You may have the best website and products on the planet and getting customers to your site and selling a product may be a breeze but if you drop the ball when it comes to fulfilment your eCommerce customers will start voting with their feet and migrate to someone who has got their act together. With that in mind here are some key considerations to keep your punters smiling.
Taking logistics seriously!
Here are a few thoughts and recommendations on your fulfilment from the team at Venditan to round off the week.
Fast or free?
Delivery options range – make sure you give the customer choice when it comes to cost and speed of service.
Reliable
Don’t get logistics wrong. It might not be quite as sexy as the front-end portion of your business – but get it right and you can save yourself a whole load of headaches and make the fulfilment process simpler for everyone.
Invest in technology
Inventory management systems need to scale up as your business grows. As the volume of orders starts to increase you need to be sure that you are managing stock correctly – from goods in, to invoicing and packaging.
DPD, Royal Mail, TNT, Parcel Force
The list of third party logistics/fulfilment/delivery companies is a long one. Shipping costs are a part of the business you can have a significant amount of control over. Do the research, understand your delivery offering and use the right services to ensure your margin isn’t squeezed.
Amazon
Amazon offer a fast, reliable and competitive fulfilment option. Send your stock to them and they’ll store it, sell it, pack it and ship it. Job done. Fulfilled by Amazon is a great opportunity if you’re looking to improve the service your customers receive while increasing revenue through a new stream, although keep an eye on your margin.
Yesterday
The most popular day of delivery – most customers would like their latest online purchase to be delivered to them as soon as feasibly possible. And they are willing to pay for it. Look for the fringe delivery services – for example, London Same Day delivery – not everyone will use it, but try and offer something that makes you stand out when it comes to fulfilling customer orders.
Final thoughts
Fulfilment is often the defining factor in your success as an online retailer. Is your technology provider giving you the support you need to succeed? If you're feeling like your parcel is late, perhaps you should give us a call?
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