Looking to create efficiencies is the hallmark of any strong business. In essence, that’s all that “streamlining” means – cutting away bloat and creating a faster, smoother, more cost-effective business process. And when it comes to creating streamlined order fulfillment services in Florida, APS Fulfillment, Inc. is an expert.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the best ways to streamline e-commerce fulfillment services in Hollywood, Florida.
Integrate with Your Partners
As a fulfillment center, you can’t do your job unless the manufacturers get their products to you on time, so that you can have them ready to ship and meet customers’ expectations.
Having a strong partnership and understanding between manufacturers and your business will ensure that goods arrive on time.
Considering how important customer service is to the fulfillment center business model, having these deep connections with manufacturers will help you avoid dissatisfied buyers, which in turn could prevent customer attrition and lost revenue.
Improve End-to-End Order Visibility
Technology has enabled us to track shipments in real-time. Far from a luxury, customers now expect this from fulfillment centers.
Your business ought to be able to provide end-to-end visibility and real-time updates for all orders, both incoming and outgoing. This ties in directly with the preceding point, as having a tight relationship with suppliers will make this step far easier.
With this precise data on hand, you can more effectively manage inventory levels, order processing statuses, and plan for when ordered products arrive.
This will also help improve transparency for the customer which, in turn, will help negate customer attrition and boost revenue.
Customers don’t like an order coming in late, sure, but they can handle delays. What they hate is expecting a product to arrive, only to be disappointed. End-to-end tracking nullifies that possibility by keeping them informed, so there are no irritating surprises.
Work with a Reliable Shipper
It goes without saying that the “shipping” part of the e-commerce business is arguably the most important part. After all, clients won’t stay for long if their products arrive late, damaged, incomplete/defective, or not at all.
And considering how fast this market is growing and how crowded with competition it is becoming, if you can’t match or beat the competition when it comes to shipping orders on time, then you likely won’t be able to turn a profit.
Partnering with a reliable, responsible, and fast shipper is vital to the core of your business.
When looking to partner with a shipper, do your due diligence to ensure that this is a company that you can trust to make shipments on time.
Communicate with Customers
Keeping your customers satisfied is the key to fostering long-term, lucrative relationships with repeat buyers.
Fostering brand loyalty can take time, but when achieved, it can mean recurring revenue from multiple purchases over that customers’ lifetime. In other words, a true lifelong customer could yield thousands of dollars in profit.
If you’re looking for high ROI investments, you can pretty much guarantee high yields on putting resources into customer communication and satisfaction.
It can be as simple as sending them messages letting them know that their product has shipped, when it’s set to arrive, and what to do in the event that it’s late.
These simple, easily doable steps can be the start of a profitable lifelong relationship between your business and a specific customer.
Choose Your Warehouse Location Wisely
Your warehouse (or warehouses) is the beating heart of your fulfillment center business. As such, it’s important that you situate you warehouse in a central location.
Now “central” in this case doesn’t necessarily mean in the city center or downtown. In this case, “central” means somewhere that is easily accessible, not prone to traffic jams and other predictable events that could delay shipping times, and is as close as possible to the geographical location of the customers you intend to service.
Determining the best shipping routes/methods and then using that information to inform where you situate your warehouse is a key step that can help boost ROI and streamline your business.
Develop a Returns Process
As much as we’d like to avoid returns, the hard truth is that there are going to be times when a customer wants or needs to return a product.
From defective shipments to unmet expectations to something as simple as shipping the wrong item, your business needs to have a robust and easy-to-use returns process in order to keep your customers satisfied.
While it may seem counterintuitive, having a strong and hassle-free return policy can actually net you a higher profit overall due to increased customer satisfaction and buyer retention.
After all, just look at Amazon—it famously has one of the best return policies available and has translated that laser-focus on customer service to become one of the largest companies in the world (and the dominant e-commerce force).
To decrease costs, find suppliers that accept returns, don’t charge restocking fees, and are able to process refunds and replacements.
The smoother and clearer the process, the happier you and the customer will be in the end.
Expert Order Fulfillment in Hollywood, Florida
Streamlining your order fulfillment process means reducing hassles, headaches, and waste. In other words, it’s just good business sense.
APS Fulfillment, Inc. is your e-commerce services expert. We have years of experience in the supply chain industry and excel at implementing on-demand warehouse software or working out shipping logistics. We have the tools, knowledge, and resources to help streamline your business.
Get in touch with us now and one of our consultants will tailor a fulfillment plan designed to grow your business. Book a consultation by calling (954) 582-7450 or email [email protected].
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The United States has been one of the hardest hit countries around the world when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Social and physical distancing guidelines encourage more and more people to stay home as much as possible and only go out to do essential errands. That means more and more people are placing online orders. As a result, business owners have been forced to rethink and reformulate their existing product fulfillment and distribution strategies to better meet the growing consumer demands.
