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.