Tips to Improve Order Fulfillment

The order fulfillment process is one of the most prominent steps in the essential order-to-cash cycle. An efficient order fulfillment operation requires coordination across multiple departments and external partners, and keeping it streamlined is key to your brand’s reputation, profits, and customer satisfaction.

In fact, ShipStation reports that 70% of consumers say a bad shipping or delivery experience will negatively impact their overall view of a retailer. Common points for bottlenecks in the process include inventory management, demand planning, logistics planning, and supply chain execution.

Whether your fulfillment operations are in-house, or outsourced, it is fundamental to make sure the process is optimized. Keep reading for tips on how to improve the order fulfillment process.

Typical Order Fulfillment Steps

1. Receiving Orders

Salesforce receives the order, kicking off the order fulfillment process.

2. Processing Orders

Order details are verified in processing, along with inventory management and confirmation.

3. Picking & Packing

Products are picked from inventory and packed for shipping. This step is crucial as it can affect the accuracy of the order and the product condition upon delivery.

4. Shipping

A shipping carrier collects the order and establishes tracking for the order shipment.

5. Tracking and Delivery

The final step in the process provides the customer with order tracking information and ensures order delivery.

Due to the order fulfillment process involving multiple departments including inventory management, packaging, shipping, and delivery, it’s easy for information to fall between the cracks and trigger problems in the overall order to cash cycle. Coordinate between owners, managers, and fulfillment teams by using Work-Relay to track orders through Salesforce and provide a seamless transition between each step in the process.

Tips to Improve Order Fulfillment Using Work-Relay

Gain Visibility into Time Consuming Steps

Use the progress dashboard to gain real-time visibility into steps that are time consuming. Are there areas that can be improved? When order fulfillment steps are completed quickly, more orders can move through the process, leading to increased efficiency.

Improve Process Workflows

Look at the Order Fulfillment Process using Work-Relay’s process map and consider eliminating any unnecessary steps or simplifying steps where applicable.

Use data metrics to analyze weak spots in the workflow and minimize risks in the product fulfillment.

Keep Teams Focused and Organized

Employ Work-Relay’s Task Manager to show users all their project tasks. With Work-Relay’s Smart Step panel, you can view all information tied to that step including forms, collaboration, time logs, custom data, and more.

Increase Communication

With high level visibility into each step in the fulfillment process, teams are able to create clear communication with the customer. This includes communication regarding potential delays, accurate delivery dates, tracking information, or any updates as the order moves through the fulfillment process.

Customer communication is vital, considering 78% of consumers will forgive a company’s mistake after receiving excellent customer service.

See how Perennials used Work-Relay’s solution to improve their day-to-day operations and customer service. In April 2023, 100% of their rug deliveries were on time due to their ability to collaborate, organize, and track order fulfillment steps using Work-Relay.

The Bottom Line

Work-Relay provides an easy solution to ensure an optimized order fulfillment process. Benefits of improvement include customer satisfaction, retention, and overall business success. Work-Relay is the only vendor that can work alongside Salesforce to manage the end-to-end order to cash process as well as the individual project steps to deliver the goods and services to your end customers.