In the recent decade, corporations have rapidly expanded into omnichannel sales processes in order to meet their customers’ increased expectations for a wide range of purchasing alternatives and swift delivery. In order to keep up with the complexity of the supply chain, manufacturers rely on third-party logistics partners (3PLs), and they manually manage long contracts, RFPs, and limited software capabilities with their own third-party integrators and multiple software tools.
Combining off-the-shelf and custom logistics services puts the traditional supply chain at risk, making it unable to keep up with demand or provide insight for real-time data-driven decision-making options. A failure in the supply chain, which accounts for one-eighth of the global economy, may have serious ramifications for individuals and enterprises who rely on the constant flow of goods to operate.
So, how to future proof the supply chain in this era given the unknown future?
The Cloud Supply Chain is the answer.
What are the advantages of cloud computing over traditional infrastructure?
“Through the changes or future of the supply chain, the future would be in digitisation”
Bernard Hor, CEO of Hatio
Public cloud computing is the term used to describe the on-demand provision of IT resources over the IoT. Instead of requiring each organisation to build and manage their own IT infrastructure from the ground up, cloud computing provides them with the computing power, storage, and databases they require without the expense of owning and operating physical data centres and servers on their own premises or in the cloud.
When it comes to the supply chain, how does cloud computing come into the warehouse?
Pre-connected logistics partners are automatically connected to the cloud supply chain integration centre, providing brands with a command centre perspective on warehouse management operations and the data required for real-time supply chain analysis. In order to handle signals on demand, these networked warehouses and load carriers provide the necessary capacity to do so.
Visibility of inventory movement.
When talking about supply chain logistics, it’s about moving a product from point A to point B. As simple as it is, the bigger challenge arises on the idea of the whole how to get visibility of the inventory movement. Whether it’s from the first mile site in a manufacturer from a finished goods to the fulfilment process, listed into the marketplace with e-commerce and reaching to the end consumer. The first thing is important to be able to establish a visibility of the cloud supply chain inventory by hopping on the digitization bandwagon of the cloud supply chain to give better understanding on the status of the inventory at hand.
Once in the cloud, you’ll never have to build again.
Because the supply chain cloud is already pre-integrated with a huge logistical network, companies only need to interface with the cloud once in order to be connected to the entire network, resulting in significant time and money savings for both the brand and the logistics provider. Their ability to introduce new products much more quickly is facilitated by the fact that they no longer must source one-to-one solutions for many different integrations.
Time to market is being shortened.
It is possible to connect the cloud supply chain to a complete logistics network through a straightforward integration into the cloud supply chain. New locations can be up and running in days rather than weeks or months, avoiding the need to plan out long integration timetables, request for proposals, and contract discussions that would otherwise be required.
Shorter time to market for new ideas.
The data that has been centralised and normalised in the cloud supply chain integrations centre has made it possible to develop real-time modelling capabilities. There are numerous possibilities, including cost minimization, forecasting accuracy improvement, and even the development of a digital twin that simulates scenarios and recognises the impact of events before they occur.
Why do you need a (cloud-based) WMS? Yes, why indeed…
We’ll start by telling you one thing that you probably would’ve heard countless times.
All successful eCommerce businesses are considered “successful” because they have terrific eCommerce fulfilment services. Whether it’s selling, returning, convenience, etc. – consumers love them for being so good.
The “best product” isn’t enough to make the cut
So, can we say that if a web-based business has the following, the company would be great? Consider:
We have the best product in the world, better than any other competitor.
We have the most happening website in the world – tons of people visit it every day.
With all this, we’ve got it made – sales will be skyrocketing.
Really? Not necessarily so…
If the company’s eCommerce fulfilment does not run smoothly – the business will probably fail miserably.
Ignore eCommerce fulfilment at your own peril…
Many businesses just do not take eCommerce fulfilment seriously enough. There’s no denying that it is a crucial element in online retail.
A study in 2018 found that free shipping was the most important feature for online shoppers. It influenced a whopping 83% of shoppers to make purchases. In fact, 54% of shoppers cited high shipping prices as a reason to cancel orders.
Another factor is speed. Up to 25% abandoned a buy because they shipped too slow.
The moral of the story – predictable and accurate fulfilment makes happy customers and positive reviews.
Fulfilment is the passport to expansion
An important learning from this exercise is that robust eCommerce fulfilment not only saves businesses time and money, it will be a positive catalyst to business expansion.
The happier you make a customer’s shopping experience, the more they will buy from you and from your website.
Successful eCommerce fulfilment processes will involve many vendors and schedules. And all the parties need to run together like a well-oiled machine. The better it runs, the greater the business’ success.
We need to remember that e-fulfilment includes several integral components.
No eCommerce fulfilment? It’s like a car without an engine…
Getting products onto shelves is eCommerce fulfilment whilst picking and packing orders is order fulfilment. Shipping times and methods are part of your third-party logistics operations. Hence eCommerce fulfilment has been your core business from the start.
In your early days, you picked and packed orders yourself – you were the fulfilment provider.
Now you are a bigger business. You need to outsource these crucial services to a 3PL. Now, you need to realize that fulfilment is more than just picking and packing orders. The third -party eCommerce fulfilment partner should be considered as an extension of your business.
An important learning here is that outsourcing your fulfilment makes your business agile.
Fulfilment is the most important part of your eCommerce operations. At the core of every good order fulfilment company is its technology. Get ready to make eCommerce fulfilment the cornerstone of your online business, today.
