Inventory management in e-commerce is a fundamental operation for any company. That wants to differentiate itself from the competition and achieve greater profitability. With accurate stock control, companies can ensure stock availability and fast shipment of orders to customers. For e-commerce, efficient inventory management is crucial in avoiding stock-outs and ensuring fast customer deliveries. Managing the stock requires defining the number of items necessary to respond to the demand and determining product restoration. E-commerce must manage its inventory accurately to avoid delays and errors.
When establishing an inventory management process, e-commerce must have the necessary items before sales. Therefore, companies in the sector usually carry out demand planning, or what is the same, an estimate of the deals produced to organize the production processes and warehouse operations while maintaining the appropriate stock levels.
1. Efficiently Organize The Stock Of The E-Commerce Warehouse Inventory Management
The correct organization of the stock is essential for the success of e-commerce. This process consists of logically distributing the products in the warehouse and facilitating the preparation and dispatch of orders. The operation, also known as slotting, makes it possible to determine the optimal location of merchandise in the warehouse.
In an e-commerce warehouse, items arrange to different criteria, such as the ABC or FIFO (first in, first out) method. The correct stock organization is one of the cornerstones of e-commerce logistics because it helps dispatch orders more quickly and faces demand peaks such as Black Friday or the Christmas campaign.
2. Implement Warehouse Software With Online Commerce Functionalities
Warehouse management software is essential in an e-commerce warehouse as it helps manage inventory properly. Keep strict merchandise control, and organize operations efficiently.
Thanks to advanced algorithms, the system identifies the arrived items, assigns them a location, and records the products dispatched and delivered to customers. In this way, the traceability of the products is very rigorous.
The management software also organizes all the preparation of orders, pointing out to the operators the location to go to (to do this, it designs a route so that they travel the minimum possible distances) or supplying the picking stations with merchandise to complete the orders.
3. Use Radio Frequency Terminals For Better Inventory Control
To manage inventory correctly and prepare all orders quickly, the operators of an e-commerce warehouse resort to radio frequency terminals. These devices complement the operators’ tasks: they facilitate data transfer within the warehouse management system (for example, indicating the items that have arrived at the warehouse) and the receipt of instructions.
One of the most remarkable advantages of connecting the radiofrequency terminals with the warehouse management software is the reduction of errors. As a result, the operators’ tasks are much simpler; they only have to limit themselves to following the instructions provided by the device to avoid making mistakes.
Suppose you want to simplify the work of the operators even more. In that case, warehouse employees can use wearables, that is, electronic devices placed on a finger or the arm so that the operator has his hands completely free and can pick up the products comfortably.
4. Synchronize Warehouse Stock With The Online Store Catalog
The warehouse integrates with the online platforms where the products sell, such as eBay or PrestaShop. In this way, when a customer purchases a consequence, the warehouse operators can prepare the order immediately and ship it as soon as possible.
Connecting the warehouse with online stores can be done automatically with the help of management software. For example, easy WMS, the Mecalux WMS, has the Marketplaces & Ecommerce Platforms Integration module, a functionality that synchronizes the online catalog with the physical warehouse.
Global Freaks use this module, an e-commerce specialized in collector’s figures, to connect its store with the marketplaces where it sells its items: eBay, Amazon, and PrestaShop.
5. E-Commerce Management Unify Inventories From Different Channels Under An Omni channel Model
E-commerce companies that operate in more and more channels are starting to have omni channel logistics. That is, they offer consumers the possibility of combining multiple communication channels with the company, such as the physical store, mobile phone, or website.
The rise of omni channel affects all warehouse operations because it requires many references and orders. In this situation, good inventory management using technology prevents delays and errors.
Mecalux offers companies with advanced omni channel logistics solutions, such as WMS for e-commerce, Multi-Carrier Shipping Software, or Store Fulfillment.
E-Commerce Inventory Management: Critical Operations
Inventory management is an essential operation for any e-commerce. However, errors and delays have a very high cost for companies: customer dissatisfaction. Carrying out good inventory management supported by technology allows companies to prepare many orders quickly and guarantee delivery times to offer a quality service.
At Mecalux, we have extensive experience equipping e-commerce company warehouses with storage and management solutions. With Easy WMS, e-commerce can keep track of the status of their stocks and optimize all operations, including order preparation.
Conclusion
e-commerce, efficient inventory management is crucial in avoiding stock-outs and ensuring fast customer deliveries. Therefore, companies in the sector usually carry out demand planning, or what is the same, an estimate of the deals produced to organize the production processes and warehouse operations while maintaining the appropriate stock levels. Warehouse management software is essential in an e-commerce warehouse as it helps manage inventory properly. Keep strict merchandise control, and organize operations efficiently. To manage inventory correctly and prepare all orders quickly, the operators of an e-commerce warehouse resort to radio frequency terminals.
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