
Customer experience is a crucial point in the success or failure of your business. Every consumer prefers firms that offer efficient and smooth transactions. A high percentage of clients will discontinue doing business with companies after a negative experience and are more likely to transfer to competitors. This situation applies particularly to service-related incidents rather than price-related ones.
An enhanced customer experience stems directly from effective inventory management, especially for eCommerce businesses. As sales and traffic grow, inventory management becomes a significant challenge for online retailers.
Warehousing
As an entrepreneur, it is easy to neglect the importance of storage preparation. Many favor more fun pre-launch activities instead. Warehousing is the process of storing physical items before the seller puts them online for sale. It involves the act of storing things safely and securely. But to do so, you need to keep track of where they are, when they arrived, how much of each type of item is now available, and how long they’ve been in stock.
Barriers in Warehousing
Warehousing requires significant investment in terms of both time and money. However, many firms continue to try to handle eCommerce warehousing on their own.
Home-based Business
It makes sense to keep items on-site for start-up companies if your entire eCommerce business runs from your house. You can keep track of your inventory, pack and deliver orders from the comfort of your home, and receive fresh goods directly to your front door.
Finances
The expense of eCommerce storage might be overwhelming for small enterprises, especially if you desire complete control over your warehouse operations. Although purchasing or leasing warehouse space through mortgages is a reasonable proposition, selling an extensive range of goods necessitates additional storage. Maintaining both can be expensive and challenging to come by.
Outsourcing Capabilities
Many small companies might not be aware that storage is an option for their online enterprises. Keeping goods in the garage or living room is an option for small businesses that cannot afford to acquire or lease their eCommerce warehouse. Another option is to outsource warehousing to a third-party provider. Merchants might not be aware that such alternatives are available to smaller companies as well as big giants.
Inventory Management 101
Several elements are competing against your eCommerce business, aiming to ruin the satisfaction of your clients. Inventory control should not be one of those things.
Generally, there are three major inventory management concerns that business owners fail to recognize. Here are some ways you can prevent them and make your customers happier.
Overselling
Overselling happens when you sell more than what you have in your inventory. It often leads to an out-of-stock (OOS) order, which can cause frustrations to your consumers. These orders have a detrimental impact on revenue and customer satisfaction.
This negative feedback might lead to a drop in search engine rankings, turning away potential consumers. Customers that get out-of-stock notices are likely to become upset and dissatisfied with your firm, becoming less likely to return.
Underselling and Stockouts
If you have a stockout, the item is unavailable since you don’t have any on hand. You might be wondering how this situation constitutes an inventory error. If a specific item sells well, entrepreneurs tend to keep the product listing and allow customers to get a notification once it is back on stock.
But, this strategy is not a good choice. It gives the impression that your website is short on inventory. More so, it’s confusing for potential clients to find the listing for that specific item only to discover that it’s unavailable. It’s a tease that irritates customers and costs you a possible transaction.
Shipping Errors
There are three picking and shipping errors: incorrect picks, incorrect shipments, and damaged goods. By using an inventory management method known as Quality Control (QC), you can significantly minimize the occurrence of these errors.
You can implement QC in a variety of methods and at various stages of the order fulfillment process. QC can occur during the picking process when the picker compares the item to the order and does a visual examination to ensure it is free of damage and in compliance with the specifications. Additionally, shippers or notable QC experts can carry it out before the products ship out.
No matter how you decide to implement the process, it will function as a buffer between you and your consumers. Receiving the wrong product or a damaged item is about the worst thing that could occur, aside from not receiving the goods at all.
Wrapping Up
It is easy to overlook eCommerce storage amid the hustle and bustle of running an online business. It’s an essential component of the industry maze that can significantly impact your business’s bottom line.