Sep 16, 2022 | Blog
In 2021, almost 60 percent of American adults purchased from a DTC brand. Also known as Direct to Consumer, DTC companies fulfill orders and ship them straight to the customer. With an increasing number of shopping channels cropping up online, clients have more choices than ever, and staying innovative is crucial to drawing sales away from the competition. Keep reading to learn more about how technology is making DTC explode and find out how your brand can benefit from the trend.
Understanding DTC
ShipHero has built a strong foundation by partnering with DTC eCommerce brands. Thanks to the use of cloud computing and enhanced technologies in the warehousing and 3PL space, companies can cut down on wait times while providing more satisfying Client Support.
A number of companies benefited from this eCommerce growth trend before the pandemic and then saw even greater success during the initial throes of COVID-19 . For example, sneaker supplier Allbirds won acclaim and financial success by selling products over the internet rather than through established outlets. Companies like Warby Parker and Casper are also leading the pack when it comes to online vs in store sales. There are dozens of brands, many ShipHero clients that also saw huge success.
eCommerce Sales Trends to Build Your Brand
New technological advances are enabling DTC to grow in exciting and lucrative ways. Not only can companies create websites with highly targeted content, but social media enables brands to build communities online, interacting directly with current and potential clients. Additionally, companies like ShipHero provide state-of-the-art warehouse management system software to enable end-to-end automation and allow your brand to integrate seamlessly with other eCommerce sites. The end result is faster growth for your business. Here are some of the ways in which eCommerce growth trends are helping businesses succeed.
Data Gathering
Acquiring data is key when it comes to building a successful DTC brand, and technology is making that process easier than ever. After all, growing your business means analyzing data regarding conversions, retention, and product returns and making more informed decisions going forward. Additionally brands can use forecasting services to minimize missed sales due to sold out items and ensure purchase orders don’t slip through the cracks.
Personalizing the Shopping Experience
Just because you’ve opted to focus on online vs in store sales doesn’t mean you can afford to let client relationships suffer. Regardless of where they choose to purchase goods and services, today’s clients are seeking a more personal connection with brands. Without a brick-and-mortar store, businesses need to get creative, offering digital interactions and perks that take the place of physical encounters. Customers want brands to present them with shopping suggestions specifically tailored to their past purchases. Along with product recommendations, savvy businesses may provide price comparison info and even personalized interfaces for customers to try before they buy. As a bonus, helping clients make the right choices will help minimize the hassle and expense of dealing with returns.
Selling Across Different Marketplaces
When it comes to retail sales by channel, today’s companies don’t have to settle for one marketplace alone. And while Amazon and Etsy have opened up new opportunities, brands can’t lose sight of the need for effective, efficient marketplace fulfillment. With multiple systems providing disparate data and orders coming in from all over, adopting an integrated fulfillment system is of vital importance. Fortunately, the latest warehouse management systems make it easy to interface with multiple marketplaces. You can manage inventory, pick and pack orders, and handle reverse logistics. The end result is happy customers who keep coming back for more.
If you’re asking yourself, is eCommerce worth it in 2022, the answer should be a resounding yes. By staying abreast of the latest trends in DTC, you can take advantage of the opportunities to grow your brand while ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
Talk to our software experts today and learn more about how our warehouse software is built for eCommerce brands to execute their DTC strategies more effectively.
Aaron Rubin, Founder & CEO
ShipHero
About the author: Aaron Rubin is the Founder & CEO of ShipHero. He is responsible for planning and executing the overall vision and strategy of the organization. Rubin’s greatest strengths are leadership, change management, strategic planning and a passion for progression. He is known for having his finger on the pulse of ShipHero’s major initiatives, his entrepreneurial spirit, and keen business acumen. His leadership of ShipHero is grounded in providing excellent customer service that drives improved business operations. His passion for ShipHero comes from the culture and his ability to have an impact on the lives of employees, customers, partners, and investors.
Follow Aaron on Twitter & LinkedIn.
Sep 9, 2022 | Blog
The days of a predictable supply chain are a thing of the past, and maintaining a flexible fulfillment center is now a key strategy. The ability to adapt and overcome shipping challenges is at the core of a successful eCommerce business in today’s environment.
Unexpected problems are bound to arise, so you’ll want to make sure your warehouse is equipped to handle a fluid and ever evolving shipping situation. The adaptations are made much easier with the help of customizable automation in the warehouse.
What is Customizable Automation?
Customizable warehouse automation refers to the wide selection of shipping tools that use data capture technology to enhance the efficiency of a fulfillment center. In addition to software technologies that can be tailored to fit a specific user’s workflow, these tools can include physical machines like robots and smart conveyor systems.
Examples of Customizable Automation
Let’s take a look at some common examples of customizable automation and see how they make life in the warehouse much easier.
Sortation Systems
Finding the most efficient layout for a warehouse can be a daunting task. Once everything’s up and running, moving SKUs around can become much more complicated.
However, the right shipping software can easily identify opportunities for more efficient sorting. By scanning items as they enter a conveyor system, for example, your items can be automatically diverted to the optimal location in the facility. This your staff from having to walk across the entire warehouse to fulfill orders for popular items.
Collaborative Robotics
Warehouse robotics seem like they’d be expensive, but on a smaller scale, these machines can offer automation that increases the speed and accuracy of your fulfillment center.
More and more eCommerce warehouses have begun to install robotics that can sort and bag equipment, automate label printing and utilize wearable technology that boosts staff productivity while shrinking the workload.
As one of the more popular options, collaborative robots are built to shrink the shipping timeline inside a warehouse. By taking over the process of identifying an order, moving to its storage location, picking it from the shelf and returning it to the packing station, collaborative robots work alongside your staff to make the work easier. They’re also customizable and can are built to fit your fulfillment center’s specific needs.
With this new warehouse technology taking over the picking, labeling and shipping aspects of fulfillment, your staff will be ready to handle the increased demand for accuracy that comes with Q4.
Inventory Optimization
Based on the data collected by these machines, you can start optimizing your warehouse in the way that best fits your brand’s needs. Inventory management has been a large concern for online retailers since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. One way of overcoming this challenge is leveraging an automated warehouse.
Conclusion
The benefits of even small amounts of automation cannot be underestimated. Efficiencies that save time, money and labor can be achieved with just a bit of automation. It’s worth investigating how your facility might benefit from some of the tactics above.
Talk to our software experts today and learn more about how our warehouse software is built to help eCommerce brands automate and optimize their facilities for the modern supply chain.
Aaron Rubin, Founder & CEO
ShipHero
About the author: Aaron Rubin is the Founder & CEO of ShipHero. He is responsible for planning and executing the overall vision and strategy of the organization. Rubin’s greatest strengths are leadership, change management, strategic planning and a passion for progression. He is known for having his finger on the pulse of ShipHero’s major initiatives, his entrepreneurial spirit, and keen business acumen. His leadership of ShipHero is grounded in providing excellent customer service that drives improved business operations. His passion for ShipHero comes from the culture and his ability to have an impact on the lives of employees, customers, partners, and investors.
Follow Aaron on Twitter & LinkedIn.
Sep 2, 2022 | Blog
Many modern consumers see online shopping as the default for browsing and purchasing from their favorite stores. After all, eCommerce sales hit $4.93 trillion (globally) in 2021. By the end of 2022, that’s expected to rise to an impressive $5.54 trillion.
Think pieces about the death of brick-and-mortar stores have inundated the web since 2014 – with article after article claiming the end of the days of physical stores with eCommerce websites as “nice-to-haves” but no longer sustainable as they largely relied on foot traffic for profit.
Yet, retail stores aren’t a relic. In fact, just 20.3% of retail sales are expected to come from eCommerce in 2022. Or, in the second quarter of 2022 in the United States, 14.5% of all sales. While that’s a marked increase from the just-over-5% of 2013, physical stores aren’t going anywhere.
Instead, many eCommerce brands are now moving towards opening a brick-and-mortar store to supplement their web shops, stabilize their brand, and diversify how they reach customers.
Advantages of having a retail store alongside your eCommerce brand
In fact, for many eCommerce brands, a brick-and-mortar store can offer advantages, including competitive ones.
1) More inventory points
Retail stores function as warehousing, allowing you to distribute stock, create a new logistics point, and to offer in-store pickup for local customers. Retail stores also benefit from having diverse stock, which makes it easy to use the point to distribute stock so that it’s as close as possible to your customers when they place an order.
2) Additional customer service points
Retail stores provide physical customer service points, where customers can talk to a representative in person, drop off returns, and pick up orders they placed online. Any of these strategies reduces your costs by reducing spend on shipping, sorting, and poor customer experiences – while giving your customer a faster and more positive experience.
Plus, if your customer can walk into a store with an item they ordered online, exchange it for something else, and walk out immediately with a replacement – they will be that much happier.
Buy Online, Pick Up Instore strategies are also increasingly popular, led by large marketplaces like Walmart, which uses curbside pickup and instore pickup to reduce demand on its logistics. Smaller retailers can do the same – but with fewer logistics points. For Walmart, it’s so much a success that in 2021, nearly a quarter of its earnings were click and collect orders.
3) Sustainability
Packaging, shipping, and delivery each have their own significant impact on C02 emissions and environment. Last mile delivery is particularly bad, as increases in traffic significantly increase congestion and pollution in cities but international shipping and even packaging are equally detrimental . eCommerce stores churn out massive quantities of packaging, from boxes to dunnage to paper and labels – and all of that is avoidable if you buy from a retail store.
Having retail stores alongside eCommerce stores gives customers the option to make more sustainable purchases. And, with the option to order online and pick up in store, those same customers can get the best of both worlds – convenience and availability with reduced impact on the environment.
How to bridge the gap between retail and online operations
While there are significant differences between online and in-person sales, you can run both with the same backend. In fact, as long as you have a front-end strategy in place to optimize the buyer experience for each, the back-end can be streamlined to avoid mistakes, to maximize inventory availability, and to reduce costs.
Sales
If you’re moving an eCommerce store to brick and mortar, optimizing the in-person sales experience should be a first step. Point of Sale or POS software is normally the first system to invest in. Here, POS relies on scanned barcodes to pull relevant products from inventory management and then allow customers to make a payment using their card. That’s quite a bit different from online shopping carts, which only have to communicate with PIM software and then pass orders on to a payment gateway.
At the same time, both should be synchronized, with data shared between each in as close to real time as possible. That’s especially important if you use your brick-and-mortar store as an extension of your warehousing. It’s critical that orders processed through the POS are updated in the online inventory in real time, as they are sold. That will prevent overselling or double selling products.
Here, distributed fulfillment and inventory management systems like Flxpoint can synchronize your systems, keeping your POS and local inventory in sync with inventory in your third-party logistics, other warehouses, and on other channels. Then, whether an online customer orders the last of an item, a customer tries to order an item after it’s just been sold in-store, that’s all updated, and customers can see the product is out of stock before they place an order.
Inventory
Similarly, it’s critical that you synchronize inventory across all channels, fulfillment points, and points of sale. If you don’t know what you have at every warehousing point at any given time, you have no way to track what you’re selling or why.
That’s especially important when you add offline sales to the mix, because it’s extremely easy to oversell thinking you have products left, when they’ve already been sold offline. For that reason, POS systems have to synchronize to master databases, so an item scanned out is treated as an item shipped out in your eCommerce system.
Flxpoint will resolve this issue as well, but can also help to avoid backorders or out of stock issues by diverting online orders to the next nearest warehouse location. If your customer is ordering closest to your retail store but the product is out of stock there, your eCommerce system could offer a delivery option or to ship to the store – but not immediate pickup in store.
Delivery
One of the key benefits of opening a retail store is enabling customers to buy online and pick up in store. Achieving that means synchronizing your processes so that retail stores can receive orders using the same software you process orders with.
Here, your brick-and-mortar store can serve as just another node in your inventory fulfillment network. Often, that will mean integrating the POS into your inventory management system, so you can receive orders in the same system where you process other orders in the system.
Here, tools like ShipHero allow you to import logistics points to automatically route orders to the nearest geographical point. That can include automatically submitting orders to your system, submitting pick and pack orders, and automating the process of preparing shipping labels and order tracking data.
Returns
Brick and mortar stores also allow you to create hybrid return options – with the intent of delivering a better customer experience. If customers want to show up in-store to return an item and get a replacement or money back, it also reduces costs on your end by reducing shipping, avoiding the issue of asking customers to take on the burden of paying return shipping, and providing a more immediate response.
However, doing so necessitates carefully synchronizing online orders with in-store inventory and orders. Your POS has to map to your shopping carts and online sales, so you can see orders, what customers paid, when they ordered, etc.
Here, tools like Loop Returns and Returnly can add return functionality on top of your omnichannel eCommerce solution. However, if you’re already using ShipHero, it also offers a native returns management solution – which may be a better call if you already use it.
And, of course, once you accept returns in a store, you’ll still have to process those returns, sort them, and move them to a warehouse or other facility – which will mean having logistics and integration in place.
Make your brick-and-mortar stores your competitive advantage
Eventually, brick-and-mortar stores can offer a lot of advantages for eCommerce brands. Not only do they give your brand trustworthiness, but they can also improve customer service, improve shipping speeds, and reduce costs for you and the consumer. And, if you choose locations based on where online orders take place, they can serve as valuable additions to your return and fulfillment processes. Of course, making everything run smoothly will require setting up tools to synchronize inventory across warehouses, sales channels, and points of sale.
About the Author
This is a guest post from Rachel Go. Rachel is a content marketer and strategist at Flxpoint, an enterprise ecommerce operations platform. Flxpoint enables merchants and brands to unify and automate every aspect of your ecommerce operations, and scale without manual processes or custom development slowing you down.
Sep 1, 2022 | newsroom
If you intend to ship ecommerce products to Florida, or anywhere in the Southwest region of the United States, it’s best to use a fulfillment center in Florida, or at least within the surrounding area. This way, you’re more likely to provide fast shipments to customers, and you don’t have to worry about expensive shipping rates when compared to shipping from further away.
Whether it’s a fulfillment center in Tampa Bay, Orlando, Miami, or even a city from the nearby states of Georgia and Alabama, these locations will assist you in meeting customer demands throughout the Southeast.
In this article, we cover the absolute best fulfillment centers in Florida based on locations, software offerings, pricing, and customer service. Keep reading to learn about all of them.
Read more at Ecommerce Platforms
Aug 26, 2022 | Blog
Whether we like it or not, Peak Season has returned. While 2022 has proven to be a bit more predictable than 2021, the fact remains that some of the changes we saw as a result of COVID-19 and its impact on the global economy are here to stay.
To prepare you and your teams for Peak Season 2022, we’ve assembled some facts regarding what happened last year, what we can expect to happen this year and how some of the lingering effects of the pandemic continue to impact shipping and consumer sentiment this holiday season.
What We Saw During Q4 2021
The last few months of 2021 were not quite as dire for eCommerce as people predicted. In fact, retail sales grew.
During November and December 2021, retail sales grew by 14.1% for a total of $886.7 billion in sales. And in the last two weeks of 2021, sales increased by 23%. By contrast, retail sales during the last two weeks of 2020 only grew by 11%.
What Does This Tell Us?
Even in the face of economic uncertainty and supply chain delays, people still shopped in Q4. The end of the year surge could account for folks finding alternative items if the ones they truly wanted were unavailable in time for the holidays. The growth earlier in the season could account for people getting more shopping done early to avoid shipping delays (we’ll talk more about that in a second).
While supply chain disruptions most definitely impacted consumers more in 2021 than 2020, it didn’t gravely impact their holiday spending. The growth in sales for the end of 2021 proves that people were still willing and able to spend.
What We Can Expect to See During Q4 2022
This year, the biggest ongoing concern for most consumers is inflation. It is true that the cost of goods has risen and these increased costs have impacted everyone. With higher costs for necessities like gas and food, there is a chance that discretionary spending will decline as people keep their wallets closed.
However, the overriding belief is that the 2022 holiday season will offer growth in retail sales. It is also predicted that shoppers will continue a trend that started 2 years ago and shop early to avoid shipping delays or products being sold out. In fact, 57% of consumers stated they aren’t going to wait until Black Friday to start their shopping.
What Does This Tell Us?
Primarily this means that the retailers that offer deals and discounts as early as October might see an influx of dollars. In 2021, Black Friday pricing started early and many shoppers capitalized on the savings. We can expect more of the same this year.
We can also expect that m-commerce (or mobile-first commerce) will continue to grow at a rate of about 15%, and with it, Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPIS) and Buy Online, Pickup at Curbside (BOPAC). Services like BOPIS rose sharply during the pandemic and the impacts will be long-lasting. Seventy percent of consumers surveyed said that BOPIS has improved their overall retail experience.
Shipping Delays & Strategies
Shipping is still an issue and it’s not changing. Many industry experts believe that a lot of the shipping challenges that were part of the pandemic are here to stay. Brands have been trying to find strategies to overcome shipping delays and rising costs.
Despite the hope that shipping delays between China and the United States would lessen as we distance ourselves from 2020, in fact, those delays have quadrupled since March of this year. These delays will continue to challenge retailers to keep warehouse and store shelves full.
And while the world is aware of the challenges faced by businesses and carriers to get packages delivered quickly, 70% of respondents in a recent survey published by UPS, stated that free shipping at checkout is the most important factor when making an online purchase. And 54% said that an estimated or guaranteed delivery date is the most important.
What Does This Tell Us?
Primarily this tells us that people’s willingness to forgive delays or rising costs due to the pandemic has waned. Also, when faced with rising costs in other sectors, consumers will look for somewhere to find a deal. Free shipping is still considered one of the best “deals” in the marketplace, regardless of its toll on retailer bottom lines and transportation carrier bandwidths.
Load Balancing On the Rise
Load balancing your warehouse has proven to save up to 25% on shipping costs. That savings alone is worth the effort; however there’s also evidence that load balancing can reduce your total costs by up to 13%.
This tactic has been growing over the past few years as more strategic inventory placement has proven to result in cost savings. Getting the right products closer to the customers that will order them is just one way to cut down on shipping costs, and also a way to improve customer satisfaction with quicker delivery times.
Load balancing is not without its challenges though. It does take coordination and a warehouse management software system that can support moving your products across different warehouse locations.
Rebound with Better Returns Management
Returns are again taking center stage as online purchases were returned last year at a rate of 17.8% which was an increase over the rate at the end of 2020. Research has also shown that return rates for online purchases in general are twice as high as returns of goods purchased in-store.
Additionally, more than 80% of shoppers have stated that a bad returns experience has resulted in them abandoning the brand for good.
What This Tells Us?
Buttoning up your returns process and making it easy on the customer and your warehouse team is key to rebounding from revenue lost to returns during this time of year. Research has shown that 30% of all returns can also be converted into a new purchase, so there is a chance to recoup some of those dollars.
Working with partners that specifically manage returns (Loop Returns and Returnly both have direct integrations with ShipHero) can make this aspect of the holiday a little less stressful. Tracking items, knowing when to expect returns and having the proper capacity to process them when they arrive in the warehouse are all ways to manage returns right.
It’s also possible to find Warehouse Management Software (WMS) that has native returns management, like ShipHero. However you choose to manage returns it should be two things: easy for the customer; and easy for your team.
Peak Season is Here
The time has come for Peak Season 2022. At ShipHero, we’re excited to see what will happen in the wide world of eCommerce this year. eCommerce as an industry has continued to grow and often outpace most people’s expectations. We’re expecting the same this year as well.
No matter how you get through Peak, don’t forget that there are partners that can help. ShipHero’s Warehouse Management Software sets up your warehouse with the end-to-end solution you need to keep everything running smoothly and packages shipping on time every time.
Talk to our software experts today and learn more about how our warehouse software is built for eCommerce brands to stay safe and optimized for the modern supply chain.
Aaron Rubin, Founder & CEO
ShipHero
About the author: Aaron Rubin is the Founder & CEO of ShipHero. He is responsible for planning and executing the overall vision and strategy of the organization. Rubin’s greatest strengths are leadership, change management, strategic planning and a passion for progression. He is known for having his finger on the pulse of ShipHero’s major initiatives, his entrepreneurial spirit, and keen business acumen. His leadership of ShipHero is grounded in providing excellent customer service that drives improved business operations. His passion for ShipHero comes from the culture and his ability to have an impact on the lives of employees, customers, partners, and investors.
Follow Aaron on Twitter & LinkedIn.
