Over the last few decades, more customers have been opting for an online shopping experience over traditional brick-and-mortar shopping, but that also means they expect a lovely shopping experience. As a Shopify merchant, therefore, ensuring a smooth and fast order fulfillment process is crucial to the success of your eCommerce website.
At the core of order fulfillment is order management, so how can you improve your Shopify eCommerce order management? Here are some great tips:
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1. Customize and Organize Your Lists
Managing and fulfilling many orders at once without messing up any orders can save a lot of time and optimize your general processes. You can do this more efficiently by organizing orders and grouping them according to similar attributes. Use tools such as filters, search tools, and tags to make this easier, and also use columns to create a more detailed view of your orders.
Keep in mind there are various ways to organize your orders, so feel free to explore. Some of the top suggestions include grouping orders by their destination markets or by order/product items.
2. Enhance Your Order Management Capability
Shopify-based eCommerce platforms come with an inbuilt order management system that offers great functionality. In most cases, however, the features and functions offered by this system aren’t powerful enough. Luckily, you can extend native functionality with order management software for Shopify, such as Deck Commerce and unlock new features and functions that don’t come as standard with the base Shopify version.
Deck Commerce offers great integration capabilities with existing business systems and makes it easier to manage multi-channel sales while simplifying enterprise-level inventory and order complexities.
3. Prepare Your Shipping Labels in Bulk
Another common challenge that a majority of Shopify merchants face is not having the shipping labels for orders ready on time. Once your orders are organized and ready to be fulfilled, you shouldn’t waste a lot of time preparing the shipping labels.
That’s why it’s always a good idea to create, buy, and print the shipping labels in one go. You can use the shipping labels index on your Shopify-based eCommerce platform to double-check the shipping information, and once you’re satisfied that everything is correct, prepare the labels.
4. Automate Where Possible
Using technology to automate your order management processes is one of the most efficient ways to get the order management process right. You can use barcode scanners or mobile devices to generate, manage, and fulfill orders. Such solutions are typically integrated into warehouse operations or in-person sales.
Automation also makes it possible to add discounts, payment information, and any other details without spending too much time and effort. Besides, automation allows you to stop a host of errors that delay processes and make the entire order management and fulfillment process inefficient.
5. Have a Good Relationship With Suppliers
Running low on stock is the bane of any eCommerce merchant as far as order management goes. You don’t want to end up in a situation where your customers wait longer than usual so you can restock and then process their orders for fulfillment.
As a Shopify merchant, therefore, you should establish and maintain a good relationship with your suppliers. Make sure that your suppliers understand your business and keep the communication consistent and transparent. There should be plenty of tools in the market to help you with that.
6. Focus on Your Customers
Being customer-centric is a good way to improve your Shopify order management process. When optimizing your processes, have your customers at the center of your strategy, so that it’ll be easier to deliver high-quality and reliable order management and fulfillment services.
To Bring Things to a Close,
Efficient order management is a crucial factor for businesses that want to remain competitive in their field. By being proactive with your plans and paying great attention to your customers, you can optimize your processes and save resources such as time and money.
Most importantly, a smooth order management process will set the right pace for an efficient fulfillment process, ensuring customer satisfaction.