How to Optimize Online Store Logistics Using WMS

Ecommerce businesses comprise numerous moving parts. Someone or software is needed to keep track of an online store to prevent some parts from slipping through the cracks. Fortunately, advanced warehouse management systems (WMS) can now help Ecommerce owners keep track of everything happening in their online stores. The software also helps supply valuable data to an online store owner and keeps all operations on track.

Warehouse management software is designed to help online store owners streamline their procedures and optimize their warehouses. In short, it is software designed to help online retailers ensure a cost-effective and efficient flow of materials and goods.

WMS platform development does this by monitoring yard and dock management, shipping, picking and packing items, warehouse layout, and receiving and releasing inventory. Here are ways online stores can streamline their logistics using warehouse management software.

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Team Up with the Right Logistics Partners

Most eCommerce businesses can’t operate everything on their own. For this reason, it would be wise to join forces with partners with more capacity and greater efficiency and technology. Partnering with a third-party logistics firm can help maximize your customers’ benefits and increase your company’s sustainability.

Logistics partners can identify gaps in a supply chain and offer reliable solutions to transport, ordering, and warehouse issues affecting an eCommerce business. Third-party logistics firms can also offer resources and expertise to keep a supply chain more streamlined and effective.

However, acquiring the services of a third-party logistics company shouldn’t be viewed as a transactional process. Instead, eCommerce businesses should view it as a partnership. Both the eCommerce business owner and the third-party logistics company should understand each other for better results.

After all, managing an online retail store is tied to optimized customer engagement and seamless internal communications. Reliable phone service can provide sufficient tools to ensure seamless communication between an eCommerce store and the third-party logistics firm.

Third-party logistics firms help online retail stores reduce costs through their reliable connections and influence in the supply chain. Partnering with a third-party logistics firm often translates to affordable tracking, transportation, and warehouse space rates. It also allows for more flexibility.

These partners will help make the most out of your resources, investments, and technology. Third-party logistics partners are also highly knowledgeable about everything in the logistics industry, including inventory level optimization, compliance, and international regulations.

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Accurate Inventory Tracking and Counts

Manual inventory tracking and counting can waste money and consume valuable time. However, a warehouse management system makes it easier for online retail owners to count their inventory by scanning a barcode or pressing a key. Custom logistics software development tracks all the movement of inventory and goods, reducing labor costs and saving valuable time. Every online retail store should aim at improving its customers’ satisfaction.

Delighted customers often result in increased revenue, repeat purchases, and a high retention rate. That’s why every eCommerce business should invest in resources to mitigate human errors that can cause a decline in customer satisfaction.

Research shows that human errors in shipping details and purchase entry can decrease the productivity of an online retail store by up to 10%. However, automating accounting and shipping processes can help reduce or eliminate human errors.

Therefore, it has become more critical than ever for eCommerce businesses to invest in warehouse management software. Exposing inventory and order tracking processes to human error is no longer acceptable in today’s competitive eCommerce market. That’s why investing in automated processes has become more critical for online retail stores than ever.

For example, automated barcode technology can enable eCommerce businesses to convert coded information into readable data for more accuracy. Automation will help eliminate intermediaries, which in turn reduces the likelihood of human errors.

Transparency

Technical errors can cause a communication hitch between the customer service department and cargo handlers, resulting in significant labor loss and time wastage. However, warehouse management systems have bridged this gap by providing transparency between the customer service department and warehouse workers.

Ecommerce stores use a centralized system that allows customer care and warehouse workers to track their shipping procedures, orders, customer feedback, and fulfillment times in real-time. That has helped eliminate logistical issues that often result in customer frustration, human error, and confusion.

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Maximized Warehouse Capacity

Covid-19 has sped up the migration from physical locations to e-Commerce stores. There has been a drastic increase in online warehouse investment in the past few months. Recent studies show that digital transactions will soon take the reign as more businesses shift online. It means that competition and demand for online storage space will continue to intensify.

Therefore, it will be crucial for e-Commerce owners to arm themselves with the knowledge and skill needed to maximize their warehouse capacity to prevent congestion. However, warehouse maximization requirements will vary across businesses. Thus, each online store owner needs to understand specific risks facing their businesses. That’s why online retail stores must lay out reliable cloud-based storage space.

Ecommerce retailers can achieve this by integrating a warehouse management system into their operations. It will help them maximize their storage space by suggesting where to store products and pick out orders. The software program also automates order pick-up lists, saving time and reducing human errors.

High Delivery Speed and Lower Shipping Costs

It has become a requirement for online retailers to have delivery time frames. Research shows that two in five customers are unlikely to purchase from an online store with a negative delivery experience. The same research also revealed that the shopping cart abandonment rate tends to increase with the decline in delivery speeds.

Online retailers claim that high shipping costs and slow delivery speeds are the top reasons they cancel orders. With a large percentage of online shoppers expecting high delivery speeds and cheap shipping costs, it is clear online retailers offering swift delivery and affordable shipping costs will enjoy increased referrals and retain their loyal customers.

Setting up multi-distribution centers is one proven way Ecommerce retailers can optimize their delivery and shipping process. It involves splitting inventory across numerous warehouses. Multi-distribution centers help save on shipping costs by enabling customers to order products from warehouses closer to them. However, the approach may not be suitable for all online stores.

Save on Manpower Costs

Warehouse management systems have changed online stores for the better. It has reduced human errors, increased operational speed, and made communication with suppliers and customers more effortless than ever. Investing in warehouse management systems helps speed up processing times and reduce labor costs.

Ecommerce businesses should prioritize automation of their accounting work, administrative processes, and back-office systems for increased efficiency. AI-enabled warehouse management systems can help process orders, allocate cash, and validate invoices more efficiently than humans. That can help reduce or eliminate human errors and mundane tasks that may disengage warehouse workers.

Optimized logistics increase the success of an eCommerce business. It can help increase customer retention and satisfaction and reduce overall operational costs. Ecommerce businesses can achieve this by setting up multi-distribution centers, partnering with the right third-party logistics firms, automating their processes, and maximizing their warehouses’ capacity.

Fortunately, warehouse management systems can help an eCommerce business increase employee engagement and make its operations more efficient.

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