For an ecommerce, being able to complete the fulfillment process accurately and quickly is the key to building a lasting relationship with customers and providing quality service. In this sense, order picking significantly influences the efficiency of a warehouse and, consequently, the customer’s overall shopping experience. This strategic operation not only determines order fulfillment times, but is also an indicator of the quality of service offered by a company.
In fact, a recent study revealed that over 70% of customers would not return to shop from an online store that made a mistake with their order. As can be easily understood from this, the importance of precise and accurate picking influences all subsequent stages of fulfillment. Furthermore, optimal management of the picking phase can also lead to significant cost savings.
In the following article, we will find out how to increase picking accuracy and how a logistics partner can make the difference, increasing the efficiency of your ecommerce.
Order accuracy
Order accuracy represents the percentage of ecommerce orders processed and shipped without errors. Differentiating order accuracy and order picking accuracy is essential: the first concerns the entire order fulfillment process, from picking and packing to shipping and final delivery, while order picking accuracy focuses exclusively on the picking phase, measuring the percentage of orders picked correctly and has a direct impact on order accuracy.
The accuracy of order picking
Accurate order picking is critical to meeting customer expectations, who will buy the same item elsewhere if they don’t receive the correct order. Not only that: focusing on improving this process will result in a significant reduction in delivery times and costs associated with errors. Finally, accurate picking makes it easier to track inventory movements and levels over time, as well as allow you to replenish stock faster and, consequently, make more accurate forecasts.
Strategies to improve order picking accuracy
Warehouse organization: an effectively organized warehouse can prevent errors during the picking phase. Make sure each SKU is correct to enable easier localization and avoid picking confusion.
Picking Strategies: Depending on the volume of orders, using different methods, such as batch picking or zone picking, can simplify and speed up fulfillment.
Identify and label products correctly: Properly identifying and labeling items reduces the likelihood of your team selecting the wrong items.
Implement Pick-to-Light System: Pick-to-light system is an automated, paperless picking technique that uses lights and quantity indicators to guide your team to the correct locations and quantities of products, improving speed and accuracy.
Check inventory regularly: Checking inventory regularly allows you to locate misplaced items and helps you avoid over-stock or out-of-stock products.
Picking errors
Did you know that a single picking error can reduce the profitability of an order by up to 13%? This is more than enough data to demonstrate how necessary it is to implement best practices and technologies to minimize picking errors in the warehouse.
Most common picking errors
Picking the wrong item because it’s in the wrong storage location: Having items placed in the wrong sections increases the chances of adding the wrong parts to an order.
Picking an item with a number close to the correct one
Withdrawing the wrong amount
Items located in different locations: To ensure that your warehouse inventory count stays up-to-date, you need to keep track of each pick and its specific location.
Picking an item because it is not labeled correctly: When an item enters your warehouse it should have a label that links it directly to your inventory, making it traceable.
How is the Order Accuracy Rate calculated?
For a successful ecommerce, the order accuracy rate should be as close as possible to 100% and it is essential to monitor and improve it over time.
To calculate this, divide the number of successful orders by the total number of orders and multiply the result by 100.
Strategies to improve order accuracy
Improve inventory management: Ordering issues often stem from disorganized inventory or lack of inventory visibility and tracking. Investing in inventory management software will help streamline the whole process.
Automation: Technologies such as a warehouse management system (WMS) can automate processes, reduce manual work, as well as errors, and elevate the quality of your service.
With these precautions you will be able to make the best use of the space in the warehouse, making the picking phase much simpler and more fluid.
Partner with an experienced fulfillment provider
Partnering with an experienced fulfillment provider like eLogy will enable:
- Real-time inventory tracking
- Optimized picking to reduce the time needed to pick an order
- Analytics and performance to identify inventory trends and have accurate forecasts on storage and trends of your products
Integrating your online store with eLogy will give you access to the logistics infrastructure, technology and order fulfillment expertise you need to optimize your supply chain. No more worrying about investing in a warehouse or multiple warehouses. eLogy will take care of everything while giving you the control and transparency you need to successfully complete the entire ecommerce order fulfillment process.
