Are you tired of losing sales and customers because you realize too late that you are out of stock of certain products? Are you tired of customers complaining that they have received the wrong item? If so, it is time to improve inventory accuracy in your warehouse. By accurately tracking your products you will be able to improve your performance as a business and run more efficient operations. The importance of effective inventory management should be recognized by all parties of a warehouse, so if you want to learn more about the importance of inventory accuracy, or how to achieve inventory accuracy, here’s are some points to consider.
How to Improve Inventory Accuracy in a Warehouse
How to Improve Order Picking Productivity in Warehouse Management
When it comes to warehouse order picking methods, the choices you make have a big impact on your supply chain. Choosing the right order picking strategies will go a long way for your business, leading to improvements such as reduced labor costs, improved customer service, and the best use of warehouse space. If you want to know how to improve picking productivity, here are some warehouse picking best practices you should know about.
The Importance of Order Picking Productivity in Warehouse Management
The order picking process involves pulling items from inventory to fill a customer’s order. This is often seen as the most labor-intensive task within a warehouse, forming as much as 55 percent of operation costs within a distribution center. Order picking has a direct impact on customer satisfaction levels, so making it quick and accurate is vital. Since order picking often requires heavy physical labor, the process can be slow, affected by human error, and unproductive. This is a big problem within the supply chain, as getting customers their orders on time is crucial to the success of any brand or business. Here are some ways you can improve the order picking process to make it more productive and accurate.
Common Challenges in Real-Time Inventory Management
Understanding your customers’ needs and making wise decisions on how to manage them through inventory is a challenge in today’s buying environment. There are many problems faced in inventory management, but these issues come with solutions. Managing your inventory is more complex than it may seem. Here are some of the most common problems and challenges in inventory management, and how you can improve your business to overcome them.
Challenges in Inventory Management
Lack of Knowing Your Inventory
Being unaware of inventory levels has a largely negative impact on supply chains. Companies should make sure they have full visibility of their inventory at all times, to know when stock needs to be replenished. It is also important to understand what is in stock, what is going to be ordered, the size and quantity of the order, and what items need to be replenished. This can be a cumbersome task, but it is essential to ensuring profitable business operations.
How Order Fulfillment Helps with Customer Retention for Your e-Commerce Business
Maintaining your current customer base is an ongoing challenge for all e-commerce businesses. That is why it is critical to utilize different ways to increase customer retention.
Here are some customer retention strategies to employ on an ongoing basis to ensure your e-commerce business is successful.
Importance of Customer Retention for Your Business
Some business owners may notice that the Pareto principle applies to their customers: Roughly 20 percent of your customers can bring in nearly 80 percent—or more—of your business’s revenue. There are many other benefits to customer retention upon closer analysis.
Omnichannel Inventory Management: Challenges and Strategies
Of late, omnichannel has become the de facto buzzword of the retail industry, finding itself used in many different contexts. This is because most retailers have many more channels to offer consumers like traditional brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce shopping, discount outlets, and pop-up kiosks. Therefore, special focus should be paid to omnichannel inventory optimization.
Best Practices for e-Commerce Product Returns
E-commerce returns management isn’t a fun process for retailers. It involves several different practices and responsibilities that can be time-consuming and challenging for brands. However, a reputable and experienced retail returns management company can help you implement these practices and achieve greater success for your brand. If you want to know how to deal with customer returns in e-commerce, here are the returns processing best practices you should know about.
3PL Fulfillment or Self-Fulfillment: Make the Right Choice for Your e-Commerce Business
Handling all the aspects of your e-commerce order fulfillment process can be a challenge, especially if you expect your business to grow in the near future. While it may be tempting to manage your supply chain independently, you may run into increased errors and delays if you do not have the right tools and manpower to get the job done efficiently. This is where third-party logistics (3PL) fulfillment solutions come in to save the day. If you need a cost-effective solution that can efficiently manage all these moving parts, it would serve you well to work with a reliable 3PL fulfillment company. What are the major differences between 3PL fulfillment and self-fulfillment? Here’s what you need to know.
How 3PL Providers Help to Reduce Your Logistics Costs
The reality is that the cost of logistics, warehousing, and transportation are always rising. This means that companies must examine where they can find efficiencies and save money. Hiring a third-party logistics company is one of the major ways that you can reduce logistics costs for your business.
Ways to Reduce Logistics Costs
There are many specific reasons why a 3PL provider creates a reduction in logistics costs. When you hire a trusted 3PL company, you also gain from their experience in a number of areas from cost of freight to a reduction in damaged shipments. Remember that all of this is driven by the need for a 3PL company to constantly perform.
How to Improve Customer Satisfaction with Order Fulfillment
There are many different strategies to improve customer satisfaction, and implementing these strategies should be one of your top priorities as a business. When customers have a good first or second experience with your business, you’ll have a greater chance of turning them into loyal customers that stay with you for the long term. Happy customers are also more likely to recommend you to their friends and family, which works as free advertising for you. If you want to improve customer satisfaction with an order fulfillment center, here are some tips that can help you.
Ways to Improve Customer Satisfaction with Order Fulfillment
Best Practice Considerations for e-Commerce Warehousing
With the volatility of the holiday season behind us, you might have begun to breathe easier knowing that the worst is over for your e-commerce business. However, this may be the perfect time to dig a little deeper and look for ways to improve your offerings by ensuring that you are using the best practices for e-commerce fulfillment.
After all, having an ultra-efficient chain of fulfillment that moves your products quickly through warehouses and distribution centers and into the consumers’ hands always pays huge dividends.
