5 Ways to Enhance Your Delivery Process

Transcription

1 5 Ways to Enhance Your Delivery Process

2 5 Ways to Enhance Your Delivery Process Companies want repeat customers. It s a fact you simply can t ignore. In fact, the National Law Review reports that it costs five times more to get new customers than it does to keep those you have now. You don t want to have to shop for new customers, and one way to make sure they stick with you is to enhance your delivery process. Wondering how you can make that happen? Take a look at these five tips. 1

3 1. Keep Your Customers Informed Throughout the Process Your customers want to know what is going on, almost continuously. In big online e-commerce settings like Wal-Mart and Amazon, customers can receive constant delivery notifications and updates on their shipments. Your level of communication should be just as good. Whether you offer SMS messaging, , or simply a way for customers to log into their accounts and see that their shipments are on the way, you re going to find happier customers, even in the event of a delay. 2

4 2. Take a Minimalist Approach to Your Internal Processes If you re currently using a number of different systems to deal with shipping, you may find a complex, difficult process ahead that could be far easier. Maybe it s the fact that communication with your warehouse takes forever. Perhaps you re not using the latest scanning tools to get the updated stock information you need to process orders. Maybe the systems just aren t communicating with each other as well as they should be. No matter what the problem might be, if you clean up your internal process, perhaps by using a single all-encompassing system, you re going to find a faster delivery process. 3

5 3. Rethink Your Routes Understanding where to use small parcel service and where LTL shipments work best for your customers is an absolute must. In some cases, you may uncover real cost savings by choosing to go with LTL instead of small parcel in some situations and full truckload instead of LTL in others. While this won t work for every company, for midmarket shippers, it may be the key to cost-savings. 4

6 4. Position Your Inventory Better Few companies are as good at this step as Amazon. They have a solid sense of where their inventory is going to be best positioned to meet that two-day shipping guarantee they provide to so many customers. Luckily, you don t have to be the size of Amazon to employ good inventory positioning. The key to making it work is to utilize the best inventory tracking software available today and to review your metrics. For example, if you sell more of one given product in the Southern United States, make sure you position much of your stock there. Keep an eye on costs, too. If you have a space where your warehousing and labor costs are low, you ll want to factor that into the equation, as it may actually be cheaper to ship from there than the customer s closest location. 5

7 5. Choose a Logistics Expert to Help The benefits of logistics experts have been proven again and again. Statistics suggest 72% of companies believe they will increase their reliance on logistics services over the course of the next year. Other reports indicate that they re the fastest way to gain a competitive advantage in a variety of different verticals, and that can mean good things for your bottom line. In one 2014 study, 94% of those who relied on logistics experts increased sales revenues by at least 5%. Wondering why? Outsourcing your logistics means freeing up resources so you can focus on your core business. More than that, though, it will help to change your distribution networks, a key component we ve already mentioned. It can also help to improve customer satisfaction because order fulfillment and on-time delivery goes up. 6

8 If you perform a full supply chain analysis and implement these tips, you re going to find some serious savings and enhance your processes too. 7

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