How to manage your e-commerce logistics?
With the meteoric growth of e-commerce, e-commerce logistics are becoming an essential part of the customer experience and customer loyalty. Good management of e-commerce logistics is crucial to the success of your online sales project. You need to optimize your logistics flows to offer an optimal shopping experience on your website.
To achieve this, every stage must be well thought out and organized: from product identification to customer returns, from order preparation to stock management, you need to think of everything!
In this article, you'll learn how to manage the logistics of your website, from order processing to delivery. You'll be able to respond optimally to your customers' orders and build loyalty.
I Managing your stock
In online sales, inventory management is essential to avoid running out of stock. Every company selling online should ensure product availability, to avoid creating frustration among customers. On the other hand, you must avoid accumulating too many products, at the risk of seeing your storage costs rise. That's why you need to manage your inventory as closely as possible.
What's more, by adopting rigorous inventory management, you can ensure prompt delivery to customers. Which in turn increases customer satisfaction.
II Order processing
Order processing consists of receiving orders and preparing packages. Order preparation is a crucial step in managing your e-commerce logistics. You'll need to choose your product packaging carefully beforehand.
Receiving orders
To save time, your website needs to receive orders instantly. Boost technology enables orders to be received immediately. This speed enables order pickers to be more efficient, and orders to be dispatched in the shortest possible time. This improves the customer experience.
Package packaging
After receiving the order, the items are packaged.
Good packaging protects the product throughout its journey. A damaged parcel could disappoint the customer and create bad publicity for the company.
The packaging must also be practical and light, so as not to add to the weight of the parcel and risk increasing the cost of delivery.
What's more, packaging is the first thing the customer sees. This is why, through packaging, the company must share its values, such as ecology, and build customer loyalty. At Boost, we use reusable, eco-responsible parcels to meet environmental challenges, and we pack parcels directly in the warehouse. What's more, we take great care with each and every parcel.
III Successful product shipping
Choosing your carrier
First and foremost, you need to choose a transport company you can trust to deliver your orders on time. What's more, customers need to be reassured and know where their order is. That's why we advise you to send them a tracking number to ensure parcel traceability. In this way, your customers will know the status of their delivery at all times, from dispatch to delivery.
Choice of delivery methods
We advise you to offer several shipping methods, such as delivery to relay points and home delivery. You can also offer express delivery for customers in a hurry. Delivery times need to be short, because customers are instantaneous. That's why your logistics chain needs to be well organized.
Determine shipping costs
Once you've chosen a service provider to make your deliveries, you can set your shipping costs. Be careful not to set them too high, as this could scare your customers away. You need to differentiate yourself from your competitors by taking into account various parameters to set the right prices. To achieve this, we recommend that you start by creating a price list. This should take into account delivery distance from the warehouse, as well as the weight and volume of the parcel.
You can also offer free delivery above a certain amount. To calculate this amount, we recommend you perform the following operation: average basket + product cost - shipping costs.
Depending on the volume of parcels to be sent, you can try to negotiate lower rates with your carriers. This is what Boost does with the transport companies it works with.
IV Returns policy and after-sales service management
Returns processing must be well thought-out and smooth. Once an order has been dispatched, the customer can always change his or her mind or be dissatisfied with the product. So returns must be made easy to ensure an optimal customer experience from start to finish. This will encourage repeat purchases.
We also advise you to have a customer service department capable of responding to customer requests.
V Choosing your e-commerce logistics provider
What is a logistics provider?
Would you like to free yourself from the constraints of logistics? Outsource your logistics to a trusted service provider! E-commerce logistics outsourcing involves using an external company specialized in logistics.
These companies offer a range of services to manage your logistics. There are many advantages to this. First of all, they usually have a warehouse dedicated to storage and order preparation. What's more, it's at this same location that carriers pick up parcels for delivery to customers, facilitating the transport of goods.
The main advantages of outsourcing e-commerce logistics are that it allows you to concentrate on your core business. What's more, it's the ideal solution for centralizing all logistics stages in one place: product storage, order preparation, delivery and transport....
Why choose Boost as your logistics provider?
The great thing about Boost is that all the services we offer allow you to refocus on your business. We take care of everything to meet your customers' needs and help you grow your online business.
What's more, sending large volumes enables us to negotiate prices with carriers, so that we can offer you delivery at the best possible price. We also handle any disputes with the carrier.
Start taking charge of your e-commerce logistics now, so you can satisfy your customers, offer them a positive experience and build loyalty. If you don't want to take charge, choose a trusted service provider to manage your company's logistics: from merchandise storage to order dispatch.