Ecommerce is a fast-expanding field. As online purchasing becomes prominent, more e-stores emerge daily, with entrepreneurs selling products and services from distinct niches. This is a fantastic chance for people who have been thinking about starting their own internet business. But, unfortunately, there has been a lack of actionable opportunities.
The technology is accessible to us, the market place is available too, and the internet is full of articles explaining how to accomplish it (a bit like this one). Establishing up an internet store is simple when you have determined what you will be offering and how you will be selling it. All that remains is handling the daily operations.
In this article, we will discuss five tips for processing and managing orders online.
Good Tips For Managing And Processing Orders Online
Below are the five tips that will assist you to enhance the effectiveness of your online business:
1. Check The Availability Of Inventory
Once you get the order, you must determine whether or not you have all the goods available. You may accomplish this by personally inspecting your storage shelves. However, a little more efficient method is to maintain a worksheet with inventory figures regularly.
Then, when you get an order, checking the spread sheet will inform you whether the product is available or not. Moreover, if you notice that the merchandise is not available, you have several other choices. First, check with your provider to see whether they can rapidly restock the supply.
Second, you can speak with the consumer to verify if they feel fine with the goods being somewhat delayed. A thoughtfully crafted email may provide favorable outcomes. For example, you may portray that your merchandise was so desirable that it sold out too soon and that you expect it to restock shortly.
Keep in mind that if you are forced to abandon an order before informing the customer, they might never buy from you further.
In such circumstances where you can have noway of interacting with them (which should be highly unusual nowadays), you can:
- Send a gift code as a sign of apology
- Give them a full refund
- A personalized apology email
Doing these things can encourage a repetitive purchase. However, to prevent this from happening, we propose adopting a reliable product management solution. This includes interfaces with digital portals to synchronize stock availability.
2. Making A Check List
After you are sure about the product's availability to sell, you may process every order individually. For example, you can make numerous trips to the storage shelves for a similar item; else, you can make a list and choose all the goods at once, sorting them later.
Set a Schedule
There are two ways of sending your orders to consumers:
- If the orders are made before midday, you can process them around 3 PM
- The orders made after twelve can be sent at 6 or 7 PM
Moreover, these are merely hypothetical figures— the idea is to utilize two picking periods that coincide with your company's rush selling season. Your list should include the total number of products of the same kind that must be selected, as well as the invoice number to which they relate. Rather than making several journeys, the warehouse worker can now retrieve all three pushovers and two at the file cabinets simultaneously.
3. Arrange And Pack Orders
And now, you can begin selecting objects depending on the number of orders to which they belong.
Orders are commonly sorted using packing slips— a sheet that describes all of the products in a small transaction. You will then arrange cardboard boxes, including one packaging slip per container.
Begin choosing things from the cart that came along with the dropdown list depending on the shipping document, and place them in the appropriate boxes. This helps you avoid packaging and shipping the wrong product. Physically, the goods are now set for delivery and packaging.
4. Invoicing & Packaging
The orders that have been separated into their appropriate boxes must now be placed in physical delivery boxes. And this is when you choose a delivery partner.
Remember, companies like FedEx offer pre-ordered boxes to eliminate the inconvenience of adhering to their size and dimensions.
Based on the things you will be sending, plastic wrap or sheets of waterproof cover are required. In addition, it is advisable to get shipping insurance for high-priced products to avoid damages.
After you have selected your package, put the ordered products in it. However, there is no need to print a bill in the U.S. and add it to the delivery. Whereas, when you send internationally, some countries may need you to print and attach bills. Without it, the regional customs department might add an unnecessary fee to the delivery cost.
Look out for the most acceptable practice for your region of operation and obey that consistently. Once every product (and if the invoice is required) is added to the delivery package. Then, seal it carefully!
Moreover, invoices must describe every product inside a package and be separated if orders are divided into different shipments. You may generate packing slips from your delivery partner's site, which you must then attach to the parcel. Now, your order has been complete and ready for shipment.
5. Shipping, Tracking & Returns
Typically, the mailing partner will pick up the products from your storage facility or shop after you have purchased the tag online or inform them that the delivery is ready. Alternatively, suppose you already have an entirely different set of arrangements with your carrier. In that case, you may hand off the cargo at a place specified by your shipment partner. You will be given reference no. by the carriers for each shipment after obtaining your products.This ID can be used to trace the shipment till it is shipped.
Other Things To Consider
If you want to make your customers feel happier, you can do the following things:
Utilize A Live Chat or Helpdesk Function
As the owner of an online business, you do not want your customers to leave dissatisfied. Therefore, you should always provide appropriate customer support.
Fortunately, there are several ways to communicate with your consumers, especially to solve their queries.
You can provide customer support through calls and emails or use various purpose-built software to connect with them.
Adding a live chat option to your e-store is one of the best ways to provide adequate customer support. Moreover, this is an affordable, accessible, and the best way to create loyalty and build customers' trust.
Take Advantage Of Social Media To The Fullest
Customers nowadays want more from their favorite brands. They want companies to reach out to them, deliver exceptional products, and offer a simple online buying experience. Personalized customer service used to be a hallmark of high-end restaurants. However, it is now considered an effective marketing channel that should be embraced by businesses worldwide.
Even if you do not intend to use every social media platform to market your company and its products, maintaining a presence is worthwhile. This prevents other people from leeching on your company on platforms you have overlooked. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are the finest sites to utilize daily.
And the latter two are especially useful for portraying your business in a certain way. Once you have established these accounts, be sure to add 'follow' and 'share' buttons on your brand's web pages so people can quickly spread the news.
Social media is an excellent way to publish updates, special offers, news, and BTS pieces and encourage client participation. The secret to success is to be sociable - hence the term.
Get Personal
There is one thing that social media accomplishes is to make users' experiences more personalized. This is a critical component of selling the products online. People would always love to believe they are purchasing from someone who knows what they are doing and cares about their clients rather than a generic chain business.
When improving your marketing tactics, personalizing your consumer experience will pay off big time. Adding personal touches isa fantastic way to show your consumers you care.
These can include:
- Relevant adverts
- Discounts derived from previous browsing activity
- Appreciative emails
- Gift cards included in delivery
- Social media shout-outs
Wrap Up
Order processing can seem like a tedious task, and each part of the process must be mistake-free to maintain a seamless workflow. However, if you plan accordingly and tackle it systemically, you'll be fine! Remember, a solid order and inventory management system can aid in the automation of order processing.
Firstly, since an intelligent order processing system is connected with your retail channels; hence, it constantly tracks inventories.
Secondly, it can assist you in integrating with delivery partners and comparing pricing for individual shipments.
Thirdly, it keeps track of each item till it is shipped, refunded, or replaced, ensuring that your supply is always up to date.
Lastly, because all bills are aggregated within the management solution, accounting is simplified.
