East Coast Fulfillment Warehouse Archives - Page 4 of 11

April 1, 2021April 1, 2021

The Technology Behind Successful Ecommerce Fulfillment

Online sales in the United States have more than surpassed expectations. In 2012, online sales hit a record $226 billion, and accounted for 7% of all total retail sales. Experts projected $327 billion by 2016, but they were wrong… Total online sales in 2016 were $394 billion! If your fulfillment company isn’t participating in the ecommerce segment, no doubt you know that you’re missing out on an exceptional opportunity!

In this article, I’ll focus on the technological capabilities a warehouse needs in order to implement an ecommerce fulfillment service. The article isn’t going to be about listing the pros and cons of the Top 10 software programs on the market, because I don’t know your current capabilities or strategic goals. Instead, I believe that the most productive approach is to breakdown the process to help you identify where you can improve your systems.

Let’s talk about process integration. Ecommerce clients will typically approach a fulfillment company with an established business infrastructure. Integration means adapting your systems to plug into those of your customer. The processes that are frequently affected are:

Order Capture & Management
Picking/Packing & Shipping
Synchronizing Order and Inventory Status
Visibility
Client & Customer Service

Order Capture & Management

There are more than 300 ecommerce shopping cart companies on the market. Your company needs to be technically capable of adapting to the wide variety of methodologies for communicating with those carts. Orders from carts need to be harvested on a regular basis, controlled to insure none are dropped or duplicated, and converted into a form that is compatible with your system.

I believe this area represents the greatest technical challenge for fulfillment companies in the ecommerce space. Your tool bag for interfacing with a client’s systems must include a wide array of technologies, including the ability to interact with flat files, Application Program Interfaces, Web Services, File Transfer Protocol, call center systems, and the occasional manual-order entry. IT resources to plan the implementation and support this process need to be broadly skilled and creative. Administrative resources that perform the daily-order harvesting routines need to be highly attentive to detail.

Picking/Packing & Shipping

This process is probably the most straightforward. Picking slips are generated, product is picked and boxed, and shipping labels are applied using traditional fulfillment methods. Although there may be special requirements for packing slip and box branding, those requirements don’t vary much from conventional fulfillment. It is essential to operate at a very fast past as ecommerce performance is measured in hours and the volume of orders is measured in thousands per day.

Synchronizing Order and Inventory Status

Ecommerce fulfillment requires that the client’s shopping cart has the most recent inventory and order status information. Your systems need to regularly communicate inventory availability to the cart to ensure that a client’s customer is made aware of out-of-stock situations before placing an order. Customers also need to be able to reference the shopping cart to find the status of their order. Process synchronization between your operation and that of your client is an absolute necessity.

Visibility

Ecommerce fulfillment is very fast moving! We used to joke that customers would press the “buy” button and run to the front door looking for the UPS truck! With Amazon’s latest experiments in same-day delivery, this joke is almost a reality. Given the speed of ecommerce, it’s important for your clients to be able to have a real-time window into your process and inventory. At a minimum, clients should be able to see orders and inventory in near real time. The leading-edge, ecommerce fulfillment companies have taken a more pro-active stance by publishing “alerts” when important events are happening in the fulfillment process. Alert examples might include: Product X is running low on inventory; a new shipment of stock has arrived; or a customer has returned an order.

Client & Customer Service

The fulfillment process is heavily impacted by fast-paced marketing and promotional decisions. Ecommerce client support typically requires a designated coordinator to represent the client’s requirements to the fulfillment organization and to coordinate program changes. The volume and minutiae of detail often warrant the implementation of “issue logging” and “project workflow” processes within the organization. Given the pace of the business, these processes are best automated.

Some clients, particularly the Entrepreneur and Offshore segments, may ask the fulfillment organization to manage customer support. This might involve call-center work, authorizing returns, handling the occasional complaint, and so on. These client groups often have too small a volume to outsource their work to large call center. Having an arsenal of exceptional customer-support tools, therefore, positions you to capitalize on a good revenue opportunity.

In summary, successful ecommerce fulfillment relies on solid technical foundations. Warehouses and 3PLs must understand that ecommerce clients have very different needs (and expectations) for the technical aptitude, agility and pace of their fulfillment partners. To fully capitalize on the ecommerce segment, your fulfillment service must meet–and exceed–these requirements.

March 2, 2021February 23, 2021

Website Chatbots: What to Know to Embrace This Emerging Technology

In the United States, more than 50 percent of millennials and Gen Xers have interacted with chatbots, making these conversational programs one of today’s hottest eCommerce trends. But in reality, Siri’s and Alexa’s “parents,” Eliza and Parry, actually date back to the mid-60s and early 70s.

Simulated human conversation may not be new, but thanks to modern advancements in technology, these programs can now be integral parts of your marketing and branding strategies. Our fulfillment warehouse experts share what you need to know to successfully incorporate website chatbots in 2019.

Chatbots: Personalizing the Online Experience

Real-time interaction is a major advantage brick-and-mortar stores still have over virtual storefronts. Nearly one-third of online shoppers cite difficulty in getting answers to simple questions as their biggest frustration with eCommerce.

Chatbots are uniquely equipped to handle common customer service inquiries. Once you import your company’s FAQs, chat history and other relevant information, a chatbot uses the data to “train” itself. As the chatbot interacts with visitors to your website, the experiences serve to further refine its performance.

Need more reasons why you should be using chatbots?

• More than 50 percent of the participants in a Facebook survey said they’re more likely to shop with a business that provides chat services.

• Global research and advisory firm Gartner predicts that by 2020, 85 percent of engagement with eCommerce sites will be conducted via self-service options and chatbots.

• Surveys by Oracle, one of the leading multinational computer technology companies, indicate 80 percent of businesses currently use chatbots or are making plans to by 2020.

Value Add-On for Improving Productivity

Customer service is a natural application for chatbots, but their usefulness doesn’t end there. In addition to providing information, chatbots have the ability to gather data more fluidly than human agents.

• Chatbots can be programmed to ask targeted questions in order to qualify potential leads.

• Hard-to-navigate websites are another top source of frustration for online customers. Chatbots direct shoppers to the proper area of your website simply by asking what they’re looking for and posing other leading questions.

• Use of chatbots frees your staff to work on more urgent tasks, reducing operational costs while maximizing effectiveness. Chatbots are also available 24/7 without being subject to down time or attrition.

Chatbot Guidelines

1. No matter how sophisticated a chatbot program may be it’s meant to supplement human interaction, not replace it. Proper use of chatbots includes programming them to “know” when a customer should be directed to a human customer service agent.

2. While consistency is one of the advantages of chatbots, the programs are not one-size-fits-all. Chatbots are designed to be fit the needs of a specific industry, so a chatbot used by a healthcare organization will not be the same one you would want for your eCommerce business.

3. Start simple. Create a chatbot to handle basic customer requests that form the bulk of your customers’ interactions. Once the chatbot has been operational for a while, review the chat logs to detect patterns and trends, and then decide if you want to add further refinements or develop new chatbots to handle other tasks.

4. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Think of chatbots as a way to streamline basic business interactions, not add complicated and unnecessary bells and whistles.

Personalized Fulfillment Warehouse Services for a High-Tech World

Are you tired of fulfillment warehouse companies that treat you like nothing more than a number? At Medallion Fulfillment & Logistics, we consider ourselves a partner in your success, so your specific needs are our first priority.

February 16, 2021February 2, 2021

4 More Signs it’s Time to Outsource Fulfillment

There are many reasons your business may consider outsourcing to a fulfillment service. The most important, although difficult to monetize, is time. Once your business has grown beyond the startup phase and begun to sustain itself, prioritizing your time, and that of your employees or partners, is crucial to continued success.

In addition to needing time to concentrate on business growth, here are four more signs that it is time to outsource your fulfillment.

Too Many Questions

You are an expert in your field. Your business knows its target markets and has a plan in place to increase sales. As your product offering widens and your customer base grows, your orders become less homogeneous. Soon you intend to pursue wholesale customers, increasing the variety even further. All of these changes bring questions.

What is the best shipping method for wholesale orders? Is it the same as retail orders? Should we use the same carrier for all packages to increase volume discounts, or can we save money in other ways? Do we need to stock more shipping box sizes? And, above all, are we paying too much for shipping?

A reliable fulfillment service already has the answers to your questions and will allow you time to market your business and develop your assets.

The Sea of Rising Costs

Shipping costs have risen over 60% in less than a decade. Many companies spend 10-12% of their revenue on shipping costs alone. Utilizing different carriers for different shipping scenarios can save money, but diffuses your volume discounts for a single business.

An established fulfillment service is able to offer discounted freight rates based on the volume they handle for all clients together. Leveraging this power in numbers will save your business more money than it can earn from its own volume discounts for many years, if not indefinitely.

As sales grow, many related costs increase: the staffing costs to pack and ship orders, packaging materials, storage space, shipping costs, returns processing, and more. This is in addition to advertising and marketing costs, manufacturing, freight, web development, legal and other expenses. And time, the most precious and nonrenewable resource. When the fulfillment need begins to drain resources, outsourcing is the decisive action that consolidates and manages these costs into one bill, one concern, one (very important) cog in the wheel.

A Barrier to Growth

Expanding to new markets and marketplaces requires planning and logistics management. The software integrations alone can save valuable time for a growing business. Third-party logistics partners (3PLs) like Sprocket Express have existing software integrations that can take your orders directly from most any shopping cart or marketplace and automatically process the orders through their system.

With expansion, peak season traffic also increases. This is great news for your business, but is your in-house capability ready for the heightened activity? With a professional fulfillment partner, your business can focus on promotions and social media, rather than shipping orders during busy times. They will have seasonal staff on hand to meet the demand and they have regular pickup, plenty of packing materials, and the experience to keep the whole thing running smoothly.

Trying to forge ahead once your business reaches the tipping point can impede your success. It’s like trying to start two businesses- one in your field and one in the fulfillment field. If that idea resonated with you, it is probably time to outsource.

Warehouse Space

Depending on your product line, warehouse space may become a concern early in the game. For businesses that import containers of goods, storage space is key. If your products are small and/or purchased in small quantities, it may not be urgent to find a separate location for storage. For those that deal with large items or quantities, a professional warehouse is immensely helpful. Over time, it will save money to use a warehouse rather than your own business space to house inventory.

Conclusion

Recreating a knowledgeable and experienced shipping department is a deviation of resources, both time and money. Once you have taken hold in your market, diverting your focus to this task may not be the best course of action. Outsourcing fulfillment at this crucial moment can streamline your operations and provide room to scale.

If you are ready to consider outsourcing your order fulfillment, contact us for more information.

Sprocket Express is a division of Medallion Enterprises and owned by Medallion Fulfillment & Logistics.

February 2, 2021January 28, 2021

Beyond Amazon, the Power of E-commerce Marketplace Diversification

Plenty of businesses use Amazon as their primary online marketplace. But many observe the old adage and don’t put all of their eggs in one basket. Diversification is a successful e-commerce strategy that allows your business to reach more customers in more places.

Our clients use a variety of marketplaces to expand their businesses. These are some of our favorites. Sprocket Express and Medallion Fulfillment integrate with all of these markets quickly and efficiently so that you can ship all of your orders using one easy fulfillment interface.

eBay

This year marks eBay’s 25^th anniversary as an online marketplace. It was one of the first and continues to function as a major selling platform. Although Amazon has risen to number one with roughly three times the annual gross merchandise volume (GMV), eBay is still the second leading marketplace in the U.S.

Similar to Amazon, an e-commerce eBay “shop” allows retailers a single branded storefront for all of their listings. Whether used in conjunction with a brand website or as the primary online presence, the eBay shop is a powerful selling tool.

Sprocket and Medallion Fulfillment are fluent in multiple e-commerce marketplaces and already integrates with eBay for a seamless experience, allowing multi-channel merchants to focus on their products and leave the marketplace protocols to us.

Walmart.com

Walmart is the third largest e-commerce marketplace in the United States and represents serious competition to Amazon. Approximately 95% of Americans have shopped at Walmart or Walmart.com in the past year, so this is a massive audience and it continues to grow.

It is easy to start selling on Walmart with these seven steps. Marketplace items appear in search results on Walmart.com alongside other items.

Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce platform designed to allow clients to easily build a website with a shopping cart solution. As one of the most popular e-commerce cart packages, this software option is a powerful online selling tool.

For businesses who prefer to sell mainly on their own websites, Shopify is an ideal choice. You can also use the platform to build your own marketplace for your brand. Look for a fulfillment service like Sprocket Express a division of Medallion Fulfillment, which is already integrated and ready to connect to your site in fifteen minutes.

Rakuten.com Shopping

Buy.com (recently named Rakuten.com Shopping) is one of the largest online retail marketplaces with over 20 million customers in the U.S. On this platform, e-commerce sellers can create their own fully branded “storefront” to maintain cohesive brand identity.

As an added bonus, Rakuten clients have access to an e-commerce consultant to advise sellers on ways to expand exposure and increase sales. Customers of the marketplace also earn cash back, which promotes loyalty to the platform and encourages repeat business.

Retail EDI

Companies that sell to wholesale customers to supply their retail stores often use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to transmit orders. This is the most efficient way to resupply because the system does all of the work behind the scenes and all the store has to do is enter the quantity of an item to trigger the order.

EDI is a powerful strategy for B2B sellers and can trim time and staff expenses, contributing to a healthier bottom-line and less error in the supply chain. Sprocket Express is equipped with full EDI capabilities to allow our wholesale clients to focus on expanding their businesses without devoting valuable time to processing large orders.

In Conclusion

Sprocket Express a division of Medallion Fulfillment is expressly designed to serve multichannel marketers and omnichannel sellers. With built-in integrations for numerous marketplaces, we are prepared to serve your business wherever and however you choose to sell.

We currently support multi-channel platforms for over 25% of our clients, so we can also coach on carrier selection, shipping method strategies and more, based on your unique business needs.

January 19, 2021December 29, 2020

Startups and New Businesses Have Special Financial Needs, How to Plan for Success

For many new entrepreneurs, managing finances is one of the more intimidating aspects of a startup business. Ensuring that funding, expenses and other financial elements are controlled from the beginning prevents minor issues from snowballing into major problems.

The good news is that financial management is not as difficult as you might think. Our fulfillment warehouse has been part of several successful startups, so we’re offering these expert tips to get your fledgling business rolling with solid financial planning.

Manage Expenses

In the beginning, expenses can be a huge drain on cash flow during the time you need it the most. Fortunately, most costs can be reasonably estimated ahead of time. Create a year-long budget covering rent, wages, materials, taxes and other fixed expenses and focus on keeping them as low as possible.

Avoid Commingling Funds

As the owner, you may feel all funds are ultimately yours so the line between personal and business finances becomes blurred. When you keep both sides completely separate, it’s much easier to track business finances and prevent personal spending from draining the company account. You should also formally pay yourself a salary rather than simply dip into company funds.

Keep Detailed and Accurate Records

When it comes to judging your company’s performance, you can’t afford to rely on gut feelings or instinct. Make sure an experienced accountant, either in-house or outside, is keeping track of revenue and expenses. Review financial statements regularly and make adjustments based on a clear, overall picture.

Don’t Overdo It

You may feel compelled to take on as many roles as you can to save money, but that strategy can actually be counterproductive. Learning unfamiliar skills on the fly can end up costing more time and money than hiring an experienced person in the first place. Delegating work frees you up to focus on your passion and grow the business.

Learn to Negotiate

Don’t take vendor terms at face value. You’ll be surprised at how often suppliers are willing to make concessions to gain your business. Prepare a game plan ahead of time so you know what your goals are. Remember that it never hurts to ask!

Invest in Technology

Business technology has become so advanced and so widely integrated that your company will be at a serious disadvantage from day one without it. Any investment you make in technology will pay for itself in money and time savings.

Establish an Emergency Fund

Financial experts recommend that people maintain an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses, and a company is no different. Put aside a percentage of income during peak times to help tide you through the slow periods.

Fulfillment Warehouse Services That Grow Along with You

Are you struggling with adjustments as your business expands? Our fulfillment warehouse services can be tailored to meet you specific needs today and scale to accommodate future requirements. Contact us at Medallion Fulfillment & Logistics to learn more about why we are the first choice for one-stop warehousing, inventory control and order processing services.