With the rise of eCommerce platforms, many retail businesses nowadays are moving towards the omnichannel model. However, retailers may find it difficult to fulfill both in-store and online orders. This is because businesses are being forced to balance demand across brick-and-mortar and online touchpoints, negotiate many channels from production to ultimate destination and satisfy faster delivery needs. Understanding these problems, we’ve compiled 5 tips to maintain flawless omnichannel shipping for retailers.
Overview
Allow customers to track the order process
Since shopping is now happening via multiple channels, it’s easier to get lost. Therefore, knowing and communicating the status of any order or shipment, from sorting, loading, and route planning to final proof delivery, is crucial for high customer satisfaction. Informing the status of orders can also build trust from consumers. They know exactly where their purchased products are and guarantee that they haven’t been lost.
However, it takes some system design and engineering, as well as the correct software and employee training. Above all, subsequent visibility and traceability are important for gaining a competitive edge in the fleet and delivery market.
Automate order fulfillment
Automating repetitive operations is a great technique to make omnichannel shipping easier. “Automated” does not mean “relying on robots,” but rather using technology to conduct other manual operations that can be made more difficult by human mistakes. As a result, each order can be assigned to the proper delivery service and package type using automated order fulfillment.
Furthermore, shipment confirmations are one of the most crucial emails you’ll have to send to your consumers. Customers can get a better picture of their order’s status by receiving delivery notifications automatically as the products are on the way. It can significantly increase your brand’s reputation among customers in the end.
Make use of multi-warehouse management
For bigger businesses with more than one warehouse location, make sure to manage different places efficiently. Most of the time, retailers don’t do it manually. This is because it takes a lot of labor costs and is very high in error. Instead, they utilize multi-warehouse management tools to keep track of everything, These functions often come in the point of sale (POS) systems.
ConnectPOS is a great example of multi-warehouse management. With this software, retailers can easily assign the nearest warehouse to order within a few clicks. They can thus optimize the waiting time for customers, and the delivery package will arrive as soon as possible.
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Maintain real-time synchronization
In omnichannel shipping, real-time synchronization is very important to inform customers about the right information. Inventory levels should be synced as soon as possible so that employees can stay up-to-date about the availability of the products. For example, as a retailer, you will not want to let customers make a purchase for a product that is actually out of stock.
Keep shippers and employees connected
Technology can also be utilized to remain the connection between your drivers and other staff, in order to make sure that delivery operations are running smoothly and on schedule. This connection is even more important when there are unexpected problems during the omnichannel shipping process.
Some sales devices on the market nowadays can also enable integrated voice and data communication. Workers, supervisors and shippers can use voice, push-to-talk, SMS text, and even video to communicate throughout the fulfillment process. Even if you don’t own these, it can be still enough to connect employees and shippers in the traditional way (via phone).
Wrapping up
Now that you’ve learned some tips to maintain flawless omnichannel shipping, let’s see what ConnectPOS can do to help. Contact us if you have any questions!