Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In today’s digital age, many individuals are moving their products using an online store. If you have an online store, it’s important to be able to deliver your products as efficiently as possible. The following contributed post is thus entitled, 3 Important Changes You Need To Make To Your Online Delivery Process.
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A good shipping process is vital for online retailers. Customers have high expectations and they want their products to arrive as quickly as possible. Even if they love your products and the prices are great, they’re not going to come back to you if you make them wait a week for delivery. You’re not going to be able to match the next day or even same day delivery that the big companies are offering because you simply don’t have the resources to do it, but you do need to make sure that you’re getting products out as quickly as possible. You also need to make sure that you’re doing it in a cost-effective way and products aren’t getting broken in transit. It sounds tough, but if you follow these basic tips you can handle your shipping efficiently.
Consult Professionals
Supply chains are a difficult thing to manage and there are a lot of different steps to consider along the way. You need to get the products from the manufacturer delivered to your warehouse, then you need to pack them all and plan routes for your delivery vehicles. If this is your first business and you’ve never dealt with a supply chain before, you probably haven’t got a clue where to start. That’s why it’s a good idea to consult professional companies like the Moresby Group and get their advice. They’ll have a lot more experience than you and they’ll be able to help you set up and manage an efficient supply chain so you don’t make any costly mistakes.
Route Planning Software
Giving your driver a list of addresses and sending them on the way isn’t the most efficient way to handle your deliveries. Everything will still get there on time but it’ll take longer than it needs to and you’ll be using more fuel. But if you use route planning software, you can create the most efficient routes possible. That saves your drivers time, saves you money and makes your business more eco-friendly because you’re using less fuel.
Barcode Scanners
Picking items from the warehouse is quite a long part of the shipping process, especially if your employees are doing it all manually. You’re wasting so much time if people are searching the warehouse for products every time they need to load a shipment. That’s why you need to invest a bit of money in some inventory software and barcode scanners. Your employees will be so much quicker if they can scan their picking list and find out exactly where the products that they need are stored.
Consider Outsourcing
If you’re selling products on a large scale, it might be more cost-effective to run your own warehouse and shipping process. However, if you’re a relatively new business and you don’t make that many sales yet, you probably don’t have the capital for that. It’s also not necessary at this stage in your business career. Instead, you should consider outsourcing to a courier company. They’ll already have the infrastructure in place and the necessary experience to handle your deliveries in a timely fashion.
If you don’t have a good shipping service in place, you’re never going to get your online retail business off the ground.
