A Beginner’s Guide to the Order Fulfilment Process

In simple terms, the order fulfilment process is how customers get the product they paid for. It consists of storing, picking, packing, and shipping customer orders. It is one of the final stages of the sales process and one of the most important. A poorly planned and executed fulfilment strategy can lead to a poor customer experience and ultimately lose your business. 

An eCommerce brand's quality of delivery service in terms of cost and estimated delivery timeframes heavily impacts a customer's decision to purchase. For example, a survey by eCommerce and Core Recruitment partner brand Shopify found that 68% of customers were influenced by the length of delivery timeframes when purchasing products online. eCommerce business giants, such as Amazon and ASOS, have raised the delivery stakes, and customers expect a company's parcel service to be seamless and, most importantly, quick. However, according to the results of 'Fixing Failed Deliveries 2021: Stamping Out Faulty Fulfilment', a global survey of retailers and consumers, 24% of retailers admitted more than one in ten orders aren't delivered on the first attempt. These unsuccessful deliveries lead to unhappy customers, with one in 10 leaving a negative review on social media and 93% saying they read reviews before making a purchase. 

The Five Stages of the Order Fulfilment Process

To better understand the order fulfilment process, we will talk you through the five stages of our order fulfilment process:

1. Goods In - At the beginning of the order fulfilment process, we set you up an account on our cloud-based system. After that, you are given 24/7 access to integrate your eCommerce business, add products, view your inventory, and track your orders - this is something we can support. Once we have received the goods, we scan all items and add barcodes if needed. We do this, so the rest of the order fulfilment process runs seamlessly and efficiently. 

2. Warehousing and Storage - The stock is then transferred and stored in our fulfilment centre. The items are segregated, and you can track your orders in the cloud-based system. Every product is given a pickface, with smaller lines having fast-moving pick storage lines. Larger and more extensive inventories are kept in pallets in bulk locations. This system is the foundation for speedy delivery. 

3. Picking and Packing  - The picking and packing stage is a vital step for your business and the overall customer experience. Here your inventory is carefully packed in Core's standard packaging. In addition, there is an option to provide your custom packaging. This stage ensures that deliveries arrive to customers on time and are damage free. 

4. Shipping - After the picking and packing stage is complete, we work with our partner parcel carriers, DPD, Royal Mail, Evri and DHL to support our shipping process. As a result, goods can be shipped across the UK and worldwide. Our cloud-based system can be used to track all customer orders in real-time, plus this information will be passed back to your e-commerce platform.

5. Returns Processing - In the unfortunate event that a customer needs to return their item, whether it be a change of mind, damaged items, or incorrect deliveries, we act quickly to ensure you can process customer refunds and re-stock your products seamlessly as possible. As with deliveries, you can track returns on the cloud-based system. 

Should My Business Use Order Fulfilment Services? 

Businesses, large and small, face many challenges. Often times, especially for an eCommerce business, order fulfilment is one of the greatest hurdles, mainly as it heavily influences the customer experience. The order fulfilment process can be challenging for a smaller business due to a lack of resources, budget, and staff numbers. For a larger company, the challenge can be a vast scale of orders, which causes rising costs and time consumption. 

One vital skill of management and running a business is delegation. Positive delegation skills mean that processes are completed more seamlessly and, importantly, on schedule. 

The outsourcing of the order fulfilment process can work in your favour. It can help grow the business and also be cost-efficient in the long run. But, you may be thinking, is outsourcing order fulfilment right for my business? To help you form your decision, let's look at the advantages of outsourcing order fulfilment to a third party.