There is nobody working in any industry today who isn’t aware that recent years have seen an unprecedented number of economic challenges, challenges that have rocked many organizations to their core. Of course, there have been almost as many periods of increased business, but with this has come all the usual attendant challenges. Opposite fortunes are often experienced at the same time.
We are speaking here, specifically, about the pandemic. Where ecommerce is concerned, this has had two effects. The first was causing business to boom: with so many people ensconced at home and wary of venturing out of doors, the number of ecommerce orders leapt up. This seems, on the face of it, good news.
However, when you consider that the pandemic slashed the number of available workers in order fulfilment, it is easy to see how this actually put immense strain on the industry. For those companies that could handle it though, profits increased.
The pandemic is far from the only trouble of recent years though. Problems such as global recession and a more general trend of declining numbers of truck drivers, has impacted the logistics and order fulfilment industry.
Accordingly, there is a discipline being built up to preemptively plan for economic woes, and to know what to do before they strike. Shipping and Handling of Texas, a fulfilment company out of Sugar Land, Texas, say that putting a recession plan in place is now fairly standard practice among ecommerce fulfilment firms.
Dealing with Financial Downturn
Experts are currently in agreement that there is potentially another recession of the global economy looming. Hence, it’s wise to know how to weather it before it strikes. If you are not doing this, you run the risk of losing out to the competition, who certainly are.
Ecommerce fulfilment and logistics are, on account of recent and continuing problems, perhaps even more in need than most of putting measures in place in order to get through economic woes. Therefore, quite a lot has been done within certain companies in recent years which can be learned from. And the chances of automation solving the problem are pretty slim, simply because full automation is still very far away.
So, even if you are not currently experiencing any financial woes, you should, if involved in ecommerce fulfilment, consider these measures to help weather things like recession and high inflation. Here follows some of them:
Retain the Best Employees
The best employees are the ones who themselves experience job satisfaction – it is very rarely any other way. This means they are already predisposed to stay, but you should take extra care to hold onto them throughout difficult periods. Offering incentives where possible and building a solid working relationship are two things to consider.
Communicate with Ecommerce Clients
Constant communication with your ecommerce clients is not only a way to ensure that they are abreast of the challenges and what you are doing to tackle them, but it’s also important to ensure that they uphold their end of the bargain. You might even want to impose stricter payment timescales on clients to encourage a healthy cash flow.
Reduce Unprofitable Inventory
You might ship whatever the client needs, but you can still advise them on how to shift the inventory that is not as popular or profitable. This could lead to things such as the liquidation of inventory or a new ordering program. But the key thing is that ecommerce and ecommerce fulfilment work together.
The principles of economic stability, rapid shifting of inventory, and clear communication are behind the advice for weathering economic troubles. Do it right, and you will stand out from the pack.