Order Fulfillment: A Complete Guide from Processing to Delivery

Even if you have lost a single order due to a lack of management, it is your sign to focus on order fulfillment. As we know, a lost order is a lost customer. In times of cutthroat competition, other brands are focusing on expansion, and one cannot keep battling with warehouse management or inventory control.

Whether online or offline, every business owner always dreams of expanding the business, so what's the secret to scaling your online business?

Hint: It's not just about getting more orders; it's about managing them efficiently.

When we talk about managing the business and orders precisely, timely, and efficiently, the concept of order fulfillment comes into the picture.

What is the meaning of order fulfillment?

The process of order fulfillment starts with getting an order and ends when the order is executed on time; in the case of online businesses, execution represents the on-time delivery of the order. It is an entire process of gathering the order details, packing them, dispatching them, and making them reach the customers with minimal time.

Why is order fulfillment important?

Effective order management can be achieved by meeting the order fulfillment process. Imagine all your orders are getting delivered on time without any delay or miscommunication or without opening the window of taking extra time. It isn't some magic; it is strategic planning involving an e-commerce fulfillment center/process.

With the help of an order fulfillment service, one can easily aim for

- Quick order deliveries

- Better supply chain management

- Minimizing the costs

- Enhanced customer satisfaction

- Advanced inventory control and management

- Saving cost and time

- Building better customer relations

- Focusing on transparency

If the order fulfillment process is followed thoroughly, all these can be achieved in one go without putting in any extra effort.

Now, let's understand the order fulfillment process steps—and how to develop it.

Key Process of Order Fulfillment

Whether one's focus is eCommerce order fulfillment or order fulfillment for Shopify, the process remains the same. Let's take a look at the wholesome process that will take care of shipping, logistics, package tracking, and more!

The process has 5 key steps. However, these 5 steps are not conclusive; based on your business and working pattern, you can increase/decrease/add/reduce the steps. The end goal is to develop a quick but reliable process to complete the order on time.

Let's take a look at the widely accepted process of order fulfillment.

1. Goods Procurement:

The first thing is to procure the raw materials or goods. Whether you manufacture them or obtain them from the concerned person or vendors, keeping the storage of all the SKUs as per demand is vital. Neither the goods should be overstocked nor understocked.

This is the first step, and one should get it right to avoid overcapitalization. And ensure smooth rotation of the goods.

2. Receiving the Order:

Since you are ready with inventory, all the data about each SKU is accessible—the next step is to wait for the order. Once you get the order from the customer, the chain will start functioning in a glitch-free ecosystem. With the help of the Shopify dashboard, you can start processing the orders.

3. Processing the Order:

Once the order details are available, processing the order becomes easy. To ensure the order is processed without any mistakes, double-checking the order particulars before sending them for delivery is important.

4. Packaging & Shipping:

After processing the order, the immediate next step is to focus on packaging. The packaging may vary depending on the nature of the products; otherwise, you can also follow a standard packaging process. The packaging should meet the industry standards and be done carefully. After that, the preparation for shipping the order starts, where labeling is done, the customer is informed that the product has been shipped from the warehouse, and live locations are being shared. The shipping eco-system should be 100 percent glitch-free otherwise it will be difficult to manage.

5. Dispatch & Delivery:

Shipping includes dispatching the order. The route of the dispatch is pre-decided, as based on the route and the amount of time it will take, the estimated time of delivery is promised to the customers. As the process of dispatch continues to progress, the customer is to be updated with the status.

How does ILS help with order management?

The concept of services related to order fulfillment may sound very easy to achieve. Let's say you have a Shopify store order fulfillment strategy, but when you execute it in real-time, the picture will be different. You may struggle with:

• Maintaining order accuracy.
• Managing inventory levels.
• Handling returns effectively.
• Dealing with fluctuations in demand.
• Managing shipping costs.

Hence, as per industry trends, there are 3 methods to manage e-commerce order fulfillment.

1. In-house
2. Third Party
3. Drop-Shipping

Out of the three methods, the most popular and widely used is third-party aid to take care of orders, shipping, reverse logistics, package tracking, etc.

The reason is simple: when a third party is involved, delegation of work becomes easy, and also accountability can be sorted smoothly.

If you are looking for third-party logistics (3PL) Solutions to manage order fulfillment, take the help of ILS—Indian Logistics Services. They have an established base and ecosystem for managing the entire process of packaging and shipping, including services like generating AWB numbers, tracking details, managing returns, generating invoices, and more. All these services are executed with the help of 10 renowned shipping Partners who are on board with them!

Conclusion

If your system of managing orders is channeled from chaos to clarity, it is the first indication of a glitch-free order fulfillment system. Theoretically, it may seem simple, but in practical life, developing a method to successfully manage inventory + order packaging + dispatch + delivery in one go without any scope of delays and mistakes is challenging, and therefore taking professional help not only saves time but resources as well.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are some key order fulfillment metrics?

Some important metrics to be considered while focusing on order fulfillment are:

Order accuracy rate, order fulfillment time, inventory turnover, order return rate, and fulfillment cost per order.

2. How can I improve my order fulfillment process?

Pay close attention to optimizing inventory management to improve the order fulfillment process. Once that is done, one can focus on reducing the processing time, e.g., the travel time of sending goods from the warehouse to the dispatch location can be reduced, and the process of accounting returns should be streamlined.

3. How do I handle returns in e-commerce fulfillment?

E-commerce order fulfillment is slightly tricky as you have to manage return orders as well. This reverse logistics is to be reflected in each step, and therefore the process of accounting for reverse logistics is tricky.

To manage returns, it is advisable to take the help of ILS—Indian Logistics Services, who will process the returns as well.

4. What are tips for developing a good order fulfillment process?

Rely on a good and experienced third-party platform like ILS to develop the entire process.

Work closely with the eCommerce shipping partners, considering their opinions while making vital decisions.

Consider external factors while finalizing the order fulfillment process.

Always keep a buffer time to manage unpredictable elements like weather conditions, etc., to keep the process smooth.