What is Order Fulfillment?
The fulfillment service is defined as the process from when the goods are entered into the warehouse until received by the buyer. The fulfillment process consists of multiple logistics procedures from importing, warehousing to order processing, packaging, and shipping.
The e-commerce revolution has spurred the development of related services such as e-commerce platforms, shipping, e-payments, and logistics. When customer demand is increasing, fulfillment service needs to improve significantly in terms of speed and quality to meet that demand. Businesses can choose to build their own fulfillment systems or outsource logistics companies.
Automated fulfillment – logistics chain automation
The stages in the fulfillment process are: importing, warehousing, order processing, packing, and shipping, all requiring high precision. If you insist on using workers to handle orders, errors are inevitable with large quantities. Therefore, to ensure service quality, many businesses are finding ways to automate the logistics chain, also known as automated fulfillment.
Managing and processing orders on multiple sales channels are no longer complicated with integrated multi-channel platforms. A normal worker can handle 60 to 80 orders in an hour, while the number is 300 for automated systems. Automating the fulfillment process eliminates manual errors as well as improves efficiency and speed of warehouse operations.
A worldwide trend
Let’s take a look at some of the most famous fulfillment providers around the world:
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
As one of the pioneers in fulfillment service in the world, FBA is currently chosen by more than 70% of sellers on Amazon – the largest e-commerce portal in the West.
With the option to store the product at Amazon fulfillment centers, sellers can let Amazon perform order handling, packaging, and shipping on their behalf, whenever an order is placed at a reasonable fee. In addition, Amazon also provides additional services like warehousing, customer support, and refund handling.
Besides selling on Amazon, the company’s fulfillment service has also expanded to other sales channels for businesses such as websites and physical stores with the Multi-channel Fulfillment service.
Amazon’s extensive network makes it easy for merchants to sell around the world, manage orders, personalize products, and deliver to end consumers. In 2019, More than 6,600 of Amazon’s 10,000 top sellers use FBA service.
FedEx Fulfillment
FedEx is one of the leading supply chains in the United States. In early 2017, FedEx launched FedEx Fulfillment service, a top solution for small and medium E-commerce enterprises. Businesses can focus on development and delegate day-to-day operations from warehouse management, order handling, and shipping to FedEx.
The FedEx platform can be integrated with popular e-commerce platforms in the US such as Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart. Orders will be centralized on the FedEx management platform so that sellers can easily manage orders and inventories. In addition, FedEx also offers accounting and business applications such as QuickBooks, Square, and Xero.
Applying automated fulfillment in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is an emerging e-commerce market, with the potential to reach a total value of 25 billion dollars by 2020 (Google & Temasek). There is no better time for businesses to invest and expand their e-commerce business to this region.
It takes a lot of time and effort to build a complete and flexible in-house logistics system that meets business demand at all times. Therefore, outsourcing fulfillment service is the best solution to quickly and easily start your online business campaign without having to establish a local presence.
Connected with leading Southeast Asian sales channels such as Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, Shopify, and more than 50 shipping couriers, Omisell provides the most complete omnichannel sales management and e-commerce order fulfillment solution. Despite having to take care of each logistics stage, sellers only have to pay a fulfillment cost per order. Experience Omisell for free right here!
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