Whether you are a seasoned online seller, or a local businessperson who just ventured into the e-commerce world the past month, we all encounter a myriad of issues in managing our online business. From receiving orders, to making sure that they are delivered at the right place and at the expected time, these issues are all cumulatively important in ensuring that we give our customers a value for their money and that our business process machinery is well-oiled to cement our path to greatness.
Sometimes we get overwhelmed by the volume of orders our specific products are getting, or sometimes we decide on a free shipping or same-day delivery promotion to make our online store more appealing to our target market, but problems ensue because we find out along the way that we bit off more than we can chew. It turns out that what we have on our plate is too much for us to handle on our own. And that is the point, exactly. We don’t have to handle them on our own.
In this article, we show the importance and the benefit of availing the services of a logistics engine provider in helping you upscale your business and handle all the issues that come with making it bigger, better and bolder. We will list down how a handy tool such a logistics engine gets these very vital processes off your shoulders and backs.
Streamlined order management; never miss an order
The overall process of order management involves the inventory, picking and packing, shipping and tracking of all your online store’s orders in a direct-to-customer model. This is increasingly becoming the preferred model by businesses nowadays especially with the advent of social media and the increased scope of e-commerce enterprises. But, as we have mentioned, when you are planning to conduct your business on a national, or even global scale, this can be pretty difficult to manage. Also, you would want to establish your brand presence in as many of the major e-commerce platforms as possible. But that also means additional work in terms of platform management.
A logistics engine revolutionizes the way we handle orders by providing us with the ability to manage all of our e-commerce platform accounts, and the corresponding warehouses where our products are stored to provide for a smoother and more efficient delivery system. For example, Locad’s sales management channel masterfully integrates all your accounts in platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, Woocommerce, Shopify and Tiktok, among others, and gives you a glimpse on your stock inventory across all platforms, and warehouse locations, be it in your home region, or even on a global scale. The payment scheme for this inventory storage use actually depends on the actual storage space utilized, instead of a fixed fee, allowing you to flexibilize your inventory budget depending on the concrete needs of your business. The information and the way it is presented to you allows you to add stock where it is highly demanded, so you never experience stockouts, which could be a total bummer for customers in a certain area who are really excited about buying your products right away.
Easier picking and packing; all sorted out
When you were starting as an online business owner, you probably enjoyed packing and putting labels on all your orders. You probably wanted to give it a personal touch just to build more rapport toward your most loyal customers. But as your products became more popular, and orders started to come in left and right, what was previously therapeutic to you has now become stressful. And sometimes, when you juggle along with it, the paperwork and the time you spend on your marketing strategy, it just might come off as a little bit too much. That is another problem that is not without its solution, my dear. Because, a logistics engine offers you a same-day picking and packing solution, which is designed to unburden you with the processes of packing your orders, and transfer the responsibilities to professionals who are trained and capacitated to handle such big volumes of orders.
And the nice thing is: it can even get more streamlined. If you have previously availed of storage space in warehouses that are managed by your chosen logistics engine provider, they can smoothly transport your stock, pack them and sort them and have them prepared for fast and accurate delivery in no time. With the best of the logistics engine providers having a vast network of warehouse location partners across the globe, and strategically placed inside major countries of e-commerce relevance, you can be assured a reliable and affordable shipping experience. Take for example, health supplement supplier MuscleU, operating in Australia, which has scaled up its shipping on a national level, and has dramatically decreased shipping time from the previous 4-5 hours, to just within 90 minutes with the help of a logistics engine provider. Hooking up with a logistics engine helped the business focus on other aspects of business management, and also significantly reduced the overall costs of order fulfillment and delivery.
Faster shipping; more sales in shorter time
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, e-commerce aspects and assets felt like an add-on to most businesses, and frankly, even for customers. But as the world needed to adjust to changing conditions, the past two to three years propelled e-commerce as a matter of global importance in the bigger world of business. With billions of subscribers to different e-commerce platforms who regularly shop for their favorite products online, it is only imperative for online selling marketplaces to up the ante, and make their products more accessible to the customers who want them. That, simply put, means they should drastically cut the time it takes from when a customer ordered, up until they receive the item on their doorstep. Before, the time it takes for a delivery to be completely done for brand Havaianas is 10-12 days from order date.
During the pandemic, the brand decided to take the shift to full-force e-commerce marketing, and along with it, a National Flip-Flops Month and promotional sale, and the famous double-digit sales (6.6, 7.7, and so on). The brand shared that while the daring move is a leap when it comes to putting importance on e-commerce sales, it was challenging to fulfill our orders within the satisfactory time frame for most customers. Because they had to wait 15-30 days, a significant number of orders were cancelled, accounting for a lot of missed opportunities for increased sales.
With the help of a trusted logistics engine partner, Havaianas was eventually able to fulfill their orders from end-to-end within a 24-hour time frame, thanks to the network of warehouses and delivery partners the logistics engine provider has already set up for them to utilize. The brand’s executives even say that partnering with a logistics engine provider has saved them from the hassle of developing their own end-to-end fulfillment processes, which in turn, saved the allocated budget for other activities and initiatives. And of course, valuable time, which their team can allot to improving other aspects of the business. In the final analysis, the most valuable of all, and you can even say is priceless, is that they have succeeded in providing their customers the satisfactory experience of a smooth and fast delivery. That, on the other hand, means more sales in a shorter time, for sellers. What a win-win solution.
Tracking is smoother; never lose orders on the way
International shipping, because of its innate complexities, is something that small and medium business owners often avoid, or put for later, because they think handling such a gigantic task would be beyond their mindspace and capacity. But just because your business has not yet reached the size that you imagine could handle such a task does not mean you could not get a headstart to the global e-commerce opportunities that are coming your way. Most small and medium-sized business owners often fear the humongous task of studying differing rules and regulations on the countries they wish to ship out. But the greatest fear of any online shipper, of course, would be a high-value item getting lost along the way. Besides the fact that it would cost you a lot to replace the item, there is no replacing or making up for the frustration that would build up on the side of your loyal customer.
With a logistics engine provider, you can allay these fears as the services these companies offer include real-time tracking for all the orders that are being fulfilled, be it domestic or international. With exceptional precision, most of the logistics engine providers have a database of all the orders and optimize them to make the most hassle-free delivery to any point of the world. Thanks are due to their network of warehouses and logistics providers across the globe. Aside from the overall faster delivery of products, having a logistics engine provider helps you reduce costs in last-mile delivery by shipping your orders from the nearest warehouse hub where your products are in stock.
Insights for growth; an educated strategy
Business requires a lot from the mind, as it does for the body. While you unload all the heavier tasks from your back, and enlist the help of the logistics engine provider in accomplishing them, you get your valued time to study how your business is going, where you want it to go and how to get there. Now, you have the time to think out the brand awareness and marketing strategy to put in place to ensure the steady growth of your business, quarter after quarter and year after year. But however ambitious you might be, it would be truly difficult if you do not have a starting point from where you want to go. You still have to be grounded on facts. These must include information on which products sell the best, where they sell the best, where they are demanded and which products are best sold together.
Logistics engine providers, especially those who give you the access to a unified sales management hub, can give you the proper data and information, and some valuable insights into how you can steer your business to steady growth. Informed choices are undoubtedly the best choices there are. Knowing where your strengths and weaknesses lie can help you think out the best courses of action to become established, and to earn your mark in the e-commerce world. In fact, some businesses such as Lyger Coffee, have already planned a daring expansion plan in the rest of Southeast Asia. Having an outsourced fulfillment partner made it possible for the management to make these macro level decisions, because they did not need to worry about the complexities of end-to-end fulfillment.
One hub to rule them all
Integrated is the new sexy. And fragmented is so messy. These are some things that we have to remember especially when we are just beginning to foray into the ever-expanding universe that is the e-commerce network across the globe. We just can’t afford to be so absorbed into the frills that come with starting or upscaling our businesses. Logistics engine providers are a good partner in our quest to steady sailing across these vast seas.
With a logistics engine partner by your side and always ready to assist, you just need to regularly check the unified hub with all the necessary information to make sure your online business is doing well. Kind of like, on auto-pilot. Ultimately, you get a taste of what it’s like to be a true CEO of your own business, making the big and bold decisions while your logistics engine partners are fulfilling the vital tasks which have proven too much for you to handle on your own.
Propelling a business to greatness requires time and energy to plan. And that is exactly what having a logistics engine partner gives you back: valued time to plan and execute your daring campaigns for overall business growth. They are there to help you in the entirety of the process: from storing, shipping, packing, tracking and valuable insights to help you grow. Every step of the way.
