Whether you’re an ecommerce brand managing order fulfillment for your growing customer base or a third-party logistics (3PL) provider harmonizing order management for multiple businesses, every order you process has the same goal—fast and accurate processing, shipping, and receiving. The more effectively you do that, the happier your customers will be, and the more effectively you do it, the greater your opportunity to scale your business and keep operations out of the red.
Yet, many retailers and logistics providers fail to do this well. Often, that’s because they’re still using manual, labor-intensive tasks to process, ship, and track orders, which gets increasingly complicated as omnichannel sales become more critical to business survival.
So, how do you ensurewhile meeting—and hopefully exceeding—consumer expectations? It’s time to leave behind the old ways of doing things!
With the right planning and insight, you can build confidence that you’re choosing the best order fulfillment solution for your business’ unique needs and ensure your satisfied customers will keep coming back for more.
While order fulfillment may be the heart and soul of your business, it doesn’t come without challenges. For ecommerce, that’s often a balancing act between meeting consumer expectations and operating efficiently while generating revenue.
For 3PLs, the volume and range of products, number of warehouses, and shipping locations can be a logistical nightmare. The more customers a 3PL has, the harder it is to successfully manage inventory levels in real-time and ensure accurate order picking and optimized warehouse utilization.
Order fulfillment software is the key to overcoming these complexities. For 3PLs, order fulfillment software can streamline and automate inventory management, optimize order picking and routes, and provide visibility into warehouse operations to proactively manage potential issues before they impact your clients.
Online retailers and merchants can reap ecommerce software benefits, for example, using order management software for automation, integrating with shipping carriers, and providing simple returns to improve the customer experience.
While brands and 3PLs have some similar order management processes, the common differentiator is often the complexity and volume of third-party logistics, especially when managing multiple businesses simultaneously. Because of this, it’s important to find a fulfillment software vendor that has developed a solution specifically designed for 3PLs and their clients.
SPS Commerce is a cloud-based order management system (OMS) with order fulfillment capabilities for 3PLs. The software can streamline order processing and increase visibility for inventory levels and order status.
It also integrates with warehouse management systems (WMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.
NetSuite is an ERP that includes order fulfillment capabilities for warehouse management. Its features offer integrated order management, insight into financial performance, workflow automation, and demand forecasting.
Extensiv, a cloud-based supply chain management solution, includes order management capabilities in its comprehensive platform. With Extensiv, 3PLs can better manage complex supply chains and optimize order fulfillment processes.
Extensiv offers global logistics management so logistics providers can manage shipments across multiple countries and regions with ease. Its warehouse management tool optimizes warehouse operations with features like
Extensiv’s integrations with transportation management systems (TMS) help 3PLs find cost-effective shipping carriers and optimize routes, all while ensuring compliance with common trade and other industry and regional regulations. With Extensiv’s real-time visibility into omnichannel orders and inventory, 3PLs can optimize their processes and proactively address issues before they impede order fulfillment.
Logiwa has a suite of tools to help 3PLs manage operations such as automated order picking, packing, shipping, inventory optimization, and warehouse automation. The software is scalable and has data analytics to help 3PLs optimize fulfillment processes.
Magaya Supply Chain offers order fulfillment capabilities with a focus on collaboration across the order fulfillment ecosystem. It enables 3PLs to collaborate with suppliers, carriers, warehouses, and customers in real-time to improve visibility and coordination across the supply chain.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a fulfillment service that handles storage, picking, packing, shipping, and returns of products sold on Amazon. It’s a good option for sellers that want to hand over fulfillment operations to a trusted third-party fulfillment center and, as an added benefit, can access Amazon’s expansive logistics network, which may result in reduced shipping costs, as well as access to a global fulfillment system.
ShipBob enables ecommerce brands and retailers to manage customer orders, inventory, and shipping across fulfillment operations to enhance customer satisfaction. It can also help brands optimize inventory levels and ensure successful multi-channel fulfillment, for example, across Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and others.
Extensiv’s order management solution helps ecommerce brands and merchants streamline order fulfillment processes. With robust features and scalable architecture, it’s suitable for small businesses up to large retailers. Extensiv automates order entry, picking, packing, and shipping processes to reduce manual tasks and errors. It offers real-time insights into inventory levels, order status, and shipments, and with data analytics and forecasting, you can make better-informed business decisions.
Extensiv also integrates with your existing systems, such as Shopify, QuickBooks, and Magento, for a seamless workflow. And, you can enhance customer service using Extensiv’s real-time order status updates and proactive communications.
Shopify is an ecommerce platform that includes order fulfillment capabilities. With an easy-to-use interface, it’s a popular choice for ecommerce businesses of all sizes. Shopify offers a customizable storefront, works across multiple sales channels, and includes integrated order management. It also has functionality supported by other applications, such as marketing.
With so many order fulfillment solutions in the market, it can be hard for 3PLs and ecommerce brands to know which software is the right choice. However, by carefully evaluating features and aligning them with your business needs, both 3PLs and brands can transform order fulfillment obstacles into achievements.
For ecommerce brands that manage their own orders, your fulfillment software should enhance customer engagements and streamline processes. Here are some features to look for in logistics and fulfillment software:
Technologies that are hard to use rarely offer a worthy return on investment (ROI). For 3PLs and ecommerce, knowing how to use all of the features in your software will help maximize the software and also your overall operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and growth. Here are three quick tips to help you get the most out of your next software implementation: