5 Common Mistakes Retailers Make With Order Fulfillment

If you run an e-commerce business, you already know the importance of effective order fulfilment and making mistakes with this process can be costly. From the moment the customer clicks on ‘buy now’, the clock is ticking and without a sound order fulfillment system in place, errors are likely to occur.

Here are some classic examples of logistics fails that you should avoid.

Poor Packing

While the product may have been in perfect condition when it left your premises, bad packing can lead to damage and that means an unhappy customer. Imagine waiting patiently for a new gadget, only to find it has been damaged in transit! Review your product packaging and set up a customer feedback system that will alert you if products are arriving in a less than 100% condition.

Ignoring Special Requests

A customer might send a message asking for the delivery driver to leave the package in a designated location; if that information isn’t conveyed to the driver, the package is likely to be returned. There are so many scenarios where customers leave specific instructions, usually because there’s no one at home during the day, tell the taxi truck courier Brisbane or your city relies on and the consignment will be delivered as per request, which is a win-win for everyone.

Missing Information

The courier company can only do their job if they have all the information they need, that would include full postal address, recipient’s name and phone number and possibly extra details. If the driver has to contact their HQ, this is one more thing to process and it might take time to gather the required information. All packages should be barcoded and logged into the network, ensuring that you know the exact location at any given time. A common issue is when the package is designated ‘urgent’ yet it goes through the normal channel and that means a late delivery.

Wrong Product

If you have a huge product line, it can happen that a mistake occurs when picking; products can be very similar in appearance; another reason to outsource to an established Brisbane third party logistics, for example, who have all the solutions. They have the resources to ensure fast and efficient order fulfillment, which removes a lot of strain from you, especially during seasonal surges.

Missed Messages

Unless you have a solid logistics system in place, important messages can get lost on the way and that usually leads to delivery issues. If you would like a logistics partner to handle all order fulfillment, start with a Google search to find an established 3PL provider with warehouses near you. You only pay for the services you use and sending your products and packaging to their warehouse means you only have to forward orders, and the rest is handled by the professionals.

Third party logistics is a fast-growing sector that offers retailers a powerful set of services, including picking, packing and same-day delivery. When things are quiet, your 3PL partner works silently in the background and when high volumes of orders come in, they spring into action. Once you hook up with a 3PL company, you can forget about order fulfillment and focus more on sales and marketing.