E-retailers have historically faced an uphill battle with the cost of shipping. One reason is because brick and mortar retailers have the edge. They can offer instant delivery of the products onsite, where customers can try before they buy, and where there are no shipping costs. But the cost of shipping is just one metric in the ecommerce fulfillment equation.
Aside from combating rising shipping prices, e-retailers also have to deal with fulfillment time, processing orders, updating customers, finding the best shipping rate, generating packing lists and invoices, sending packages out, updating customers and providing customer service. These are but a few tasks that are on the laundry list for ecommerce store owners during the present day.
No wonder there’s not much time left when the day is over to get anything else done. Since most online shopping carts require a boatload of manual tasks, it can be outright hair-pulling trying to get all your chores completed in a day so you can go home and be with your family.
In enters technology, the expansive solution provider that it is. Now e-retailers are saving a lot of their time and money by using an automated shipping system. But what benefits can such automation have in store for you? We’ll take a quick look to help you better understand.
Automating Data Import
Let’s say you’ve got several stores up and running. Managing the data between all of them can be a real time-waster. With instant data import, you can have all you orders in the automated shipping system quickly. Now you can sort them, edit them and process them for shipping more expediently.
Flagging Errors Instantly
Shipping errors will cost you time and money – and they are pretty frustrating, too. But with built-in features that scan and automatically flag orders, you can be breathing easier. All you will have to do is simply correct any highlighted order errors so your packages are shipped properly the first time around.
Updating Customers and Shopping Cart
Once you do process the orders, you would normally have to manually update the shopping cart and your customers with the order status and tracking numbers. But not anymore. Now you can press one button and let the automated shipping system send the updates to your customers and shopping cart or marketplace.
Faster, Simpler Shipping Labels and Invoices
What about labels and invoices? Instead of using a thermal printer for labels and a standard printer for invoices, just use a standard printer. Automated shipping systems allow you to print the shipping label and invoice on a normal, printer-sized sheet of paper. Now you can reduce fulfillment time with an easier pick-and-pack process.
As you can see, automation can easily bring synergy to your shipping department. When you cut out the tedious tasks that are involved in the fulfillment process, you can reclaim lost hours from your day. Add up all of these automations, and you could very have the time left to enjoy that family dinner you’ve been missing for weeks on end.