Scaling a business can have unforeseen challenges for your logistics.
Here are 5 tips from a contributor.
5 Strategies For Success
Logistics is one of the many different challenges businesses face when scaling their eCommerce enterprise. With tasks including handling, delivery coordination, inventory checks, and more, the process of filling and shipping the order to a customer requires multiple steps to reach its conclusion.
If you mishandle any of the steps or your process isn’t as smooth as it should be, then now is the time to change it.
Optimising your logistics means simplifying everything to deliver the best results, and these strategies can enable you to do just that.
Use 3PL
3PL providers, or third-party logistic providers, are like a breath of fresh air for your business. They handle the entire shipping process for you. All you need to do is send them your inventory, and they take care of the storage, packing, and shipping. This liberates you from the complexities of logistics, allowing you to concentrate on other vital areas of your business.
Fulfillment services can offer a range of benefits for both the business and the customer, including real-time tracking, inventory management, and automated systems, and are easily scalable so you can handle increased demands and changes in order frequencies and volumes with ease.
Understanding what to expect when finding the perfect 3PL company to partner with is empowering. It ensures you know what to expect upfront and can guarantee they provide a service that meets the expectations of your customers. This knowledge puts you in the driver’s seat, giving you the confidence to manage your logistics effectively.
Streamline The Supply Chain
Building strong relationships with vendors is crucial for streamlining your supply chain. It ensures you can get what you need when you need it and that the delivery and order process works for you as the business needs it. This sense of security and control is vital because having adequate stock levels is part of the battle for improved logistics.
The better your communication with vendors, the easier it will be to handle delays, shortages, discontinued line changes in manufacturers, etc. Your aim should be to reduce lead times, have a good, reliable supply of what you need, and be able to track everything to improve accuracy, efficiency, and more.
Invest in Technology
Technology is key for anything and everything within a business capacity, and neglecting to utilise tech to improve processes will hinder your ability to make beneficial changes to what you do across the board. But especially for logistics.
For instance, inventory management software can help you keep track of your stock levels, route optimisation software can help you plan the most efficient delivery routes, and order tracking platforms can provide real-time updates on the status of your orders. These technologies can help you reduce errors and make more accurate plans based on the information you have on hand. Other useful technologies include warehouse management systems, transportation management systems, and barcode scanning tools.
You don’t even need a massive budget to integrate technology to boost your fulfillment operations; you can use cloud-based services to get what you need and benefit from what is available without high upfront costs.
Optimise Shipping
Shipping can be expensive. There is no getting around that, but there are things you can do to help you keep costs down and make them manageable for you as a company and for the customer, too.
Comparing rates for different carriers, changing how you package items, offering different types of shipping to vary costs, switching to lightweight packing solutions and removing any excess from the packaging can enable you to keep costs lower so you’re not spending too much.
For instance, you can offer free shipping for orders over a certain amount or provide discounted shipping rates for slower delivery options. This can give your customers more control over their shipping costs and make your products more attractive.
Focus on Inventory Management
Inventory management is instrumental in smothering logistics. There are ways in which you can enhance inventory management to ensure your fulfilment services are running as efficiently as possible.
- JIT Model – the JIT model is the Just in Time approach, and it ensures that you have what you need when you need it, so you’re not wasting time, money, and resources holding stock you don’t need.
- Audits – regular audits can allow you to spot bottlenecks and address inefficiencies, and you can use this data to make smarter, more efficient purchasing decisions.
- Automation – automation tools can be integrated into your sales platforms to ensure accuracy. This allows you to have a more agile reactive response to issues so you can keep on top of problems or preempt them altogether.