{"id":1360,"date":"2020-11-11T14:10:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T19:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/digital-fulfillment\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T16:51:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T16:51:34","slug":"digital-fulfillment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/digital-fulfillment\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Fulfilment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Digital Fulfilment for Modern Ecommerce Stores<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Thanks in large part to Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), which powers Amazon Prime shipments, digital fulfilment has become the new standard for modern ecommerce stores. Fortunately, it\u2019s never been easier to implement a digital fulfilment strategy through an optimised supply chain and order fulfilment<\/a> process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below we explore the differences between traditional and digital fulfilment models so you can better understand what digital fulfilment can do for your business and how you can partner with a digital fulfilment provider without having to do the work yourself.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Traditional vs. digital fulfilment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many traditional third-party logistics (3PL) providers lack sophisticated technology. At ShipBob, we think of the supply chain as a network of organizations working in sync to improve the flow of materials and information across the production process. The goal of an effective supply chain should be to cost-effectively coordinate upstream and downstream production entities to achieve high customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know the traditional 3PL model isn\u2019t enough<\/a>. That\u2019s why we provide modern ecommerce fulfilment that\u2019s integrated with the systems you use to provide actionable ecommerce data to make your supply chain more responsive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional fulfilment (old way)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Traditional fulfilment is fulfilment that hasn\u2019t been fully digitized. Here are some of the common characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Single or unoptimized inventory warehouses<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A traditional fulfilment centre may function as a storage facility in the middle of nowhere to store large quantities of finished inventory<\/a>. This is unlike a modern 3PL that both has an integrated network of fulfilment centres in locations and regions that help optimise delivery, and provides tools that help you order only the inventory that you will sell through so you don\u2019t hold on to more than you need for a higher inventory turnover rate<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forecasting is an afterthought<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Traditional order fulfilment fails to provide manufacturers and suppliers with knowledge of customer demand signals and insight needed for decision-making. It is disconnected from the upstream activities of purchasing and manufacturing, as well as the downstream activities of sales and reducing the delivery lead times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the working capital of the ecommerce company is being used to produce ecommerce inventory<\/a> and then store that inventory in the 3PL\u2019s warehouse. If the product fails to generate demand, the company will have to write off all of the leftover inventory. At the end of the day, sales are at odds with production and manufacturing, leading to longer lead times and high warehousing<\/a> costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No omnichannel capabilities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s ever-changing retail environment, there are online marketplaces and websites, social media channels, brick-and-mortar stores, and other selling opportunities. With traditional fulfilment, there is no ease of fulfilling orders across channels or visibility into inventory levels available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital fulfilment (new way)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Digital fulfilment uses integrated technology and automated order processing<\/a> to improve the efficiency of logistics operations<\/a> and speed up the supply chain. The integration of a digital solution also provides business owners with the necessary data and analytics to improve the entire customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the traditional supply chain, this becomes a \u201cdemand chain,\u201d where customer demand initiates a coordinated process and flow of information shared among all stakeholders. Here are a few traits of a digital fulfilment solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distributed and connected warehouses<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the modern world, many businesses have adopted the distributed inventory model<\/a> for the storage and distribution of products. In it, stock is divided up and stored in different locations based on historical order data to be near the end customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a customer places an order, the system in real time checks for the location with the required products that\u2019s closest to the shipping destination and automatically sends the order to that fulfilment centre to be fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ShipBob, for example, has a global network of fulfilment centres that ecommerce businesses can take advantage of and choose which they store inventory in by using the data ShipBob provides. Our proprietary warehouse management system<\/a> powers our entire network and is connected to our merchant fulfilment software<\/a>, which shows real-time inventory counts, order status, and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This works together to keep locations stocked with the right amounts of inventory while reducing shipping zones<\/a>, costs, and delivery times for your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Software and integrations to help you stay ahead of the competition<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A modern 3PL will have an app store with native integrations to all the tools you use (and even new programs for you to utilise through them), and built-in digital inventory management software<\/a> to track products across sales channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This provides businesses with better insights into customer demand so you can pinpoint which products are selling out fast and which aren\u2019t performing as well. You can react faster, outperform competition, and keep customers coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information flows between the upstream and downstream business processes, and activities are based consumer demand to help you prevent stockouts<\/a>, ship faster, and have an omnichannel fulfilment<\/a> strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advanced analytics and inventory reorder points<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A digital fulfilment tool kit is not complete without inventory forecasting<\/a> tools. An end-to-end fulfilment solution like ShipBob notifies you when it\u2019s time to replenish inventory through automated reorder points<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, ShipBob\u2019s free analytics tool<\/a> show you the following at a glance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n