Fulfilment centres, popularly called as Dark Stores, enable ecommerce merchants to outsource their critical backend operations of warehousing, inventory control and order processing. This relieves online business of the necessary activities related to holding and managing inventories, physical space management, product upkeep, which is beneficial for merchants without building their own capacity to directly manage these operations. Inventory management is a prevalent operational problem for many online stores, but is an essential component of cultivating the best possible customer experience. Fulfilment centres make inventory management much easier and allow store owners more time to focus on other areas of their business.
For online sellers, some of the most significant inventory management problems include overselling, stockouts, mis-picks, mis-ships, and damaged items. Overselling occurs when sellers receive more orders for an item than they have in stock. Stockouts happen when an item is displayed as unavailable on the website, which is problematic for popular products. Mis-picks and mis-ships refer to selecting and sending the wrong product to a customer, while damaged items are often the correct product but unusable upon arrival.
Dark stores or customer fulfilment centres (CFCs) solve these problems for online sellers by offering efficient inventory management and shipping solutions. These facilities are optimized for fast order fulfilment, reducing the risk of overselling and stockouts. With dedicated staff and streamlined processes, dark stores and CFCs minimize the occurrence of mis-picks and mis-ships, ensuring that customers receive the correct items promptly.
Additionally, dark stores and CFCs typically have quality control measures in place to prevent damaged items from reaching customers. By centralizing inventory management and order processing, these fulfilment canters enable online sellers to focus on other aspects of their business while ensuring high customer satisfaction through reliable and accurate order fulfilment.
So, you have a great product. You want that great product to get to your customers. But, you don’t know how. That’s where our 3PL services come in. We take the pressure off you and let you run your business while we handle the logistics of your product from anywhere in the world to our 3PL warehousing facility, and then all the way to its new happy owner.
We will receive your products, inspect them and sort them into their home at our warehouses. We can provide warehousing facility and integrate all the stocks with your inventory management system. We can manage the inventory, process your orders and make them ready for shipment within the defined TAT. We do pick and pack services and shipping for B2B, B2C and E-commerce fulfilment.
We can provide 3PL logistics services to ensure the timely deliveries to your end users. We can handle ALL aspects of shipping your product from our facilities and then straight into your customers hands. Our experts take care of your product as if they were our very own. Real-time order tracking is what we can do with our logistics partners. We know where the product is at every step of the process right up to the minute it gets to your customers’ homes. We immediately send you and your customers an email tracking number too, so everyone knows the status of the product shipment. We can also manage multiple carriers, rates and transportation services for you. (FedEx, Xpressbees, etc.). We handle product returns We also do product returns processing, inspection and relabelling for shipments. Returns happen, but we make it a pleasant experience. Whatever your customer needs, we help them with our easy return shipping labels and dedicated customer service. Working Capital If you are a start up and do not have much capital to invest in inventory, we can discuss the possibilities and come in as strategic partners. We are open to discuss propositions.
As your company grows, order fulfilment gets more and more intense. The first decision you and/or your executive team needs to make is how much fulfilment you are capable of handling in-house and how much you want to handle in-house. Fulfilment Strategy 1: In-House with CRM Technology Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is a tracking system used to organize customer data. CRMs are commonly used in sales and marketing to streamline and personalize communications, but they also ease the fulfilment process by:
• Processing orders.
• Storing shipping and tracking information.
• Creating and managing transaction documents.
• Tracking inventory.
• Running reports.
CRM software is a great option for small businesses, and even medium-sized companies who want to keep a close eye on a scaling business or product line. Most systems integrate well with existing software and, of course, offer benefits to sales and marketing teams as well.
If you decide to invest in a CRM to help handle fulfillment in-house, take it one step at a time:
1. Assess the need—Before looking at CRM vendors, analyze your company’s purchase history and most in-demand products to determine the necessary CRM storing capacity.
2. Shop around—Create a list of appealing CRMs, meet with vendors, and ask specific questions about key CRM functions, product implementation time, whether technical support is available, and transaction volume capacities.
3. Talk with stakeholders—After narrowing down your list, bring all your internal stakeholders together for a final decision—IT, sales, customer service, etc. Everyone who is going to touch the system should have a say in the decision. And remember that even the best CRM software can only do so much for fulfillment. Product still has to get sorted, packaged, etc., and as your company grows, even the best CRM might need help.
Fulfillment Strategy 2: 3PL Company Outsourcing Third party logistics (3PL) providers offer solutions in warehousing, packaging, assembly, and distribution under one roof, so you can leave some or all of the order fulfillment to supply chain experts like us. A 3PL like us can provide a range of fulfillment services, from setup, to shipping, to customer service. Most can integrate with existing e-commerce systems, manage inventory, optimize transit time, process returns and claims, and provide the data you need on your unique KPIs. You don’t need to invest in warehouse space or expanded technology, and you don’t need to hire and sustain more internal employees. It’s important to consider a few well-established 3PLs before choosing a partner. Consider factors such as:
however. Localized companies that handle their own distribution with ease may not benefit from outsourcing. Creating a Fulfillment Strategy Whether you choose to keep your fulfillment strategy in-house with a CRM system, or outsource at least some of it, setting up or updating a fulfillment strategy is a delicate process. You can’t shut down the business while you switch gears, so the transition needs to be smooth and as quick as possible. The best way to ensure success is to plan as carefully as possible.
1. Choose a strategy – You’ve tested some CRMs and Googled some 3PLs, now it’s time to decide. Which system is going to work best now, and scale easiest in the future? Decide what, specifically, will be done in-house, and what will be outsourced. Walk through the fulfillment process from each point of purchase, and make sure each step is covered.
2. Set up your system – Whether it’s software or business partnerships, it needs to be in place and people need to be comfortable with it before it starts affecting the business. Also decide whether internal employees are sufficient for setup, or if contractors should be hired temporarily to get the system up and running.
3. Select and set up KPIs – Be prepared to measure success from the start. Which metrics you focus on will depend on what the C-suite wants to see, and what problems you are trying to solve. In addition to hard data, consider implementing customer satisfaction surveys to see how customer needs are being met with the new strategy compared to before.
4. Start small – Roll out the new system with one product line, and carefully track the progress. Work out the kinks and make sure customers are happy before moving over another process or product line, and then another, etc. Fulfillment Strategy Resources Customer fulfillment is the backbone of company success in the B2C industry, and there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy.
Start by walking through our fulfilment process, honestly evaluating your needs, and putting together the plan that works best for your business and your customers. If you’re ready to talk to an experienced 3PL partner, contact us on admin.support@kemexel.com. We deliver fulfilment solutions in setup, shipping, and service that help businesses grow.
