The art of fulfilment
02/01/2009
- What do you do if you find yourself in a position where the fulfilment has gone wrong – for whatever reason; lack of stock from brand, late delivery from postal service etc?
- How do you appease customers?
- How do you fix the problems?
Sue Randall, business development director at Orbital Response and Fulfilment looks at the best way to minimise both disruption to customers and the impact on retailers.
As online and home shopping sales continue to rise, and especially as Christmas draws near, it is only natural that a rise in the problems associated with fulfilment will occur. A perfectly fulfilled purchase can lead to brand loyalty and ongoing relationships for the foreseeable future. Get it wrong and brands could lose a customer for life. Retailers must therefore reconsider their fulfilment service at this time of year to ensure that they keep all their customers happy.
The benefit of using an outsourced provider is that they have the expertise and resources to manage and deal with any of these problems in an effective and efficient manner. Providers can offer the brand recommendations and solutions and, from their experience, they are able to identify any holes in the process prior to campaigns going live. Their experience also ensures that any defects can be turned around quickly with problems rectified in a professional manner preventing as little damage for the brand as possible.
There are a number of potential pitfalls that an outsourced provider can experience. It is up to the provider to work with their client to find a successful conclusion and appease a customer if a situation does occur. For example if there is a delivery error, it could be up to the fulfilment provider to urgently re-despatch a replacement product. In this situation it may be advisable to use a different delivery method or company to that of the first despatch to show a customer that every effort is being made to stop a repeat.
Stock shortages from underestimating the demand and poor forecasting will leave customers with a negative perception of the brand if their chosen item is not delivered on time. Christmas is certainly not the time to do this as it will leave one of the most special days of the year potentially ruined. This doesn’t foster long term customer relations, something that every brand strives for, especially at an economic time like the present. As a result, brands and their outsourced warehouses must ensure that levels of stock are available to meet all demand.
Despite this, fulfilment houses can run out of stock if a brand or retailer experiences a higher than expected demand for their product. Again it is essential to appease the customer if this does happen as they expect their product to be delivered almost yesterday. The fulfilment provider must communicate with the customer to advise of the situation and inform them of when stock will arrive. It is then up to the fulfilment provider to work closely with the brand or retailer to resolve the issue as soon as possible and get the new stock into the warehouse ready for despatch.
Foreseeing and preventing potential issues is also vital at this time of year. There is no point waiting for something to go wrong when a provider could have done something prior to minimise the problem. Fulfilment providers should liaise with their chosen parcel carrier well in advance of the Christmas rush. A provider should be able to provide information on the predicted sales of products and be able to inform the carrier of what to expect. Suppliers can also identify any concerns that they can foresee and ensure that the carrier is well aware of any issues that could normally hold up delivery. As purchases are made, and the Christmas rush starts, a supplier should continue to discuss with their carrier how sales levels have been and if this ties in with original sales forecasts. This will enable more accurate predictions to be made for the remaining time before Christmas to ensure that any potential disruption to customers is as minimal as possible.
Retailers must find a balance between part delivering orders. If a customer orders two things and the first is available immediately but the second product is not in stock, a fulfilment company must find a way to satisfy both parties. A customer mustn’t have to wait outside the agreed delivery period for the product to arrive if it is in stock, but at the same time fulfilment companies do not want to send out two parcels within a few days to the same recipient. A fulfilment company must therefore be in constant contact with their brand or retailer to ensure they know when new stock is on its way to the storage facilities. From this they can make an informed decision about whether to wait before fulfilling an order or actually needing to send out the first part straight away.
Often the hardest thing to cope with is returns; the way that this process is managed can determine the success or failure of a business. After all, there will always be returns especially at Christmas time. A supplier must not think that once 25th December has passed, that their job is over and the campaign concluded. Many companies don’t think about returns until the last minute but those who see it as a service rather than a cost will be successful. Returns must be quick and easy to leave customers feeling confident in dealing with both the supplier and the retailer.
Customers expect their items to be delivered within the agreed timeframe as purchasing from home or online means they cannot physically take them from the store that day. With Christmas just around the corner, the opportunity is there to establish a long term relationship by ensuring that every aspect of the purchasing process is successful. Getting fulfilment wrong should not be a reason to jeopardise this.
