Sometimes you're just at a loss for words.
It's not a question of planning, organization or lack of talent. You have already proven yourself in the past. You founded your web shop, but now you're facing the growing pains of your success. Your inventory is a mess. Your 2,374 products are scattered among dusty attic rooms, the kitchen sink and a damp basement.
Or maybe you already rented a warehouse? But you're mostly busy running it. While you know best that your attention pays off better if you focus it on prospects or new suppliers.
These states keep your customers from being properly served.
But it happens to the best of us. Even ultra-successful serial entrepreneurs run into it. They may whine about how difficult it is to set up a well-oiled machine. But nevertheless, they do it. Over and over again. Again.
The challenges of a growing webshop
A choice is much more than a string of logical considerations. People are often emotionally attached to their web store. Because so much time and effort is already put into it, they want to own everything at all costs. It's their baby. They want to feel good about it. They want a certain level of control. Especially towards their end customer.
But at what cost? Where do you draw the line?
Continuing to do everything yourself in a one-man show stops the growth of your business. We'll see in a moment what kind of problems this can cause. But one thing is for sure: you don't want your customers to suffer.
And again: You only have 24 hours in a day. You can't keep doing everything yourself. At least not if you want your business to grow.
Look at Kenneth, for example.
He runs a shop selling everything dog-related. His stock is hopelessly overstocked in an 8-square-meter attic. The cardboard boxes with products are scattered all over the place. Often with several items in one box.
Due to lack of space, he is forced to stack boxes on top of each other. If he then just needs something from one of the bottom ones, he quickly spends ten minutes preparing one order for shipment.
Everything is hard to keep track of and stock counts are a drama. Kenneth puts them off like the plague hangs on them. He just doesn't have the time or energy to get started.
When he still had a full-time job, he could only prepare orders often in the evening. He thought that by quitting his job he would have more time - but nothing could be further from the truth. In order to grow his shop, he now fills his days looking for new suppliers, making commercial contacts or putting out customer service fires.
He had to. Because he gave up his "steady" income. It's all on him now.
To prepare orders for shipment, he is again running out of time. Kenneth goes over his orders between soup and French fries and then prepares the packages. This causes his business to lose 1 day in delivery time anyway. It becomes difficult to tell his customers that "what is ordered before xx:xx will be delivered the next day".
Fact:
In 2015, you really can't do this anymore. Because there is always a competitor who does provide this service. If you don't cut your margins to compensate, it's bye bye customer in many cases .
Back to Kenneth.
Finally, he packed all the orders. They are ready to ship. But the post office has long since closed. Before, he never got there on time because he worked full-time. Now he has a new, self-created job. One that absorbs him just as much during the day (maybe even more than before).
And there are few alternatives. Couriers such as DPD, DHL and GLS are too expensive for relatively low order volumes. Does he still want to use them and make a decent profit? Then he will have to adjust his prices.
But Kenneth also knows that his customers can compare the prices of (almost) anything online with the click of a mouse (okay, maybe two or three). Consider, for example, websites like beslist.be. They give a price overview per product from different suppliers. Very easy for the end customer. In this case, less interesting for Kenneth.
So he has two choices. Either he cuts his margins, or he charges the shipping cost in full. But then, of course, his customers quickly move on to another.
And then there are the supplies.
Since he is often not home during the day, he has his orders delivered to his parents. Sometimes even to his parents-in-law. But more than once the truck driver found the doors closed.
Why? Why!
Because those people also like to eat pancakes with blueberries one day.
Because practicality is different.
Kenneth was working harder than ever. But through all these difficulties, he saw his sales, conversions and customer satisfaction drop visibly.
After a few nerve-wracking Internet evenings - looking for ideas - Kenneth came across BME tight on caffeine. A company that specializes in logistics solutions for e-commerce companies. They told him it was normal for his overhead costs to grow along with his webshop business. What else? That investing in a new location is only profitable from a certain volume. And the same goes for additional staff and numerous other costs. According to them, it would be useful to outsource the e-fulfilment. This would allow Kenneth to put the full focus on growing his business.
Kenneth thought this sounded good, but was skeptical at first. What if it didn't work? There would then be no time left to try something new....
After three months of outsourcing fulfillment, Kenneth had finally found time to work on his marketing plan. In fact, by clearing out his inventory, he realized that roughly 75% of his products were almost not rotating. While a quarter of his products accounted for about 80% of his sales. Kenneth eliminated the worst-performing part and focused more attention on the products his customers really want.
The freed up time was directly responsible for the introduction of 2 new product lines and a 23% increase in sales. It also allowed Kenneth to finally launch his second business. (A plan that had been gathering dust for a year and a half).
Què? A shop with everything for cats.
And by Christmas, orders from that shop also rolled smoothly out of BME's fulfillment center.
Who knows where Kenneth will be next Christmas?
E-fulfilment: a defining success factor for growing e-commerce businesses
It's pretty clear: Webshop logistics can be a pain in the ass.
But it doesn't have to.
Because fortunately, there are solutions. Companies like BME are relieving e-entrepreneurs as best they can. This gives one thing and another. Let's see what benefits this has.
- Your products are not haphazardly scattered there, but neatly stored in a brand-new warehouse.
- Also, playing warehouse is no longer necessary. BME helps you save on (1) warehouse rent and (2) any personnel costs.
- What's more, you also save on shipping cartons and courier services. Because thanks to volume contracts, you often get more competitive rates. And that, in turn, makes your customers happy.
- That you want to be in control, they understand. As we noted earlier, a decision is often a mix of sentimental and factual considerations. Handing over your products also just has to feel right. Trust their transparency as you closely track your inventory status thanks to the latest warehousing software. And it goes without saying that you can always go take a look at their fulfillment center. Just give them a call before you go by.
- Forget stock counts and use that time to do something more meaningful. BME keeps track of everything and makes sure you are always up-to-date.
- And orders ordered before 16:30 leave the same day. In neighboring countries, they are then delivered the next day.
Get a better night's sleep, too. And contact BME today.
Call +32 89 23 86 35 or email info@bme.be.
