overlooked by business owners.
After-sales care refers to any service or help that is provided after a customer has paid for and received a product. Warranty specifications should be in place so that all parties are aware of the terms and restrictions. It avoids disagreements once the ordered things have been delivered successfully.