With the increased tendency for shoppers to primarily order online, some retailers’ order fulfillment processes have begun to struggle. This can result in a number of smaller retailers losing out on sales. For example, think about how often you’ve purchased a product from Amazon because you knew it’d show up within two days? Now think about how often you’ve neglected ordering from smaller businesses as a result of their longer expected shipping times. The truth is, though, order fulfillment is not an easy process to perfect. This post will detail the order fulfillment processes of most online retailers, with a specific focus on last mile delivery.
While the order fulfillment process of every organization is different, there’s one phase that remains true throughout: last mile delivery. This is the phase in which a purchased product moves from the fulfillment center it was being held at to the final point of sale. This is often the phase in which many smaller scale businesses struggle compared to titans like Amazon. If your organization’s last mile delivery is lacking, it is likely negatively affecting online sales.
It wasn’t until recently that the last mile delivery stage of order fulfillment was fully fleshed out. Many years ago, orders placed online would not be met with such sophisticated tracking information. In most cases, online shoppers were told to expect a product within a range of dates and that was about all of the information they got. Of course businesses would still try their best to get their customers’ products to them as quickly as possible, but the expectations of customers were much less demanding then. Now, as more and more giants continue to control the space, shipment expectations have long been on the rise.
For many sellers today, delivery speeds are only half the issue. As more and more online shopping has been done throughout the pandemic, sellers have seen incredible leaps in order and delivery volume. The solution to these delivery woes? In most instances, is fully fleshing out your company’s Last Mile Delivery strategy. Most times, this requires an inventory management system that ensures there are no backorders. It also requires ample warehouse space around the country that reduces the distance between product and customer. These warehouse spaces allow for more robust delivery options in order to accommodate more thoroughly for your customers. In addition to this, companies must have established quality standards for their customers. That is going beyond just providing an excellent product, but also providing rigid tracking for placed orders.
If your organization’s online sales have plummeted since the pandemic, it might be time to rethink your order fulfillment process, specifically your last mile delivery considerations. With a more polished process, it’s possible to grab hold of a competitive advantage. For additional information on these strategies and the impact they have on retail businesses, be sure to check out the infographic accompanying this post. Courtesy of WAREHOWZ