What Is Logistics And Ways It Can Help Ecommerce

1. What Is Logistics And Ways It Can Help Ecommerce? Research shows that on average, an online retailer spends between 20–40% of their turnover on logistics. This includes costs for storage, order picking, packing, shipping, and returns. What only increases the costs is the fact that you cannot recover them from the consumer. Today’s demanding (read: spoiled) customer has no intention of paying shipping or return costs. And these customers have plenty of opportunities to search for an alternative online. Logistics services is simply the management of the way resources are obtained, stored, and shipped to their end destinations. The planning, execution, and control of the movement and placement of these goods and services must all occur within a given system that’s designed to achieve specific objectives, which may vary by industry. E-commerce logistics is one of the most critical parts of an online store, but costs continue to rise every year. Increased online sales push up demand and limit available freight capacity, with increasing regulations, wages, and employee shortages driving prices upwards as well. As online retail has grown, especially in industries such as fashion or electronics, where goods are shipped to customers through postal or freight networks, there has been a need for four major functions from logistics: 1.Mega E-Fulfillment Centers: The merchandise to be sold is stocked in these centers. These centers may either be maintained by the e-commerce retailer themselves or by the third- party logistics service provider. These facilities can be as large as or larger than one million square feet in size and usually operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 2.Parcel Hubs: Parcel hubs or sortation centers are points where the outgoing parcels are divided based on destinations so that they can be sent to the parcel delivery centers. 3.Parcel Delivery Centers: The parcel delivery center is the last stage before the package reaches the customer. The sorted parcels arrive at these centers and are then sent out to the customer.

2. 4.Integrated Technology: To allow faultless delivery of the right items to each customer, there needs to be technology that seamlessly integrates all aspects of the e-commerce operation. Predominately, the shopping cart needs to be connected to the transport system to ensure that shipping costs and time frames communicated to the customer are accurate and updated. Whenever an online seller plans a logistics process, there are some key points to keep in mind. These apply to both larger sellers and smaller ones and can help either type of seller achieve logistics success. •Flexibility: It is important to keep the logistics process simple and flexible. This flexibility will allow expansion in workstations and temporary employees during times of increased work such as the holiday season. •Order Auditing: The key element of a logistics process is ensuring that the right customer receives the right order in the time specified. Customer satisfaction will take a serious hit if the customer opens their package to find the wrong items. An audit process can help ensure that order accuracy is maintained throughout the logistics chain. An automated system in this area can be a great way to ensure that this happens. •Proper Packaging: An important aspect of the logistics of e-commerce is the packaging. Not only does the packaging need to protect the items inside and make a great first impression, but it also needs to be cost-effective for the company to ship. •Accurate Inventory Management: There are periods of high sales and ones of low sales. In either case, there needs to be an accurate measure of inventory in stock and this needs to be maintained to ensure that all orders can be fulfilled at the right time.