The average citizen purchases a lot of items from online stores. Leading eCommerce companies like Amazon sell millions of goods globally every day. But, when consumers think about Amazon, they don’t think about the products they purchase; they think about customer experience. Leading eCommerce giants have realized that consumers crave high-quality customer experiences. That’s why they don’t refrain from paying more for same-day deliveries or premium delivery fees.
Due to the global pandemic, eCommerce stores are in the limelight once again. The number of online orders is expected to increase drastically in the next five years. The eCommerce businesses that are logistically the most efficient will thrive during this period while those who aren’t will be crushed by their competitors. That’s because logistical efficiency is key to providing good customer experiences. Hence, smaller eCommerce companies who want to profit from this surge in online orders must focus on their logistical efficiencies.
Logistics Efficiency Can Help Low-Scale Sellers Compete with the Giants
Even though eCommerce giants are constantly preparing to dominate the market, there are great opportunities for new entrants with their own niches. These relatively new eCommerce businesses have their own USPs (Unique Selling Point) in terms of products and marketing. However, to compete with the giants, they must work on getting their products in the hands of their customers as time and cost-efficiently as the giants do.
Their delivery standards need to be as good if not better than Amazon’s if they are to secure a long-term future in the industry. While part of their logistical efficiencies will depend on how well their shipping partners perform, eCommerce businesses need to do their part and invest in high-quality logistics software to boost their approach to logistical management. The global eCommerce logistics market will be worth over $535,895 million by 2022, and there’s a good number of logistics software tools to choose from.
Why Invest in Logistics Software?
It’s crucial for smaller-scale eCommerce businesses to find online logistics software because these tools guarantee boosts in business efficiencies. A high-quality logistics software can automate their shipping and delivery processes. With automation comes time-efficiency, which is vital to providing good customer experiences for buyers. Here are some other advantages that small-scale eCommerce businesses can expect to provide to their customers after investing in high-quality logistics software –
- Delivery Status Updates – When eCommerce business managers use different apps or devices to communicate with delivery professionals, there’s always a miscommunication risk. Instead of making business supervising systems complex, a high-quality logistics management software can enable different supply chain members to communicate on an integrated platform.
- Fast Delivery Decisions – With a high-quality logistics management software, eCommerce business managers can grab any historical data at any time from the system and make fast delivery decisions. For instance, if a delivery professional is already in a region and is carrying a product that another customer from that region has just ordered, the manager can check the software and instantly ask the delivery professional to make the additional delivery.
- Customer Satisfaction –80% of online buyers claim shipping speed, cost, and information play huge roles in customer experiences. With a top-quality logistics management software, eCommerce businesses can provide all three of these qualities to their customers. They can use their software’s tracking features to intimate their customers about order statuses. Some eCommerce businesses use this feature to create live package tracking sections on their eCommerce websites. Plus, these software tools drastically decrease overall shipping costs. So, customers have to pay less for shipping. They can also get clear access to the eCommerce business’s shipping policies.
Direct Business Benefits of Investing in Logistics Management Software
The best benefit of investing in logistics management software is the improvement in customer experiences. While that does boost an eCommerce businesses’ conversion rates, there are several other ways in which logistics management software tools can directly benefit businesses –
- Lower Employee Costs – A logistics management software will automate various aspects of the supply chains. There’s no need to hire supply chain analysts or professionals for updating delivery statuses. The logistics infrastructure of the eCommerce business will keep improving while costing significantly less.
- Integration with Other Systems – The best logistics management software can integrate with other existing systems used by the eCommerce company. For instance, by linking the content management system and the logistics management software, eCommerce business managers can drastically reduce their workloads.
- Gaining Insight – Logistics management software allows eCommerce business managers to get a clear picture of their orders, inventory levels, delivery statuses, etc. Using this structured data, eCommerce business managers can gain a lot of insight into their businesses. They can conduct customer relationship analyses to improve their deliveries or identify areas where they can reduce costs. They can also evaluate their carriers’ performances using this data.
Increased business efficiency, much-improved customer service, and potential increases in sales – there’s no reason not to invest in a logistics management software right now!