Captech Logistics is a 3PL warehouse in New York. One of its most valuable service offerings is ecommerce order fulfillment. But what is ecommerce order fulfillment exactly?
The Evolution of ECommerce
Prior to the internet there were limited sales channels. If you wanted to purchase a product you went to a physical store (often called brick and mortar) and had to select an item from that store’s inventory.
As the internet evolved there became a new way consumers could purchase products, through online stores. As consumers realized the convenience of e-commerce, the number of online shoppers began to grow.
A Changing Retail Landscape
Retail companies varied in their response to the new ecommerce trend. Some welcomed this new sales channel and added shopping cart capabilities to their websites. Others were slower to adapt to the changing retail landscape. For some, like Toys R Us, this inability to adapt contributed to severe consequences for the company1.
The Internet Lowers the Barriers to Entrepreneurship
A few decades ago if you wanted to open a store you had to find a location, pay monthly rent, purchase inventory, hire employees and more. With these initial startup and ongoing overhead costs, risks were high.
With the advances of the internet and ecommerce tools, a budding entrepreneur can now open an internet shop at a fraction of the cost of a brick and mortar store. The internet has significantly reduced the risk and financial barriers entrepreneurs used to face decades ago. Mom and Pop can now open the shop they’d always dreamed of, right from the comfort of their own home.
Outsourcing Fulfillment Services
As these new internet retailers grow many find the process of storing, picking and packing orders overwhelming. Order fulfillment and inventory management can then become a barrier to growth. That’s where ecommerce order fulfillment comes in.
When Mom and Pop’s online store starts doing well they can find themselves running out of room to store their inventory. In addition, processing orders takes up a lot of their time, preventing them from performing necessary business tasks and/or enjoying the success of their home-grown business. When this happens they have a few options.
- One option is to lease warehouse space and hire employees to pick and pack their orders. This can become costly very quickly and may completely erase any profits they were enjoying.
- Another option is to outsource their order fulfillment. This is where Captech Logistics can help.
What is Ecommerce Order Fulfillment?
Captech provides ecommerce order fulfillment services to internet retailers that are looking for someone to handle their inventory and order processing. The solutions provided can be customized, based on the company’s individual needs. However, typical order fulfillment services operate as follows:
- Inventory is stocked at the Captech Logistics warehouse.
- Internet orders come in through the website shopping cart solution. The shopping cart solution communicates directly with Captech’s warehouse management software, alerting Captech to a new order.
- Captech warehouse employees pick and pack the appropriate items for the order and ship it the same day.
- Captech’s warehouse management software communicates back with the store’s shopping cart software in real time to alert the customer that the order has shipped.
- Inventory levels at the warehouse are continually monitored and orders placed to keep inventory at par levels.
With outsourcing order fulfillment the business no longer has to invest time and resources into everyday logistics and business owners have more time to focus on growing their business.
Captech Logistics Order Fulfillment 99% Accuracy
Captech works with several online retailers in different industries. With some retailers we’re shipping about 400 orders each day! We do all this while maintaining a high level of inventory accuracy and a 99% order accuracy. We take pride in helping our business partners succeed and would love the opportunity to work with you. If you think Captech could help your business, please contact us today.
References
- http://www.businessinsider.com/retailers-bankruptcy-filings2017-9