Order Fulfillment Process

Receiving and Returning of Products

It involves receiving products, processing them, and then sending orders to customers. When a consumer places an order, the process begins and concludes when they get their order.Nevertheless, O2b Technologies provides ERP for order fulfillment that also handles returns also if a customer decides to send anything back.

Order Fulfillment – What is it?

Order fulfillment includes receiving, packaging, shipping, and delivering an order to a customer. There is no all-encompassing plan that is effective for every business. Some businesses handle all aspects of fulfillment in-house, while others are so big that some responsibilities must be shared with a third-party logistics (3PL) supplier.

There isn't one fulfillment method that works for all businesses. Finding the best procedure that satisfies your business' requirements and consumer expectations is important, regardless of whether you decide to employ a hybrid warehouse fulfillment model or outsource to a third-party logistics provider. Your fulfillment procedures should be made more efficient in order to maintain client satisfaction and protect your financial position.

You are on the correct path as long as your order fulfillment techniques correctly reach each of these high notes. O2b Technologies helps you find the best technique to support your company's fulfillment procedures, though, may make all the difference.Finding a plan that fits your daily fulfillment needs is great, but implementing it without first considering your company's particular demands is a formula for failure.

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Kinds of Order Fulfillment Process

There are four types of Order Fulfillment Process

Internal Order Processing

The in-house order fulfillment concept involves a company managing the fulfillment procedures using its own staff. Employees manage every stage of the fulfillment process, including on-site product storage and shipment at a location under business control.

Outsourced Order Processing

When shipment, storage, and order/refund processing are handled by a third-party logistics (3PL) or order fulfillment organization, this is referred to as outsourcing order fulfillment. This is a possibility for businesses that don't have enough people or storage space.

Dropshipping

With the exception of the need to maintain inventory, dropshipping is identical to outsourcing. The retailer doesn't hold a stock of the products it sells. Instead, the store buys the product from a third-party source before selling it. The supplier might be a producer or a business that buys goods from producers to resell to dropshippers.

Hybrid Fulfillment

A business adopting a hybrid fulfillment approach will combine the aforementioned order fulfillment alternatives. For instance, a business may employ dropshipping services for non-custom products while processing some orders internally, such as custom items or things that need to be built before shipping.

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Importance of Order Fulfillment Process

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The two-day (or even next-day) delivery choices are standard for consumers nowadays. As a result, there is a significant need for faster and more appropriate delivery. You may have trouble having shipments delivered on time when your order fulfillment procedure is inconsistent or delayed, which may be harmful for the organization (and bottom line).

Just take a look at the numbers: 43 percent of consumers indicate that after a bad delivery experience, they won't purchase with a store for at least a month. Another 38% of consumers said they won't purchase at any shops ever again.

A customer's purchasing preferences are directly impacted by the order fulfillment alternatives. Customers want delivery choices that best meet their requirements. Customers may select depending on their financial limitations and time limits thanks to the variety of quick and slow delivery alternatives offered. Businesses who don't provide attractive choices run a high risk of going out of business before their clients even give them a chance: Insufficient delivery options reportedly caused 45% of customers to leave their shopping carts, and additional delivery options reportedly led to 58% of customers choosing one provider over another.

Delivering on consumer expectations for timely delivery and return services is essential if you want to acquire a competitive advantage. Your order fulfillment procedures can be made more efficient by:

  • Reduce your shipping expenses
  • Reduce operating expenses
  • Increase your market (globally)
  • Improve your client service
  • Maximize selling
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Steps Involved in Order Fulfillment Process

Receiving Inventory

In any case, the arriving inventory has to be counted, checked, and collected to make sure the right quantity and quality were received. SKUs or bar codes on the delivered goods are used for receiving, storing, and later retrieving items from internal storage.

Inventory Storage

After reaching the fulfillment center, products are inventoried before being either distributed right away or placed in short- or long-term storage. Instead of keeping merchandise for future sales, items should only be kept long enough to assist in the orderly distribution of goods for new sales.

Order Processing

The product picking and packing processes are predetermined by an order processing management system for each freshly received customer order. Order processing may be started automatically in the online market by integrating order management software with the shopping cart on an ecommerce website.

Picking

According to instructions on a packing slip, a picking staff or automated warehouse robots choose products from the warehouse. The packing slip includes particular details including a list of item SKUs, product colors and sizes, the number of units, and where the item is located in the warehouse of the distribution center.

Packing

A packaging team or automated fulfillment robots choose packing materials to obtain the lowest practicable dimensional weight, which is determined by dividing the package's length, breadth, and height. Optimizing dimensional weight, also known as DIM weight, is crucial to accelerating transit while also possibly reducing shipping costs.

Shipping

The order is transferred to a shipping hub or transportation channel to be delivered to the customer. The bigger of the two factors—the actual package weight or the dimensional weight—determines the freight chargeable charges for shippers and carriers, including freight lines, airlines, FedEx, UPS, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and other carriers.

Delivery

Multiple carriers are frequently used on shipping routes. For instance, FedEx may pick up a shipment at the fulfillment facility that will then be sent by the USPS to the customer's house. These hybrid transportation techniques are used for a variety of reasons.

Returns Processing

The first step in the returns processing procedure includes shipping supplies and a return label with the original customer's order. To make sure it's okay to restock the item when a consumer returns a product for an exchange or a refund, the procedure must be properly carried out.

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Factors for Best Order Fulfillment

Enhance your order fulfillment procedures by keeping in mind a few best practices.

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Select the One that will Suit you Best

Utilize the fulfillment model first that best fits your customers' requirements. To accommodate your order quantities, client locations, and sales methods, it should be adaptable.

Make decisions based on data

Real-time data from your technology should enable order fulfillment, providing you access to your inventory and enabling more accurate demand forecasting. It is simpler to keep up with production and buying decisions made using data.

Clear and Effective Communication

You can clearly communicate with clients about delivery when there is improved supply chain insight. Be open and honest about the returns procedure as well.

Don't let automation scare you

In order to better satisfy the expectations of your consumers, employ warehouse automation to increase order fulfillment efficiency. Collaborative mobile robots are flexible automation systems that optimize picking routes in real-time, decreasing needless walking and increasing picking effectiveness.

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Order Fulfillment with O2b Technologies

For supply chains and businesses as a whole to remain healthy, order fulfillment operations must remain efficient. O2b Technologies ERP software assists you in establishing a plan that works for you after considering what your business needs to succeed.

O2b ERP Technologies system records every order through your sales and fulfillment process, giving owners, managers, and fulfillment teams easy access to crucial information. The system handles complex order requirements including split orders and outsourced drop delivery, and users can safely monitor and track every order.

O2b Technologies have a team of experts carrying years of experience in providing solutions to order fulfillment process requirements of business of all types and size. They understand, analyze and provide the best suitable solution even for your specific needs with our customization service.

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FAQs

1How much does mass email software cost?

Depends upon the functionalities you want to buy.

2Is it possible to track the progress of my email campaign?

Yes.

3What is the maximum number of emails I can send in one batch?

Limitless

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