In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s all about customer expectations. While consumers will get behind your brand if they like what you’re offering, that devotion will only last so long if you don’t deliver the expected customer service.
Order fulfillment is one way your business can enhance its brand. When an order is processed quickly and accurately and arrives in perfect condition, it reflects positively on your brand and your company. But when the opposite happens, it reflects negatively and that negativity is often hard to turn around, or takes a long time to do so.
Customer-Focused Order Fulfillment Strategies
As the marketplace gets more competitive and e-commerce continues to grow exponentially, businesses of all types and sizes will need to adapt quickly. One way to do that is to implement these proven strategies: Change your viewpoint about the function. Most companies view filling orders as a necessary back-end service in the order processing function. Instead, order fulfillment should be viewed as an opportunity to boost brand awareness. Think of it as a positive branding factor.
Utilize a third-party logistics (3PL) provider. This strategy allows you to enhance customer expectations without investing capital into a function of your business that is not a core activity. With a warehouse management system, a 3PL also ensures inventory is always on hand to meet demand.
Determine the best pick order method. There are many different ways to pick orders, with each method having its own advantages and disadvantages. While your business might have started out using discrete order picking where workers pick for one order at a time, it might not be the best method for your current volume.
As part of your strategy, regularly evaluate your picking methods, whether it’s discrete, pick and pass, or batch order picking, to see if it is still suitable. This is where the benefits of using a 3PL come into play. It can implement numerous strategies and change them instantly based on the size and type of the order.
Analyze quality and accuracy. Sometimes, businesses grow faster than expected and their back-end operations cannot immediately support the growth. As a result, the quality and accuracy of the order can suffer. However, a 3PL can solve that problem because it is designed to easily scale up for its clients whenever the need arises, without any disruption to the fulfillment process.
Up your presentation. When a customer receives an order, is the box or packaging something memorable or just a plain box or standard mailer? You can set your brand apart with customized packaging, a service a 3PL can easily manage, including warehousing the packaging supplies.
Brendamour Warehousing Excels in Order Fulfillment
At Brendamour Warehousing, Distribution & Services, order fulfillment is one of our specialties. Our facilities are equipped with highly automated and fully adapted shipping and routing computer and gravity conveyor systems that deliver the speed and accuracy of getting orders ready for shipment.
We combine this technology with our full complement of order picking solutions to give your business the flexibility it needs to meet the order filling needs of your customers.
When it comes to building your brand and establishing brand loyalty, be sure not to overlook order picking and order fulfillment. It might not be a part of the business your customers see when looking at your merchandise, but they definitely experience it when they buy from you.
Get in touch with Brendamour Warehousing to learn how easy it is to enhance your brand through our order fulfillment strategies. You’ll have the winning edge when it comes to delivering on customer expectations and maintaining a great brand impression.
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