If you’re selling physical inventory to your customers, you have more than a few challenges to battle. Right form storage of the inventory to delivering it in the best condition to the customer. Moreover, you also have to make profits and scale our business along with it. If you decide doing all of this on your own, there are chances you will not last long. However, if you opt for eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions, consider a major chunk of your work done.
eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions help your business in various ways. They take the burden of the most tedious tasks in business off your shoulders. As a result, you can make business decisions freely without feeling burned out from all the repetitive business tasks.
But choosing the right fulfillment solution can be a tedious task. You need to access the requirements of your business and look at what the top players are offering. Even if you know what you want, there are plenty of options available in the market that are bound to confuse you.
But don’t worry since we’ve got you covered! Read on to find out the top qualities you should look for in the ideal eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solution.
The Importance of eCommerce Warehousing and Fulfillment Solutions
If you’re just stepping into the world of ecommerce, everything might seem easy. You would come with the assumption that you can partner with the right people and go on delivering orders, ultimately making profits. Only if you wish everything worked out so smoothly.
For mose online sellers, order fulfillment is where everything falls apart. It is a complex process that begins with your business and ends once you deliver a product to the customer’s doorstep. Right from receiving orders, to sending updates, managing inventory, picking, packaging and assigning the courier, all is a part of order fulfillment. In other words, order fulfillment gives you satisfied customers and profits you can bank upon.
But, to go through all of the details of perfect order fulfillment is a tough task. For this reason, one of the best options for sellers is to partner with ecommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions.
Seamless Inventory Management
Managing inventory is fundamental in any physical product based business. You not only need to keep an accurate count of your inventory but also understand their condition. Because if you send a damaged product to the customer, not only will your business suffer, but also you will lose a customer. Similarly, if you send an incorrect product that can be equally distressing. On the other hand, if you hire eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions, such issues are taken care of.
Hassle-Free Order Fulfillment
Fulfilling orders is a full time task. For this reason you should leave it to the experts. eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions help in managing the order seamlessly. You let the experts pick, pack and ship the inventory for you. Whale you have all the free time in the world to make the decisions for your business.
Customer Satisfaction
Satisfying customers becomes one of the most fundamental things in ecommerce. If your customers are not satisfied, they will walk away from your business. And remember that nothing travels faster than word of mouth. Dissatisfied customers can spread the world through digital mediums and put your business in jeopardy. With eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions, the order fulfillment and inventory management takes place efficiently. Therefore, if the quality of your inventory is good, customer satisfaction is guaranteed. The package is delivered on time and in the best condition.
Lower Costs
Business costs are lowered as a result of eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions. That is because they provide solutions depending upon the needs of your business. So, if you are not looking for a large storage space or have only a limited number of orders, your solution will be customized. You will pay as you scale. Moreover, the more orders you ship, the lower your shipping costs become.
Things to Look for in eCommerce Warehousing and Fulfillment Solutions
Now that you know the importance of eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions, let’s tell you the desirable qualities of these solutions. Take a look below-
Minimum Order Requirements
Several eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions have some minimum order requirements. For example, the seller has to guarantee that they will ship a certain number of orders every month if they want to use a facility. Based on this the rates are also negotiated. This is a fundamental question, so make sure that you know about your business before you approach them. In case you don’t, do some forecasting to find out. Communicating this with your eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions can help build the foundation of a suitable partnership. In such scenarios, your service provider is clear of what you are expecting from them.
Warehouse Locations
Before you choose eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions, make sure you research well about their locations. In other words, your service provider must have warehouse locations in all the prime places. This should also be with respect to your business. In other words, you need to know where most of your orders are coming from. For example, if you are receiving a large number of orders from South India, your service provider must have a warehouse there. Similarly, if a significant chunk of your orders are coming from other parts of the nation, you must be able to keep your inventory in a warehouse nearby. Order fulfillment solutions who have multiple warehouses throughout the country provide an edge.
Refrigeration Facilities
In case you are selling food or planning to advance your business in that direction, this will be helpful. Looking for eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions that have refrigeration facilities provides an upperhand. They are also fundamental for food storage. Remember the special requirements regarding your inventory when you try to find the perfect solution. Because food can perish easily if not refrigerated, you cannot partner with someone who doesn’t offer these facilities.
Business Support
Your eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions must also be able to provide a robust support to your business. You cannot go on with a successful partnership, if you are not getting ample support when you need it. Many ties parcels get stuck or there are some issues with your inventory. Alternatively, you might also need to place special requests due to seasonal inventory or surge in orders. Therefore, unless your eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions have good support to help you, it is going to be challenging partnering with them. For example, Dash101 Logistics provides a key account manager to every seller so that their orders are delivered hassle-free.
Trial Plans
Another desirable quality are the trial plans. You might want a demo of something you’re getting full time into. With advancing time a lot of eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions are providing trial plans to the sellers. This way, you can test the platform,understand if your eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions are tailored to your business requirements. In case they are not, you need to raise to switch to something else.
Clientele
Understand what kind of business has your eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions been dealing with. Have they been in the same line of business as yours? Having an edge with companies that have worked in your domain can be of advantage. For example, if you are selling food and your eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions have previously catered to the demands of companies also selling food, they’ll be more experienced. Therefore, you will have an advantage. On the other hand, you should also look at the clienteel for any popular names. This will help you understand the reach of your eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions and how successful they’ve been.
Insurance
Insurance is definitely one of the non-negotiable aspects of an ecommerce business. If you are handing over your inventory to eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions, make sure they provide you with insurance. This will provide you cover for any damage or loss of inventory you are not responsible for. Many times during transit or storage some goods might get damaged.
Moreover, during shipping he handling by the courier companies is tough. Products even with special labels are prone to damage. Make sure you do not have to suffer for something you haven’t done. eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions must provide insurance coverage to an extent. This helps in establishing trust and laying the foundation of a long term relationship.
Conclusion
Fulfilling orders and managing your inventory at the same time can be too much for a small business. However, with the assistance of eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment solutions and 3Pl logistics platforms like Dash101 Logistics, you can streamline your business. Ship for as low as Rs 23 per 500 gms and maximize your reach to 26000+ locations. Get support on all days of the week as you ship with more than 8 top-notch courier services. So, what are you waiting for? Get started today!
