In the first part of this topic, we have talked about eCommerce warehousing as well as the main types of eCommerce warehousing. Now let’s dive deeper and talk about the benefits of WMS for eCommerce Warehousing.
The management of warehouses is an important aspect of eCommerce operations. If you apply well-designed processes and proven warehouse management software, your online store’s bottom line will almost certainly benefit. However, if this component of the supply chain is overlooked, the consequences could be severe. It might be a deadly blow to your firm, with unsatisfied consumers and tons of money wasted on inefficient processes. As a result, it’s critical to choose a good warehouse management system for your eCommerce business.
Before we jump into the warehouse management system for eCommerce we particularly recommend, let’s recap the most significant challenges of eCommerce warehousing.
Common challenges of eCommerce warehouse management
If you want to be successful in eCommerce warehouse management, you must face a particular set of challenges.
Eliminating order fulfillment errors
Of course, any eCommerce business needs to maintain high-quality standards. Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to make mistakes once you start getting a lot of orders and your staff has to prepare a lot of packages.
Is it possible to entirely avoid such errors? Thanks to portable barcode scanners, scales, and cameras, robust warehouse management solutions may surely help you make sure the right products end up in the right packages.
Packaging and shipping area
Having to design a packaging and shipping zone might be a completely new concept for businesses that have, until this point, dealt only with offline transactions. However, when it comes to eCommerce platforms, it’s an essential element of effective warehouse management.
Once the order is picked from the shelves, someone has to confirm that the appropriate items have been prepared, select the right box and cushioning to protect the inventory, print the receipt and generate shipping documents. The packages should also be photographed, which will be useful to handle return requests and quality issues. A warehouse management system will help your staff tremendously to efficiently process and ship the orders without mistakes.
Time-consuming picking sequences
A considerable difference between traditional warehouse management and eCommerce warehouse management is that, in an eCommerce business, your team members will often have to pick single items from different areas of your warehouse. You can easily imagine that it’s not efficient for your pickers to walk to the back of the warehouse to pick a single product from the shelf. Yet, it may easily happen when you plan to fulfill orders one by one. Things get even more complicated when you offer different types of products in your online store, varying in size and weight. In that case, your team members need a heads-up whether they should use a forklift to pick up a certain item, or that a basket will do.
As you can see, picking path optimization is essential when managing a retail business. A warehouse management system can help you make sure that your staff works efficiently and orders get picked in an optimal way.
Monitoring inventory levels
When something is taken from the shelf, it should be replaced as soon as possible. Otherwise, you risk running out of stock, which will slow down the fulfillment process. Warehouse management systems with real-time inventory management tools make it simple to keep track of inventory levels.
What are the main benefits of implementing an eCommerce warehouse management system?
Given the unique supply chain challenges of eCommerce, you have to find a tool that will enable you to run your business efficiently. This is why your WMS should be prepared to meet the specific needs of your team, an out-of-the-box system will probably not be enough. The good news is that a solid eCommerce warehouse management system with custom features can bring your organization tangible benefits that will outweigh the cost and effort of implementing it.
To begin with, you’ll be able to greatly improve your company’s inventory management, from shelf organization to inventory level monitoring. Such improvements can reduce the cost of running your warehouse, allowing you to save a significant amount of money that is now being lost due to inefficient operations.
Another significant benefit of good warehouse management is improved customer service. If you run an online store, you already know that a positive shopping experience is critical to your success. When a customer clicks “purchase,” the experience does not end. A quick shipping process, no order errors, or even a decent visual presentation of your package are all factors that are likely to gain you, new consumers.
On top of that, introducing a powerful WMS solution will distinctly improve your team’s work environment. With software that not only makes their work easier but also helps them avoid costly mistakes, your team should feel better in their workplace.
Finally, as a manager, you’ll have reliable data on your team’s productivity as well as the status of your customers’ orders. You can make informed decisions about future optimizations now that you have access to these insights.
Conclusion
Nowadays, competition is extremely high and it is vital for your business to stand out with bleeding-edge technology – WMS will surely bring you the reduction of costs and seamless operations. You can also alleviate risks more efficiently and improve the overall productivity and the business’s profitability.
That is the very reason why you should get started with an advanced Warehouse Management System today, but be careful and consider which choices are important for your own business.
