Discover Why Understanding Your E-commerce Site's Supply Chain is Crucial to Success
Running an e-commerce business is a balancing act. The more popular your products become, the more stressful it can be to keep up with demand. But that stress is only part of it—you also have to manage logistics and navigate a complex supply chain, all while maintaining reasonable costs.
It's also crucial to think about your suppliers. How have their operations changed during the pandemic? Have their priorities shifted in any way? Are there any new regulations that might affect how you work together? This is also an excellent time to consider whether or not now is the right moment to expand your network.
Further, it's important to keep track of changes made by competitors in order to retain your edge.
Here are a few ways to manage supply chain issues in e-commerce effectively:
1. Know what you need: If you're going to improve your supply chain management, you need a good understanding of where things are coming from and how they get to your customers.
2. Use the right tools: You can't do everything on paper anymore, especially when it comes to managing inventory and logistics. Invest in tools that help you effectively manage your supply chain.
3. Keep up with new technology: The world changes quickly—especially in e-commerce. Don't get left behind by being stuck in the old ways of doing things when it comes to your supply chain and logistics practices.
In addition, use these tips as a guideline:
1. Have a scalable infrastructure: You need to be able to adapt to the needs of your business at any given time. If you can't grow with your company, then your supply chain won't be able to scale up when you need it.
2. Understand the market: Note there are different methods of delivery, from freight shipping to fulfillment centers, that can help you manage your customers' expectations better.
3. Quantify your e-commerce needs: Track your order volume and frequency so that you can make the right decisions about how many warehouses or third-party logistics companies you'll need.
4. Be organized: Follow a systematic process for managing orders, inventory, and customer data.
5. Don't compromise on quality: Keep an eye on the quality of products and services as they move through your supply chain.
6. Satisfy your customers: Make sure they're happy with their purchase and everything went smoothly from start to finish!
Improve e-commerce scalability
Scalability is the name of the game when it comes to managing potential supply chain issues with your e-commerce business.
Why? Because if you can't scale, you can't grow.
Here's a secret: Scalability is not just about the size of your business, it's also about how you organize that business. The more efficient your processes are, the more money you stand to make on each transaction with customers and clients.
So if you're looking for a simple approach to increase your bottom line and ensure that your customer base continues to grow exponentially, get serious about using the right tools that offer the following:
Real-time shipping information: Customers want to know where their package is, what day it was shipped, estimated delivery date. Make sure your platform offers an easy way to let them know.
Shippo
ShipStation
AfterShip
Trackr
Abandoned cart emailing: If a customer leaves your site when they have items in their cart, you should have something ready to automatically send them an email with an incentive to come back and complete their purchase. Learn more about amping up your email strategy here.
Stock alerts: When stock gets low on a product or runs out entirely, your chosen solution should notify you right away so that you can take care of the issue and keep customers in the loop as well.
Skubana
TradeGecko
Stocky
Final thought
I hope these supply chain tips helped! I know that you, like me, are always on the lookout for ways to improve your e-commerce distribution model. Did any of these tips resonate with your experience? Let me know in the comments below!