With the growth of the ecommerce sector, the demand for ecommerce warehouse services has increased. At the same time, ecommerce warehouses have outgrown their conventional meaning of being brick and mortar storage areas to become stockrooms—where inventory is stored, picked, packed and shipped to customers. Due to the growing importance of ecommerce warehouses, choosing an appropriate fulfilment company for ecommerce warehouse services is crucial to ensure that orders are delivered on time and without damage while keeping costs in check.
There are some things ecommerce brands must remember when choosing a fulfilment company for ecommerce warehouse services, such as:
The number and location of ecommerce warehouses
The closer a warehouse is to a customer, the shorter the distance the order has to travel, meaning it will be delivered faster and cheaper (as shipping costs are lower). Therefore, ecommerce brands should choose a fulfilment company with multiple ecommerce warehouses spread across the country, or they may have to incur huge logistics costs.
Inventory management
Ecommerce brands should choose a fulfilment company that gives them real-time data on inventory levels to track their inventory and maintain adequate inventory levels at all times; this will help ecommerce brands to track and maintain sufficient inventory to prevent stock out. Fulfilment companies should also sync inventory levels across all sales channels.
Warehouse Management System (WMS)
A Warehouse Management System (WMS) is a set of guidelines that govern the functioning of a warehouse. Ecommerce brands should choose a fulfilment company with a robust warehouse management system for stowing inventory, picking, packing and shipping orders, and managing workforce.
Packaging options
Packaging is a way ecommerce brands can impress their customers. A custom package instead of the banal, brown box can positively impact customers. Ecommerce brands should go for a fulfilment company that gives them the independence to have custom packaging. At the same time, they should use appropriate packaging materials like bubble wrap to prevent in-transit damage to the order.
Returns management
Returns are an inevitable part of ecommerce, and any good fulfilment company has a proper set of guidelines to deal with them. Before choosing a fulfilment company, ensure they have a system to conduct a quality check of the returned product and restock or refurbish it depending on the condition to help you recapture lost revenue.
Scalability
Choosing a fulfilment company that adapts to your changing needs is essential. In addition, the fulfilment company must be able to handle any sudden influxes or dips in order volume. When the order volume is high or low, they should be able to handle it smoothly.
● Eshopbox has multiple state-of-the-art fulfilment centres spread across the country, which ecommerce brands can leverage to provide their customers with fast shipping. Eshopbox’s ecommerce warehouses are equipped with devices and gadgets that maintain a high level of security and plan for disaster management.
● A fulfilment company like Eshopbox gives proactive, multiple inventory replenishment reminders. Ecommerce brands can use this data to track and maintain inventory to prevent stock out.
● A fulfilment company like Eshopbox updates inventory levels across all sales channels every 5 minutes to provide real-time accurate product levels and prevent overselling.
● Eshopbox has a streamlined order management system that helps ecommerce brands to meet the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) across all sales channels. Moreover, ecommerce brands can also opt for priority service and get a same-day order processing feature for orders received before 12 pm.
● With Eshopbox’s robust returns management, each returned item’s quality is checked, and the item is restocked or refurbished, depending on the quality check. In addition, returns of bad quality are notified to the seller so they can file claims for it on online marketplaces.
● Moreover, with Eshopbox’s pay-as-you-go pricing, ecommerce brands are only charged for the services they use and nothing else; there are no hidden costs.
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