Whether you’re a small business owner, a mid-sized enterprise or an already established, reputable business – order fulfillment issues are a common encounter.
Order fulfillment, as we know it, is the entire process of warehousing, packaging and shipping of the products to the end-user. Easier said than done, this process can be highly complicated and stressful.
Depending on the nature of the business, inventory management, supplier selection, and order fulfillment process can vary considerably.
Common Order Fulfillment Issues for Businesses
Following are some frequently occurring order fulfillment issues that businesses encounter:
Poor Inventory Management
Taking orders from potential customers is like making a commitment to delivering the ordered product on time.
Having an in-house warehouse management might lead to mismanagement and miscalculation, making it difficult to fulfill the number of orders that are taken up. Your customers order on the pretext that the product is available, but if they don’t receive it, they lose the trust they placed in you in the first place.
Solution: Think about outsourcing your fulfillment by drawing out a comparative analysis of the cost of in-house warehousing and outsourcing it. The warehouse management software that they have installed uses technology to track relevant data and makes sure that your inventory is always up-to-date and well managed.
Time-Consuming Pick-And-Pack Process
Even if your inventory tracking system is in place, sometimes you are unable to adequately serve your customers. This can be attributable to warehouse mismanagement which makes the picker unable to locate the right inventory at the right time. This results in loss of precious time.
Solution: Inventory control in its truest sense is not only about having enough material in stock but about being aware of the products category-wise. A sequential order-picking needs to be implemented that is streamlined by distribution software operated by order-fulfillment companies.
Incorrectly Filled Order
Imagine having to bear the brunt of customers who apparently received products they never ordered in the first place.
Your capacity to take orders is flexible because of the adequate supply of products in your inventory.
However, a problem often arises when it is wrongly labeled. The delivery team ends up with the wrong product and ultimately it gets delivered to the wrong customer.
Solution: In a scenario like this, a third-party warehousing and logistics company can provide you with order fulfillment services that help you manage your warehouse layout. Inventory is tracked using barcodes. With more than one touch-point, your products are double-checked to ensure that the labelling and product inside is the same. This minimizes errors and in turn, boosts profitability.
Shipfusion sets your business on autopilot and combines flexible, reliable fulfillment with powerful, real-time technology. Shipfusion has multiple fulfillment centers across the US and Canada– making it easy to manage your eCommerce business. For more information on how to set your business on autopilot, contact one of our fulfillment specialists today.