Order splitting is often a necessary evil in ecommerce, allowing businesses to ship partial orders when stock is limited or inventory is scattered across warehouses. However, this strategy frequently frustrates customers, especially when critical items arrive late.
Imagine ordering an outfit for a Halloween costume contest—leopard print pants and a metallic top—only to receive the top in 24 hours and the pants two weeks later, long after the party's over. Best case scenario, you might be able to improvise a plan B, but you can’t be Mel B (the one and only Scary Spice of the Spice Girls) without some leopard print.
Beyond inconvenience, split shipments can increase costs for businesses, waste packaging materials, and alienate eco-conscious customers who value sustainability. In fact, according to the 2024 PwC Voice of the Consumer Survey, customers are willing to pay 9.7% more on average for more sustainable products and services.
Order consolidation flips this equation, offering a smarter, more sustainable fulfillment strategy that reduces costs, enhances efficiency, and aligns with consumer values. Let’s unpack the common mistakes sellers make when consolidating orders and how to implement this strategy effectively to elevate your operations.
Typically, consolidation is a collaborative process involving ecommerce retailers, their business partners, distribution companies, and third-party logistics (3PL) providers if they outsource their order fulfillment.
It lowers overall shipping costs by decreasing the number of shipments and leveraging bulk shipping rates, thereby reducing carbon emissions and fuel consumption.
Many sellers struggle with order consolidation, often misunderstanding its core principles or failing to align strategies with customer expectations. These common missteps can derail even the best thought-out strategies.
The assumption that order consolidation slows down fulfillment stems from a misunderstanding of how order consolidation works and the benefits it can bring. Some sellers worry that combining multiple orders into a single package will add extra time to the fulfillment process, but this is not necessarily the case when done correctly.
By grouping orders that are destined for the same location, businesses can streamline the packing and shipping processes. This reduces the number of shipments that need to be processed, minimizes handling time, and decreases the chances of errors such as lost packages or incorrect shipments. For example, a retailer consolidating orders heading to the same city can optimize delivery routes, reducing the number of deliveries per route and cutting down on overall transit times.
With tools like Extensiv’s platform for ecommerce brands, businesses can dynamically manage order consolidation without sacrificing efficiency. Our platform includes automated order routing and intelligent order orchestration, which enables real-time adjustments based on order volume, stock availability, and shipping options.
Instead of slowing down the process, these tools enhance the accuracy and speed of fulfillment, creating a better customer experience and freeing up resources to handle increased order volumes.
True, order consolidation reduces shipping costs—a critical factor considering that 44% of online shoppers abandon their carts due to high shipping and handling fees, according to a Forrester study.
But it can do so much more. Let’s take a closer look at some of the other benefits of order consolidation:
Order consolidation is all but impossible without a robust and integrated ecommerce technology stack. Without the right software, you can’t track inventory levels with real-time accuracy, increasing the risk of stockouts, overselling, and delayed shipments. The absence of automated order routing and orchestration rules means manual intervention for every decision, increasing the risk of errors and inefficiencies.
One of the most common mistakes sellers make is relying on manual or overly simplistic processes for consolidating orders. For example, attempting order consolidation without inventory management software often results in shipping separate packages for items that could have been combined, inflating shipping costs unnecessarily. Without automation, you will struggle to handle the nuances of real-world omnichannel fulfillment scenarios.
The right software doesn’t just automate these processes; it also centralizes data from various sources, offering a comprehensive view of inventory and order status. Omnichannel fulfillment software like Extensiv makes managing orders across multiple platforms—including order consolidation—a breeze.
Additionally, solutions like Extensiv’s inventory management platform provides includes functionalities like integration across all sales channels and intelligent order routing to automatically direct all orders to the best warehouse for consolidation and shipping. These features allow you to consolidate orders seamlessly, reducing shipping costs, improving accuracy, and freeing your team from manual processes.
As companies grow, their operational needs evolve, requiring updates to consolidation strategies. What worked at a smaller scale—like consolidating orders by truckload or regional batches—may not be effective anymore when handling multiple fulfillment centers or international shipments.
For example, a mid-sized ecommerce brand consolidating orders based on a single warehouse setup may find using the same strategy ineffective as they expand to additional warehouses. Without adapting their consolidation strategy, they might end up with duplicate shipments, increased transit times, or stockouts. This not only impacts delivery speed but can also inflate costs and strain customer relationships.
To adapt successfully, businesses need scalable solutions that can handle the complexities of growth—such as order routing across multiple fulfillment centers, dynamic inventory allocation, and integration with global shipping networks.
Advanced software like Extensiv’s order management solution allows businesses to adjust consolidation strategies dynamically as they scale. For instance, Extensiv enables intelligent order routing that accounts for factors like warehouse location, stock availability, and delivery speed, ensuring that orders are consolidated and fulfilled efficiently, no matter how many fulfillment nodes the business operates.
Extensiv’s platform stands out as a powerful solution for ecommerce businesses looking for help with order consolidation. But don’t just take our word for it; here’s what we bring to the table:
Let Extensiv do the heavy lifting for your order consolidation strategy; we work hard so you don’t have to.
Ready to take the next step? Request a demo today!