After two years of seemingly unending challenges posed by an ongoing pandemic, it can sometimes feel like disruptions, uncertainty and constantly changing rules are the new norm. And that may well be true, at least for the near term. But what can businesses do to help manage these unexpected times, especially in the face of supply chain issues, restrictions, and general consumer downturn?
Over the last couple of years, EIZ eCommerce Fulfilment Technologies has seen a significant increase in the demand for our SaaS, cloud-based and API-driven products. It is no secret that this uptake has coincided with the onset of the global pandemic, as more businesses look to software and technology-based solutions to help them navigate a changing retail landscape. Below, we provide a shortlist of points that may be critical to how your business can best position itself during these unprecedented times.
#1 Your ticket to a world of e-commerce
If your customers can’t come to you, go to them. Many businesses recognise to offset losses they are seeing due to lockdowns and decreased foot traffic, they need to be online. However, a single online store may not be enough. Think about maximising your exposure. Remember, not all your customers visit just one marketplace.
An order management system, or OMS, allows you to integrate with sales channels and marketplaces such as Shopify, Amazon, Ebay, Catch, Kogan, PrestaShop and more, all at the same time. And it will deliver all your orders into a single dashboard. This saves your business both time and money by avoiding the need to log into each portal separately. With 20+ sales channels integrated via API, and more being added all the time, it is increasingly possible for businesses to be everywhere their customers are.
#2 Deliver straight to your customers’ door
With supply chain issues, shortages, and service outages, don’t allow your business to be at the mercy of one or two freight providers. Keep in mind that from time to time, certain carriers may not be able to deliver to certain areas quickly, becoming themselves constrained by demand or restrictions. Additionally, you need to ensure that you are getting the most cost-effective service when delivering products to your customers.
EIZ provides integration to 20+ of the most popular shipping carriers that operate both domestically and internationally, ensuring you always have options at your disposal when you need to get a package to your customer, no matter where they are located. We support Australia Post, Aramex, Couriers Please, FedEx, Toll, Allied Express and many more. Our smart shipping robot will even generate a list of the best prices, reducing your need to shop around.
#3 Organising your merchandise
Once you outgrow your bedroom or home office, you need a convenient, efficient, and robust system to manage your inventory. You may be surprised, but efficiently organising large volumes of hundreds or thousands of units of stock can be a full-time job in itself. Businesses need to know how much stock they have on hand, ensure they can quickly pick these items, and make sure what they’re advertising corresponds exactly with what they have stocked in the warehouse.
The right warehouse management system can greatly simplify this process. It needs to be able to store a complete list of all your inventory, as well as detail where and how it is stored in your warehouse, including count, SKU, location and more. Listings that are live on each of your sales channels should also be able to be accessed from the same place to save you time, and ensure all subsystems are talking to each other, so you know exactly when you’ve sold the last unit and it’s time to reorder.
#4 Putting it all together
Thankfully, all these features and more have been included in our flagship product EIZ Fulfillment, which provides retail businesses of all sizes a complete end-to-end fulfilment solution when it comes to their e-commerce needs. See all your orders from every sales channel or marketplace that your store is featured on in one handy and easy-to-use dashboard. Use the pick-and-pack functionality together with our handheld barcode scanners to create efficient pick runs and minimise pick errors. Select the fastest and most cost-effective carrier available to pick up the order from your warehouse and dispatch it to your customer, all in a few clicks. Best of all, everything is cloud-based and contact-free, ensuring your business complies with the latest health-and-safety policies while fulfilling orders all from the comfort of your business or home.
Try EIZ Fulfillment today for a free 30-day trial and see if we can’t help your reposition business to take advantage of everything eCommerce has to offer: https://eiz.com.au/products/new-fulfillment/.
