E-Tailers: How Technology Can Simplify Your Ecommerce Shipping
Technology has really changed everything for the better. As devices and gadgets become smarter and more advanced, things are becoming easier and more convenient for everyone. This also applies to retailers who are operating an online store and have to use technology to power their fulfillment cycle. We’ll show you how a few technological add-ons can reduce stress, improve accuracy and help you get packages out the door more quickly than ever before.
Accurate Management of Orders
While you may have some form of order management in your current shopping cart or marketplace setup/dashboard, it pales in comparison to multi-platform order management software. The newest breed of this software actually talks to all of your sale channels, no matter what they are or where they are being hosted. It then culls the orders and sorts and manages them, allowing you import them into your shipping software for faster, more accurate fulfillment.
This helps you better manage your incoming orders and handle any reverse logistics (returns) with improved accuracy and speed. In fact, a lot of shipping software providers now offer integrations that include leading order management solutions so that you can more easily get your orders fulfilled, processed and tracked, so they are out the door to waiting customers as quickly as possible.
photo via Flickr stockmonkeys.com
Saving Money On Shipping
In lieu of the recent USPS rate hikes, some popular shipping options via USPS have increased by 23% in cost. As retailers scramble to prevent further fallout, many are realizing that they don’t need to worry as much about it as they thought. That’s because they can get connected to instant shipping savings using their choice of a wide variety of shipping platforms that are currently available.
If you take a good look around, you will be able to find services that offer immediate savings and bulk shipping discounts that you normally wouldn’t qualify for otherwise. Being able to avoid the rate hikes and get the lowest rate on shipping helps you protect your bottom line and offer better prices with faster delivery to appeal to existing as well as prospective customers.
Keeping Connected To Your Customers
Once you do sort, edit and manage your orders, newer software lets you push one button to generate labels and prepaid postage so you can get them out the door. It then saves you hours of your time because you can press another button and update all of your customers with their order information and their tracking numbers.
Imagine being able to harness the power of these technological conveniences day in and day out. No more manually printing labels or copying and pasting information? That’s just the tip of the iceberg with what these newer solutions have to offer. Along the way, it never hurts to have a strong game plan in place from the get-go.
Check out this Definitive Ecommerce Shipping Guide we found – it can help you put into place a strong fulfillment system from day one. Good luck and happy shipping!
Guest Author: Lolita Di
