When daily processing of orders becomes a burden on staff, facilities, and customers, the decision to outsource can be the answer.
As a business leader with a growing e-commerce business, the cost of expanding operations to fuel growth is expensive, time-consuming, and contains risk. The organization is expanding, and it’s at the point when a pivot in operational logistics can be the answer to successfully building upon that growth or hitting a stalemate with inefficiencies. Every organization understands that customer engagement is essential to continued success through repeat business, referrals, and five-star reviews.
Here are four ways outsourcing order warehouse fulfillment can positively impact customers’ shopping experience and improve the bottom line.
Create Efficiencies
The product-market fit has been achieved, sales are growing, and online website engagement is increasing monthly. The next step to continued growth is to audit internal operational processes to find and fix inefficiencies. An excellent place to start is fulfillment. When a business first begins, fulfilling orders in-house is financially sound. When it reaches a distinct size, though, the organization should consider a third-party fulfillment service, or what’s commonly referred to as 3PL. As a business leader with a growing e-commerce business, the cost of expanding operations to fuel growth is expensive, time-consuming, and contains risk. Given the risk, conduct a cost-benefit analysis. Once completed, if it shows the ROI is worth the investment, adjust internal priorities to focus on customer retention and other core business needs, allowing the third-party fulfillment partner to do what they do best.
Successfully Manage Returns
According to this study from RMIT University in Australia, a good e-commerce return management process “supports customer relationship management” and gives the organization a chance to recapture value from products. Creating an internal process is a large undertaking that adds another business vertical to any organization. Using a third-party partner specializing in fulfillment and return management can save on expenses and keep customers who might otherwise be lost to the competition. Hassle-free returns are paramount to the customers’ positive shopping experience.
Improve Margins by Outsourcing
As this McKinsey article states, “the total cost of handling a product is determined by considering cost at each step of the value chain.” A crucial vertical to consider reducing margins in is procurement and distribution operations. With fulfillment warehousing specifically, lowering the cost of this operational expense will save the company money in labor, facilities, and the headaches involved in issue resolution. The money saved can be invested in other areas of the business that need financial attention. By reducing the company’s costs, the organization can focus on the areas that propel the business forward.
Boost Order Accuracy and Maximize Inventory Visibility
Bazooka uses a best-in-class inventory management system to ensure the warehouse fulfillment process is streamlined from start to finish. When running an e-commerce shop, it’s crucial to ensure inventory availability in real-time.
Enhanced Customer Loyalty
By addressing inefficiencies, implementing a successful return management process, and improving margins and order accuracy, customer satisfaction will naturally increase. To do all of this in-house is an ineffective use of financial capital when having the option of using a third-party fulfillment partner that already has a successful value chain. Outsourcing to a fulfillment center helps decrease delivery delays and offers convenience to customers, both of which are instrumental in providing a positive online shopping experience.
