Top 4 eCommerce Logistics Tips for Your Startup

When it comes to the ecommerce startup tips, most people focus on the issues regarding the e-store, blog and digital marketing in general, that they completely forget to do an in-depth analysis of the important logistical issues. Do you know what to look for in your manufacturer? Have you thought about delivery times? What are the limitations of your current logistics? In this line of work, however, the way in which you handle your warehouse management and delivery options can sometimes make all the difference between success and failure. This being said, here are a few tips that can help you in efforts to improve the infrastructure of your ecommerce business and make it run like a well-oiled machinery.

1. Include different delivery options

The importance of same- or next-day delivery is often disputed when compared to the option of free delivery. However, these two issues don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Sure, 74 percent would rather have a free rather than a next-day delivery but there is no reason for you not to have both. In an ideal scenario, we would talk about a free next-day delivery but, seeing how this isn’t very likely, you could simply offer these conditions to your audience to choose from. In this way, you can appeal both to these 74 percent and those 26 percent that remain at the same time. When you come to think about it, 26 percent is more than a quarter of your entire audience which is all but negligible.

2. Check out your warehouse options

Another thing you need to think about are your warehouse options. Even though handling this in-house may be your preferred method it is unlikely you could afford to purchase or a construct a warehouse as an aspiring startup. Furthermore, the construction itself is hardly the biggest problem surrounding this idea. A 21st-century warehouse requires a sophisticated software, well-trained crew, while some of the biggest names in the industry even go as far as using warehouse robots. Because of this, it might be a better idea to simply outsource this function and look for your local warehouse storage in Sydney options.

3. Include GPS tracking

One of the more revolutionary, yet simplest ideas to pull off is including GPS tracking system into your delivery. First of all, this helps you find the optimal routes for your deliveries, which can make these runs even safer and more cost-efficient. Aside from this, you can also provide tracking information to your customers. In this way, you can add a valuable feature to your already impressive list of services and completely eliminate their need to send you emails inquiring about the whereabouts of the product they just ordered. One last thing, this kind of transparency has also been known to increase the trust level between you and your clients.

4. Drop shipping

Finally, in order to simplify your logistics process, even more, you always have the option of turning towards drop shipping. In this way, you become a middleman between the manufacturer or other supplier and the customer, therefore completely eliminating the need to have a complex infrastructure, to begin with. The downsides of this method are the fact that it becomes quite easy for others to bypass you and the fact that your profits are going to be quite modest. On the other hand, your operational costs are also drastically reduced, which means that you will work with a significantly smaller risk.

Conclusion

As you can see, your options are numerous and it is up to you to pick ones you believe will fit your particular business niche the best. You see, sometimes the nature of the products you are peddling might require specific storing conditions. In another scenario arranging a reliable drop shipping chain might not be possible. Be as it may, in ecommerce business, there is no efficient one-size-fit-all solution and flexibility is the key to survival.

 

Share:
[ssba]