When retailers implement omnichannel initiatives like Ship from Store, they use their physical stores for Order Fulfillment:
- Unify inventory from both the store and the warehouse to fill online orders
- Offer fast delivery to customers
- Cut shipping expenses by shipping from the nearest store
To effectively implement a Ship From Store initiative, top-level management–the CEO, VP of Retail, and VP of Supply Chain–must collaborate with mid-level management and ground-level staff, such as store managers and associates. Top-level management must first agree on the inventory assortment plan, commission structuring for associates, Order Management Software, and a Ship From Store software to be used. Once high-level decisions are made and processes are defined, ground-level staff will have the right order fulfillment software for the store to make the Shopify Order Fulfillment successful.
Choosing the right order fulfillment software for stores is one of the most important jobs of top-level management teams. It is essential for store employees to be able to easily adapt to new changes for efficient and accurate Shopify Order Fulfillment.
In this blog, we will discuss the 5 critical capabilities management teams should look for when choosing order fulfillment software for their store locations.
1. Batch picking and packing
Online stores receive many expedited orders throughout the day that are then brokered to the optimum fulfillment locations. Orders that are being brokered to stores need to be shipped quickly. If a store gets a hundred orders a day and the stock associate picks one order at a time, Shopify Order Fulfillment becomes a tedious process.
Your order fulfillment software should enable batch picking of bulk orders at stores, which allows store managers to create a pick list for multiple orders. Orders in a pick list are clearly sorted and presented so store associates can pick all online orders from the storage area in one go, significantly reducing the average pick-up time.
Order fulfillment software must have the exact shelf location of each product in the store to create such a pick list. Once the picker picks all the order items, the software should allow them to create packages based on the order information.
2. Rate shopping and generating shipping labels
Once the order items are packed, the order fulfillment software should allow store associates to generate and print shipping labels for packaged orders from shipping carriers. The shipping carriers will provide these shipping labels based on the package size, weight, and delivery location. Shipping carriers, like FedEx, offer multiple shipping options to fit your delivery needs, such as standard delivery or next-day delivery. Customers may choose Next-Day delivery, but Standard delivery could also deliver next-day at a cheaper rate.
In this case, the order fulfillment software should generate a shipping label for standard delivery, thereby reducing shipping costs for the retailer.
3. Generate shipping labels in advance
Once order items are packed, stock associates generate the shipping labels. However, generating shipping labels for each package can be time-consuming. For example, if generating a shipping label for each package takes 30 seconds, the time required for 100 orders will be close to an hour. (30 Seconds x 100 = 3000 seconds i.e. 50 mins).
Your order fulfillment software should allow you to automatically generate the shipping labels for each order as soon as the picklist is created. The software will assume that each order will have just one shipped package and will generate a single shipping label for each order. When all ordered items are picked, a pre-generated and printed shipping label will be ready to stick to the packaged order during shipment prep.
Some orders may have two packages. In that case, the pre-generated shipping label is of no use. An order fulfillment software should allow the associates to void the pre-generated label and regenerate new shipping labels for the two packages for effective Shopify order fulfillment.
By allowing store managers to choose to generate shipping labels in advance, associates are able to save time when preparing packages for shipment.
4. Rejecting orders and logging inventory variance
Stores may not be able to fulfill online orders due to a number of reasons:
- Damaged inventory
- Missing or Lost inventory
- Staff shortages
When stores are unable to fulfill orders for Shopify, orders must be rejected. Orders that are rejected without the inventory variance being reported could result in orders continuing to be routed to that store fulfillment location, leading to even more rejected orders.
Order fulfillment software should enable store associates to reject orders and log any unexpected inventory variance identified in-store. Reporting inventory variance allows the Order Management System to adjust inventory counts, ensuring that the store does not receive additional online orders for the out-of-stock product.
5. Report on daily shipped orders with tracking numbers
Stores ship multiple online orders a day. Retailers want the ability to track their store's shipped orders to assess a store's shipping performance.
Each shipment that is dispatched on a given day has a distinct tracking ID. The 3PL provides this tracking ID, allowing retailers to track store-fulfilled online orders.
Therefore, an order fulfillment software for stores should provide the following reports:
1. Shipment Performance Report: provides the number of daily shipped orders for each store, giving an overview of the store’s daily performance.
2. Shipment Tracking Report: provides daily shipment details for each order. This report allows retailers to quickly resolve order tracking-related issues with easy access to order details, such as the order's tracking ID and shipping information.
Making the lives of store associates easier is a constant goal for omnichannel retailers. The easy-to-use software motivates and allows store associates to adjust to omnichannel technology quickly. Retailers need software that is both feature-rich and user-friendly.
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The HotWax Commerce Omnichannel Order Management System empowers stock associates to complete Ship From Store orders with ease. With the key capabilities above, HotWax Commerce Omnichannel Order Management System has streamlined the shipping process by reducing time spent batch picking, generating shipping labels, and reporting inventory variances. These features aid retailers in putting omnichannel strategy into action.
Talk to our team today to learn more about how HotWax Commerce Omnichannel Order Management System’s Ship From Store software improves your Shopify Order Fulfillment.
