A good e-commerce warehouse management system (WMS) helps you in receiving the inventory, placing them on the designated shelf; improve the picking and shipping of orders and get real-time information on the inventory.  Warehouse management softwares can be a standalone application or it can be integrated into your existing ERP system as well.

Utilising a strong Warehouse management software can immensely benefit your eCommerce and retail business.  Some highly useful advantages include:

• Lowering Labour Costs
• Enhancing Inventory Accuracy
• Improve flexibility in operation
• Reducing errors while picking and shipping of goods
• Upgrading customer services
• Accessing real-time data

Wit these, WMS enables you to manage complete warehouse related activities including but not limited to orders, shipments, receipts and intra-warehouse movement of goods.

What are the best practices & processes for warehouse management?

So, if you are planning to opt for any management software for your new warehouse or planning to upgrade your existing system, ask these questions:

Below are 10 Key Questions one must ask before opting for any warehouse management software, to get Maximum benefits of their solutions.

1.Can it handle orders from multiple marketplaces?

You must be selling on  6-8 marketplaces all at the same time and so, it is important for any WMS solution to provide the sellers with the ability to seamlessly process orders of all marketplaces so that the inventory can be managed accordingly. 

2. Does the solution provide you inventory accuracy?

Inventory management is a big problem for sellers, particularly when you have to manage 100+ dispatches every day. Managing the inventory manually, tracking it timely and updating the stock after each day’s sales is a hectic task which when not done with complete accuracy leads to unmanaged and errorful operations. 

Any errors in inventory not only results in loss of working capital but also impacts sales volume as inventory listed on marketplaces is the key factor in determining sales for all online sellers. Thus, an automated system above a manual one to manage inventory accurately can go a long way in managing complex warehouse operations.

Read: How Dhani Services Ltd., a leading Consumer Services, has streamlined operations across 166 facilities while ensuring a 99.99%+ fulfillment rate

3. Will you be able to manage all the sections of your warehouse?

Most sellers end up doing an ad hoc management of their warehouse, causing inventory errors, stock-outs, etc. which lead up to a lot of mismanagement. It is imperative that the WMS you choose allows you to define zones, bins, locations, etc. so that your warehouse can be neatly organized. 

Your WMS solution should allow you to define zones based on product categories, product velocity (i.e. how fast or slow a particular product is selling) or any other such criteria which are important to your business.

Most leading WMS solutions still do not have a very comprehensive implementation of this requirement, but some new-age solutions like Unicommerce provide the flexibility to manage the warehouse in a very systematic manner with cycle count enabled and RFID barcode scanning to handle returns as well as maintain the serial numbers.

4. Is it compatible with various third-party hardware devices?

With increasing volumes by the minute, it becomes impossible to operate a warehouse manually. Seeing the need,  sellers have begun to invest in deploying Bluetooth-based handheld devices to automate key warehouse processes.

These handheld devices are not very expensive and can be procured anywhere in the range of Rs. 5-10k, adding a lot of value in terms of improving productivity, reducing errors and are able to recover the cost of investment in less than 6 months if used with a proper system. 

5. Does it help to optimize the picking process?

Using manual or traditional systems typically leads to a lot of inefficiencies in the picking process. Eventually, the picking staff ends up wasting time trying to locate the right product.

If they end up picking the wrong product, it only adds to the delay as they are then required to put the product back and fetch the right one for dispatch. All of this leads up to monetary losses. 

And so, it is important that the WMS solution one uses has inbuilt features like picklists, FIFO based picking etc. to ensure that picking of goods happen in an efficient manner. 

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   Figure 1: Sample Picklist format In Unicommerce

6. How easily can you manage returns in the WMS?

For any online seller, returns are a big pain area, as it adds directly to the cost, and every seller continues to grapple with this issue. If returns are managed properly, the profitability of any seller can easily improve by 10-15%, thus it is important that the solution deployed by you is able to handle such a critical process seamlessly.

It is important that your WMS solution should be able to scan each item and identify the order against which the return is received. The solution should also be able to reconcile the returns for which the item itself is not received.

All these features are already supported in Unicommerce, making it a preferred tool for handling returns seamlessly without any hassles.

7. Does it have an access control feature?

With data theft and stock pilferage a day to day reality for most sellers, it is important that the solution you choose provides the ability to configure secure access to the system.

The solution should provide a definition of roles to the users and grant access to the users based on the roles assigned to them. The roles should also be flexible enough to map all the warehouse processes. For example, Unicommerce provides the flexibility to define up to 9 roles in its solution.

                                                               Different Roles for Different Users

8. Does it provide quality checks?

Due to the regular wear and tear in the warehouse, some stock may not always be in a sellable condition. For example, a stock may be damaged while lying in the warehouse, and the operator may discover the “bad” stock only at the time of the dispatch.

To avoid situations like this, it becomes important that the WMS you choose allows you the flexibility of doing quality testing at every key checkpoint (inbound, outbound, picking etc.).

9. Does it help in tracking shipments across multiple delivery partners?

Ecommerce sellers have to deal with various shipping providers (marketplace provided shipping, self-shipping etc.) and it’s quite troublesome to deal with multiple shipping partners.

Thus, it is important that the WMS you choose helps you track shipments across various delivery partners. In addition, the system should allow you the adaptability of defining the priority of shipping providers or build custom rules. For example, fragile items should go through courier X only, or high-value items should go through courier Y only. All this is currently supported in Unicommerce.

10. Does it provide comprehensive analytics to assess your operations?

Analytics is a powerful tool and the insights that you can draw from your WMS solution can be useful in making key business decisions related to growth, productivity, unit economics, etc. It is important that the WMS solution not only provides comprehensive data but also presents the data in an easily comprehensible manner.

Unicommerce currently supports 100+ marketplaces, carts, logistics providers, ERP & POS systems and is the first choice of over 10,000 brands, sellers and retailers to be their Warehouse Management Solutions provider.

Unicommerce allows multiple technologically advanced warehouse management solutions such as handheld, FIFO, batching, cycle count, etc., and continues to evolve its offering in this regard.

Effective warehouse management translates to having the right amount of the right product at the right location delivered just in time to satisfy customer needs at minimum cost and Unicommerce is capable of imparting that for your business.

So what are you waiting for? Register today with Unicommerce, the leading supply chain operations management to ease your daily eCommerce as well as a retail business!

Request a Demo Now!

The post Best Practices in Warehouse Management System appeared first on unicommerce.com.

Two is a company, three’s a crowd. Unfortunately, many online sellers apply this to the number of vendors that they work with. If you are not willing to add multiple vendors to your list, then you are committing a mistake. Maintaining a large and flexible vendor base is highly crucial, yet e-store owners shy away from it.

Studies suggest that many people prefer online shopping as they want to pick from a greater variety. This is a logical and strong ground over which you can out-do your traditional competitors. You’ll never find a retailer say,  – “I don’t offer more variety in my store as that’ll confuse my buyers.”

However, you’ll often come across retailers who are afraid to expand their vendor base. The major concern is managing a large number of vendors, the communication on a daily basis, monitoring the quality, etc.

A smart investment in sophisticated inventory management software can handle all these apparent hurdles in the way of expanding your vendor list. With the right inventory management system, you can spend your time focusing on customers. You won’t have to do the screening of vendors. Also, you won’t have to worry about working one on one with each of them. Half of your job can be delegated to the vendor management module of inventory management software.

Here are the top 8 reasons why you must consider expanding your vendor base –

1. Because It All Starts With Traffic –

Traffic is the lifeblood of an eCommerce store. If you don’t have traffic, you may as well shut down your store. Adding more vendors to your list equals adding more variety to your store. More variety means more keywords to rank for. And naturally, traffic will follow.

A new and unique visitor rarely ever means profit for eCommerce. The first purchase by a new buyer just equates to ROI on your advertisement expense. It is the returning customer that generates profits for a store. But converting a visitor into a customer, and then further converting, a customer into a returning customer – begins with bringing him on your page. You’ll get more reasons to call out to people now as you have a greater product base. The point being once you acquire a customer, direct your efforts in retaining him.

With more vendors, you’ll get more visitors than any of your competitors. You’ll be surprised to see visitors flowing in for products that you were completely ignored due to your fears of managing extensive vendor lists.

2. Large Variety, Greater Payouts –

You can secure great commissions if you have a huge variety of products sourced from a wider range of vendors. Many times you have to offer discounts on a few items and to compensate for the loss incurred you mark up the prices of some other items. When you have a large number of items in the catalog you get a  wide price range in the catalog. It gets easier to spread the margins across a different range of products effectively. So along with offering discounts to customers, you can ensure you don’t lose money.

3. Beat Your Competition With Variety –

Nothing ever works better than this. Show people how you have access to the most exclusive and exhaustive stock and they’ll remember you. Variety is the spice of an online store. Overwhelm your visitors with your range of products. This is only possible through a huge vendor base.

While online shoppers are smart enough to know how and where to get the best deal, they’ll surely stop by you first. Because they would know about your extensive product base.

4. Eliminate the Concern of Stock Availability –

Your aim is to sell as much as possible. If you have multiple vendors on board, then the availability of products is never really a problem. With so many hands at work, you won’t ever have to embarrass yourself with the “Oops! Out of stock”  message

You get your chance to sell when a potential buyer lands on your page and browses through your inventory. Once the buyer has made up the mind to buy, you can’t tell them the product is out of stock. After all, he/she just pulled out his/her credit card to buy that product. Do you really want to miss out on that opportunity?

This is highly detrimental to your business. A complete loss. If you get ‘out-of-stock’ often, you are compromising on sales due to factors that are easily avoidable. The only consolation will be the fact that at least your marketing tactics are working and people are visiting your page to buy things.

‘If you add more vendors, you can drop down the ship to order ratio as your vendor-base would no longer be restricted. You could procure the items easily.’

Also, putting in place an inventory management system can help you identify when to re-order so as you never understocked or overstocked.

5. Capitalize on Sales Seasons –

Just like traditional retailers, online retailers too have to be ready for certain times of the year. If you maintain a decent inventory, then you’ll know how certain periods in a year can generate meaty sales.

Like this month, 4th July was the flavor at all online stores. For Non-Americans, 4th July is the US Independence day. Look at Twitter, Facebook, Google+ pages for any online store. Watch the insane amount of hash-tags. See how stores are vying for traffic on social media for this special occasion.

Do you think that this kind of marketing strategy is possible without a strong vendor base? Would this ever work if the required stock is not guaranteed to be available?

You can’t make such arrangements without prior planning. Your limited vendor base will only disappoint you when it comes to exploiting the season sales.

Onboard multiple vendors if you wish to cash in on such occasions. Your vendors will take the collective responsibility to ensure that the products are available and ready to ship.

If your marketing team is working closely with the procurement team you’ll naturally foresee the need for a bigger vendor base.

6. Deliver Soon to Sell more –

People are more inclined to buy if they see that a product will be shipped quickly.

What’s more annoying? Seeing a “NOT AVAILABLE” in your region, message for a product that you want to buy OR getting it delivered in like 5 complete days? It’s perfectly understood if you can’t take your pick. Both situations are bad. And avoidable. Your eCommerce store doesn’t have to be in any of these compromising positions. With more vendors, you can cut back on dispatch time considerably.

Just a back of the envelope calculation will convince you how you can improve the ‘lead time’ dramatically if you expand the vendor base.

7. Not Just large but Flexible Vendor base

What will I do with a large vendor base if I cannot engage them?  Well… you don’t have to engage them on every day basis. You need to have temporary ‘Active’ and ‘Inactive’ vendors. This will not only keep your vendors on their toes competing against each other but also keep your catalog fresh.

In traditional trading, one can have a static arrangement with fixed vendors. But the nature of demand in eCommerce is so broad and volatile that such traditional model of vendors fails miserably. Having a large and flexible vendor base can help you do more sales in the long run. 

8. Get Stellar Ratings and Reviews –

Shoppers always check your reputation as a seller before hitting the final buy button. This is no news. People tend to take note of ratings and reviews. No wonder, they are so critical while making the buying decision.

A great way of reassuring a customer is to secure a high seller rating. And having more happy customers is the only way of securing better ratings.

They won’t be stingy with their reviews if you deliver a quality product on time. This is possible if you have access to a huge vendor base that’ll make products available on time.

What are you waiting for?

Remember, a limited vendor base means limited sales. Are you concerned about how will you manage a long list of vendors and a huge amount of inventory? Worry not Unicommerce’s inventory management solutions come handy in managing multiple vendors and inventory on a large scale effectively. Don’t wait. Book an appointment with an inventory management solution expert today.

The post Warning To Ecommerce Sellers – This One Mistake Is Costing You Sales appeared first on unicommerce.com.