The Retailer Side of Web Order E-Fulfillment
What goes on behind the scenes when someone orders online?
Anyone who purchases things online is familiar with the consumer side of web order E-Fulfillment. The experience is usually a huge factor in deciding whether or not you want to purchase anything from that online site again. But as important as the consumer side is, the retailer’s experience with web order fulfillment is more important because the way the retailer is able to process orders from online sales affects everyone involved.
What Retailers Need To Do
When an order is placed online, the retailer hopefully has real-time inventory visibility so there are no empty promises made to the purchaser. But the retailer needs to know exactly where that item is and be able to fill orders from multiple locations if necessary. If the order could be pulled from the nearest locations, that would save time and effort. The ability to track fulfillment requests, current status, and location during transit helps keep everybody on the same page.
Retailers need to be able to apply rules to select items according to forecasted weeks of supply so that stores with more inventory or slower sales are utilized effectively. The option of consolidation at a centralized DC or direct shipping from multiple locations gets the order out as quickly as possible but automatic initialization of transfer requests makes the process streamlined.
How ChainDrive Can Help E-Fulfillment
Effective order fulfillment depends on the way your business processes information. In today’s retail environment, anything less than a professionally designed, integrated data infrastructure is not going to keep up with the demand for accuracy in real time. Supply chain, warehouse management, cross-channel carriers, external logistics, payment processors, 3rd Party entities and more have to be integrated with the rest of your business like intricate gears in a piece of fine machinery.
When the software is right for your business, rules can be set to fill orders automatically in ways that save time and keep shipping costs to a minimum. Inventory is fully integrated so the same information is available on every channel. The tools you need for effective order fulfillment are part of an integrated retail management solution that optimizes everything.
Seamless order processing and omnichannel customer relationship management happen when your order fulfillment software is flexible enough to adapt to the exact requirements of your business and you have a team of professionals on call for support whenever you need help.
