What is an Omnichannel Fulfilment Strategy?
Consumers enjoy the convenience of eCommerce shopping, so online retailers are always on the look out to make it ever more user-friendly. With tech now fully integrated into our daily lives, omnichannel fulfilment creates the opportunity for seamless online shopping across phones, desktops, watches, and tablets; it’s eCommerce when, where, and exactly how you want it.
Omnichannel shopping serves the customer, and at the same time it enables brands to grow, so long as they have the infrastructure to provide flawless fulfilment. In this article Prolog considers the omnichannel fulfilment strategy required to exceed your customers’ expectations.
Table of Contents
1. What is omnichannel fulfilment?
2. The benefits of omnichannel
3. The challenges of omnichannel fulfilment
4. Strategies for omnichannel fulfilment
1. What is Omnichannel Fulfilment?
An omnichannel strategy invites online consumers to engage in the way that is most convenient for them. So, shoppers can access your products, promotions and customer service via any device, channel, or platform. If a customer wants more info on a product, for example, they can access customer service on their phone, messaging, or email – whichever suits them best.
2. The Benefits of Omnichannel
There are 4 clear benefits to streamlining shopping for shoppers:
- Your Customers Get Great Service. This is always the priority, and omnichannel retail delivers. The more seamless the service, the less likelihood that your customers will go elsewhere. And once they’ve experienced how easy it is to shop with you, they’re likely to stick with the service you deliver.
- You’re Easier Than Ever to Find. eCommerce brands extend their reach by being available on any device, or platform. Shoppers no longer have to be in a certain place to shop, nor do they have to search for answers to queries. Your brand is omnipresent for a simple shopping experience.
- It’s Easier for Customers to Buy. Renewing subscriptions or buying a product can happen on the train, at work, whilst having a coffee or visiting friends. This turns shopping into an integrated experience which happens organically, as a part of our daily routines.
- You Engage Your Customers. Once they’ve made a purchase, customers appreciate being given regular updates on the progress of their purchase. This service not only fulfils an expectation, it also keeps the conversation bubbling between you and the customer, so your brand becomes a welcome presence on their device/s.
3. The Challenges of Omnichannel Fulfilment for eCommerce
Recent research carried out in the US and UK by Avalara found that “68% of retailers agree that getting their omnichannel strategy right is essential for a successful holiday season.” The major challenges that online retailers find is that they have difficulty maintaining visibility of their inventory across the different channels. Retailers who try to focus on each of their channels independently discover that this can lead to a break down in the supply chain. Maintaining speed of delivery is an ongoing headache and managing returns efficiently across a range of channels can be unwieldy and slow.
4. Strategies for Omnichannel Fulfilment
There’s not a single solution for successful omnichannel fulfilment. It all depends on the size of your business and the nature of your brand. So here are the ways that we’ve seen omnichannel fulfilment work successfully:
- For Small eCommerce Businesses – Keep It In-House. If you’re a new business, you’ll most probably find it more profitable to manage the channels you sell through, and store and ship products yourself. As you grow, you’ll benefit from contracting your fulfilment out to a 3pl partner that could help your business to scale (and manage your omnichannel strategy).
- For SME’s and Larger Brands – Partner With a 3pl. 3pls, or third-party logistics providers have the infrastructure and experience to manage every aspect your omnichannel fulfilment for you. Not only will a fulfilment partner like Prolog integrate your channels and platforms seamlessly into their WMS, they’ll facilitate expansion into new sales channels by managing the process via one dashboard.
Are You Looking for 3pl Partner?
If you feel the time has come to hand over your omnichannel fulfilment to a trusted 3pl partner, we would love to talk to you. Prolog has an established fulfilment centre, located in the heart of the UK, with flexible warehousing and a trained, highly motivated workforce.
We’ll walk you through our fulfilment centre, introduce you to our 3pl team, and listen to what it is you need from your 3pl partner. If you feel that we could be the right fit for your business, we can proceed at your pace to work with you in facilitating the switch seamlessly.
