UK Order Fulfillment: Process and Strategy in 2022
When was the last time that you ordered something online and experienced a less than ideal delivery?
Are you eager to make another purchase from the same seller?
Probably not. You are not alone.
After a bad delivery experience, 38% of customers say they’ll never purchase with that retailer again. It all boils down to one thing when it comes to preventing that outcome for your own eCommerce business: your order fulfillment strategy.
Order Fulfillment
Order fulfillment covers the complete process of transaction, through to delivery to your customer. Successful order fulfillment for an ecommerce web store relies on a third party to accomplish the order fulfillment stages for the eCommerce web store: from receiving, processing, packing, selecting, and shipping an online order to customers. To stay competitive and maintain consumer loyalty, eCommerce businesses need a strong retail order fulfillment plan. For eCommerce firms to stay competitive and generate customer loyalty, an effective retail order fulfillment strategy is essential.
Things to consider when determining order fulfillment strategy:
There is no such thing as an approach to order fulfillment. When it comes to scaling fulfillment for your online store, there are 4 crucial items to keep in mind.
- Ratio of Business size and order volume
- How many SKUs does your company offer?
- How many orders do you usually ship per month?
- What is your estimate for the number of orders you will ship next month? What about next year?
Finding a fulfillment solution that works for you is influenced by the quantity of products you offer and the volume of orders you receive on a monthly basis. If you’re new to ecommerce, your fulfillment strategy will most likely differ significantly from that of Walmart.
Marketplace or Target.
Due to low order volume, keeping fulfillment in-house rather than outsourcing may be more cost-effective. You probably don’t need a full inventory or warehouse management system to maintain track of your inventory and operations if you sell a small assortment of products and only dispatch a few orders per week.
Keep in mind when you’re likely to exceed your fulfillment approach if your firm is developing swiftly and your average order value is continually increasing. It’s critical that your ecommerce fulfillment approach scales with your business.
- Technology and sales channels
- Where do you sell your wares on the internet?
- Are you selling on a marketplace, an eCommerce site, or both?
- What kind of ecommerce platform do you use?
From a technological aspect, your fulfillment approach should complement and support your online sales platforms without having to do any developer work. Fulfilment software that already interfaces with your ecommerce platform and online marketplaces can help you handle the entire order fulfillment process more efficiently.
Think about:
- Location
- Are your customers collected in one particular area or are they spread out?
- Is your customer base international?
Two of the most significant variables that should inform your fulfillment approach are where you ship to and from. Customers expect eCommerce shipping to be rapid and inexpensive.
73 percent of buyers want low-cost, quick deliveries, and 24 percent of customers will cancel an order if it takes too long to arrive.
Reducing the number of shipping zones your average package crosses will ensure it can meet consumer expectations. Customers will be delighted when delivery prices and times are reduced.
If you’re already delivering items from more rural places, you’re paying unnecessarily high shipping charges. Instead, think about filling orders from a more central, metropolitan location.
Logistics expenses and shipment times can be reduced by sending from various sites near your clients. This allows you to use ground delivery more frequently, which is both cheaper and faster than expedited shipping from one side of the country to the other.
Ukprefulfillment, for example, is a global fulfillment organization with several sites across the globe.
* Do you have needs for customizing
* Are all of your items made-to-order?
* Is your brand’s main selling point customization?
You may want to take a more hands-on approach to your entire supply chain if you offer things that are custom-made, gift-wrapped, or highly fragile.
Outsourcing fulfillment entails relinquishing control over every last element of a custom order. Being able to pack your own things provides you with the freedom, flexibility, and certainty that your customisation will be perfect every time.
Options for order fulfillment
It’s obvious that different ecommerce companies have distinct requirements. With all of the aforesaid considerations in mind, the optimum order fulfillment approach for your company may differ from that of your competitors.
Outsourcing to a third-party fulfillment provider, merchant fulfillment, and dropshipping are the most prevalent order fulfillment techniques.
Third-party fulfillment
The outsourcing of fulfillment logistics to an external partner is known as third-party fulfillment. Inventory management, generation of optimum picking lists, packing boxes, and shipping orders, and return management are examples of these procedures.
Many internet businesses work with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider to outsource supply chain-related duties that are sometimes too inefficient, expensive, or complex to handle in-house.
Working with a 3PL might help automate time-consuming operations if you no longer have the bandwidth or space to fulfill orders yourself. By devoting less time to product delivery, you can devote more time to building your company.
3PLs have expertise in both inbound and outbound logistics, which your company can — and should — take advantage of. They also have the infrastructure required to ship bigger order volumes, making them important when your company grows and needs to ramp up rapidly and accurately deliver orders.
Merchant Fulfillment
Merchant fulfillment, also known as in-house fulfillment or self-fulfillment, refers to an eCommerce seller who completes the entire order fulfillment process without the assistance of a third party.
When they initially started out, many online businesses chose to fulfill orders in-house. This frequently entails holding goods and packing orders from the comfort of one’s own home.
Merchant fulfillment gives you greater control over your retail supply chain than outsourcing, but it’s also more expensive and difficult to scale as your company grows.
When your order volume becomes too big to handle from home, you have two options: expand your merchant fulfillment operations by investing in fulfillment infrastructure, such as warehouses, labor, and equipment, or outsource to a third-party logistics provider (3PL).
The former can be costly, which is why so many businesses opt for the latter.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a much more hands-off approach to order fulfillment and production. The manufacturer creates, stores, and ships inventory.
When a consumer puts in an order, the manufacturer receives the information. The product is sent straight to the customer from the producer.
Dropshipping appeals to many new ecommerce enterprises because of its low entry hurdles and low expenses. Manufacturers, on the other hand, are frequently located outside of the United States, which means that shipping takes much longer and is potentially more expensive than fulfilling orders domestically.
What is the procedure for order fulfillment?
You might be considering outsourcing eCommerce order fulfillment to a 3PL at this point, but what does it entail? It may appear that what happens in a fulfillment centre is a secret, but it doesn’t have to be.
When a customer places an order on your online store, the fulfillment centre of a 3PL handles it.
1-Receiving:
In order to begin fulfilling orders, your 3PL needs to have your inventory on hand. The acceptance and storage of incoming merchandise at the fulfillment centre is referred to as receiving.
Each 3PL has its own procedures for receiving and keeping goods, which frequently involve the merchant’s submission of documents. This keeps things organized and on schedule, allowing you to start sending your orders sooner.
The items are subsequently housed in specific warehousing storage areas, such as shelves, bins, or pallets, once the 3PL gets your inventory.
2- Choosing:
Warehouse picking is the first step in the order fulfillment process.
An order is assigned to the picking team when it is pushed to your 3PL’s order fulfillment system. To collect the requested products from their different locations, a picker receives a packing slip containing the items, quantities, and storage locations at the facility.
3- Packing:
Once all of the items in an order have been selected, it’s time to box them safely.
Packing materials are charged by certain 3PLs, while others include them as part of their fulfillment services. Your 3PL will select packing materials that will protect your products while also resulting in the smallest possible dimensional weight.
Boxes, bubble mailers or poly bags, packing tape, bubble wrap, air fill, and other dunnage are examples of these materials.
Some 3PLs allow you to stock your own bespoke boxes or utilize plain brown boxes if you like to keep your brand front and center.
4-Shipping:
It’s time to ship the order once it’s been packed.
On behalf of the merchant, most 3PLs will acquire shipping labels from shipping carrier(s).
Some fulfillment companies work with preferred carriers, while others compare shipping costs from a number of carriers. The latter ensures that each shipping option is priced as affordably as possible.
One of the most significant advantages of outsourcing fulfillment is that major carriers pick up orders and send them directly from the 3PL’s fulfillment facilities.
You will receive order tracking information after your order has been shipped. You can communicate this information with customers either automatically or manually, depending on the technology used by the 3PL.
Order fulfillment and 3PL pricing models
Varying 3PLs charge different rates for their fulfillment services. Here’s how much our online order fulfillment services cost at Ukprefulfillment.
Note that order fulfillment pricing is determined by your company’s individual requirements.
There is no one-size-fits-all fulfillment solution, and there is no one-size-fits-all pricing approach for online firms. The simple fulfillment pricing shown above is an example of Ukprefulfillment’s simple fulfillment pricing.
Contact our team for a customized fulfillment price that considers your company’s size, demands, strategy, and budget.
When it comes to selecting the correct order fulfillment provider and approach, there are five questions to consider.
If you’ve concluded that outsourcing order fulfillment to a third-party logistics service provider is the best option for your eCommerce business, finding the correct 3PL, might be difficult.
With unclear pricing and archaic methods, the alternatives can seem limitless.
Finding an order fulfillment supplier you can trust to handle your inventory, deliver a pleasant client experience, and ultimately help you expand your business is critical.
Here are five things to ask a potential third-party fulfillment company to ensure you find the best fit for your organization:
- What distinguishes you from a standard pack-and-pick 3PL?
- What is the operation of your technology? What types of ecommerce platform integrations do you offer?
- What are the locations of your fulfillment centers?
- Do you have a two-day shipping option?
- How can you assist me in providing a world-class client experience?
How to Select a Third-Party Logistics Provider for Your eCommerce Business
The afore mentioned are only a few considerations to make while selecting a 3PL.
We understand that there are a plethora of alternatives and information available, and that deciding what to do next can be difficult. That’s why we put together a free guide called “How to Choose a 3PL for Your Ecommerce Business” to assist you in finding the perfect partner.
This tutorial will show you how to pick a reputable fulfillment firm to help your ecommerce business thrive.
The essential questions to ask a potential third-party logistics provider to make sure you’re a good match.
What technology and features to look for when it comes to eCommerce order fulfillment that is faster and less expensive
And there’s so much more…
