Homeware and Accessories Fulfilment – Only 18% of UK businesses are currently satisfied with their third-party logistics suppliers.
A lot goes into running a business, and it’s important to work with other organisations that you can rely on. As your business expands, you’ll notice certain challenges presenting themselves, and it’s important to know how to face them.
With Homeware and Accessories Fulfilment you need things like inventory management, order processing, and transport will become more difficult. If you’re not prepared, you could end up struggling to deal with some major issues that could hurt your company.
In this guide, we’ll go over some of the key challenges that face Homeware and Accessories Fulfilment and how you can overcome them. Keep reading for more.
Keeping Track of Orders
As your business grows, you’ll start getting a lot more orders. Keeping track of everything can quickly become more complicated, causing order fulfilment problems. If you have multiple platforms, it can also be very time-consuming for your employees to navigate all of them properly.
A third-party logistics company can take over this responsibility, relieving your team. They use advanced software that can track all orders with ease. Your homeware brand order fulfilment will be efficient and streamlined, and your employees will have more time to focus on other tasks.
Managing Stock Availability
Another thing that will likely happen with growth is that you’ll increase stock levels as well as the range of homeware products you sell. Manually tracking stock is only viable for very small companies with homeware and accessories fulfilment, but it’s typically inefficient and can lead to a lot of errors.
Logistics companies can deal with all your stock management. This will ensure you always have the inventory that you need, and orders will be placed when stock levels get low. They’ll also manage these levels efficiently so that you don’t end up with stock levels that are too high.
Pick Accuracy and Stock Location
Warehouses are fast-paced environments, and you’ll likely want to implement cut-off times for orders. It’s important to keep to a schedule and make sure tasks are completed when they need to be. If there are any delays, it can have a knock-on effect and slow your whole business down with homeware and accessories fulfilment.
One of the best ways to keep things running smoothly is to have all stock stored efficiently and logically. Logistics service providers (LSPs) can handle all warehousing and have the knowledge and expertise to do this in the most efficient way possible. This will help you avoid shipping delays so that your customers get their orders on time.
Choosing Cost-Effective Couriers
Customer service is one of the most important elements that all businesses need to focus on. If your customers aren’t happy, they’ll move on to your competitors.
LSPs sometimes take care of deliveries themselves, or they may outsource to another company. Either way, they can offer a range of delivery options to give your customers exactly what they want.
Same-day delivery can keep transit time to a minimum, so your customers will be happy. They can also opt for a slower delivery option at a reduced rate if they prefer.
International Shipping
Some third-party logistics companies offer international shipping, and since Brexit, this has become more of a challenge. Being able to ship internationally will give you a much wider reach, so it’s ideal.
AP+ offers international shipping to anywhere in the world. We can provide container shipping so you can transport bulk orders and your goods will arrive at their destination in perfect condition.
Stock Receiving and Stock Checks
Checking stock is a time-consuming process. This is as true for a homeware and accessories fulfilment service as it is for any other business. Being able to streamline this process can get things moving along much faster and save a lot of time.
At AP+, we use modern technology to make stock checks much more efficient. This means you can stay on top of your stock levels at all times and deal with any discrepancies quickly.
It’s also worth noting that manual stock checks can be inaccurate, and the more stock there is, the more mistakes there are likely to be. We’ll ensure things are done accurately so that there isn’t any confusion.
Managing Multiple Warehouse Sites
Having warehouses in multiple sites can be beneficial but can also create more work. Without a suitable order management system (OMS), you’ll have to log into a different warehouse management system (WMS) at each location built for homeware and accessories fulfilment.
AP+ can take care of all of your warehousing needs. Working with us will completely eliminate this issue, so you won’t have to worry about it at all. We can offer floor space, pallet storage, and even temperature-controlled storage, depending on your needs.
Batch Creation and Picking
Your business may reach a point where you’re dealing with a huge amount of orders each day. Picking these can become complicated, requiring more manpower. Batch creation can help make picking far more efficient, resulting in better productivity.
This means we can group orders together depending on the products and quantities involved. We can implement this into our homeware and accessories fulfilment process to ensure we get all of your orders completed on time, no matter how complex.
Making the order fulfilment process more efficient is always beneficial as it saves on both time and expenses. As your business grows, we can scale your services so that you’re always able to meet demand.
Improving Order Processing for Your Business
For a new business that’s growing slowly, improving order processing may not be too challenging. There will come a point, however, where it becomes difficult to keep up, and working with an LSP can be the best solution for homeware and accessories fulfilment.
At AP+, we can handle a range of logistical operations such as warehousing, picking and packing, transportation, and more. Contact us today and we can discuss your business needs to work out the best solution for your homeware and accessories fulfilment.
