During Peak Season many customers turn to online shopping to order gifts for friends and family. The annual holiday shopping season, which now starts sometime in August and runs through the end of December, can yield a significant uptick in revenues for ecommerce retailers. In fact, Deloitte anticipates ecommerce holiday sales will increase by up to 9%, or $294 billion in 2024. While that’s fantastic news for retailers hoping for a revenue boost, it can produce its share of challenges — particularly when it comes to order fulfillment.
Legacy warehouse management systems (WMS) can dampen the customer experience and diminish profits. Problems with inventory tracking during Peak Season, product mis-picks, and extended shipping times can damage brand reputation and reduce customer satisfaction. However, you don’t need to leave your fulfillment process to chance. By implementing a modern fulfillment management system (FMS) like Logiwa IO, you can leverage real-time tracking in ecommerce fulfillment during the peak holiday shopping season.
The role of real-time data in ecommerce fulfillment
Ecommerce fulfillment requires a careful balance between the logistics of shipping orders to the manual effort of picking to packing. Real-time data supplements these activities, helping to streamline order processes and maintain accurate inventory to meet consumer demand.
Real-time inventory tracking
During the holiday season, retailers see a major increase in orders that can overload their available inventory and result in stockouts. If you rely on manual inventory counts, you may be at a disadvantage, as a high volume of orders may diminish your team’s ability to track available products.
When using Logiwa’s advanced fulfillment management system (FMS), you can track inventory counts in real-time. Immediate data updates ensure businesses can dynamically adjust stock levels—even across multiple sales channels, minimizing fulfillment delays..
Order processing and routing efficiency
Long delivery times may result from several factors, including inefficient order routing and a clunky order processing system. If a fulfillment system sends an order to a warehouse hundreds of miles from the customer’s home, it can result in unexpected delays and an unhappy buyer.
Logiwa’s FMS alleviates order and routing problems by flagging potential order errors and selecting proper options to minimize shipping times. It relies on real-time data to route orders to optimal warehouse facilities and expedite shipping.
Predictive analytics for demand forecasting
The peak shopping season can be very unpredictable. Demand may fluctuate significantly across products and customers, straining staff resources and available inventory.
While you can’t predict the future, a proactive approach that combines real-time insights with predictive analytics can help you forecast demand spikes. Improved forecasting allows retailers and warehouses to optimize inventory and staffing levels, reducing resource strain.
Logiwa’s warehouse management system (WMS) combines powerful tools, including predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), to predict demand spikes before they happen — giving warehouses time to prepare for them.
Challenges of Peak Season fulfillment without real-time data
Relying on intuition, past performance, and manual processes makes it more challenging to manage fulfillment processes and meet customer expectations. Here are a few common ecommerce fulfillment challenges among organizations that don’t use real-time data.
Stockouts and delays
Manual inventory counts may be inaccurate or out-of-date. The risk of overselling jumps when you don’t have complete control of inventory levels. Customers may find their products on backorder, increasing their frustration.
Without clear visibility into current stock levels, fulfillment errors and shipping delays may rise. Your team may need to reroute unavailable orders to other warehouses — time that associates could spend on other value-added activities.
Inefficient labor utilization
No warehouse wants employees dawdling on-site with little to do. However, too few workers during a busy shift may result in bottlenecks across processes, including picking and packing.
You can optimize staff resources for lulls and peaks by incorporating real-time data into labor planning.
High shipping costs and errors
Shipping costs cut into ecommerce profit margins, especially for retailers that offer free shipping options. If you use manual processes to select shipping providers, you risk paying more for shipping when more affordable options are available. You may also encounter delays, lengthening the time a product takes to reach the customer.
Watch the video to see how Logiwa IO helps avoid high shipping costs.
How Logiwa improves fulfillment accuracy with real-time inventory management
Logiwa’s warehouse management system offers a multi-pronged approach to enhancing fulfillment processes using real-time data during peak shopping seasons.
Advanced inventory management
Logiwa tracks warehouse inventory levels automatically, so teams always know how many products are available at each facility and across sales channels. There’s no need to rely on time-consuming manual cycle counts. Warehouse teams can access current inventory levels instantaneously at the click of a button.
Since Logiwa integrates across different ecommerce platforms, you can monitor inventory levels everywhere you sell. The system automatically updates to reflect current availability, eliminating the risk of stockouts or excess inventory.
Watch this short video to learn about Logiwa IO’s Directed Putaway.
With Logiwa, warehouses also benefit from directed putaway algorithms. The algorithm identifies ideal locations for top-selling items so associates can quickly reach them, reducing travel time and unnecessary picking and packing friction.
Fulfillment processes automation
Logiwa makes it easy to create workflow automations for Peak Season or any time. Use these AI-driven automation processes to streamline your unique fulfillment process. With mobile scanning and barcode technologies associates can quickly verify picked items, guard against mis-picks and reduce fulfillment errors. Putaway algorithms inform workers where to store new goods so products are always in the right place.
Multi-channel and multi-location support
Many retailers offer products through multiple online ecommerce platforms. They may also have a dedicated online store and physical storefront. While some systems can only accommodate inventory management across single channels, Logiwa is different. It centralizes multi-channel order management so businesses know exactly how much inventory is available everywhere.
With Logiwa, retailers benefit from carefully managed inventory and optimal order routing. Fewer orders are missed, and customers receive products quickly without unnecessary delays.
Prepare for the Peak Season with Logiwa
Inventory management is always integral to retail success, but it’s absolutely paramount during peak seasons. Stores that rely on manual processes to manage inventory levels and ship goods may risk a boost in picking errors, stockouts, and unwelcome shipping delays.
Logiwa’s warehouse management system leverages a powerful combination of real-time data, predictive analytics, and fulfillment automation to support organizations during peak demand seasons. With Logiwa, you can count on enhanced fulfillment accuracy, increased customer satisfaction, and optimized resources to curtail operational expenses.
To learn more about Logiwa’s solutions, schedule a call with a Logiwa fulfillment specialist. We’ll explain how Logiwa can enhance your processes during hectic peak seasons.,
FAQs on improving Peak Season fulfillment
How can retailers benefit from real-time tracking in ecommerce fulfillment?
Without real-time monitoring, businesses must rely on untimely, error-prone manual processes. The risk of inventory stockouts and shipping delays increases, leading to customer dissatisfaction.
