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E-Commerce Gains with DepOrtak
Your e-commerce business has grown and you see that you need better logistics, especially warehouse-centric fulfillment operations, or you want to build an e-commerce business and you hear that logistics, especially warehouse-centric fulfillment operations, are very important.
You have two options in front of you. Either you can set up your own warehouse and perform fulfillment operations yourself, or you can get warehousing and fulfillment services from a logistics company (3PL) that provides warehousing services.
Performance of Logistics Activities Affects the Performance of E-Commerce
The three main processes in e-commerce are receiving the order from the customer, preparing the order and delivering the ordered goods to the consumer.
The second process, order preparation or, in popular parlance, fulfillment, is a process that starts with the customer placing an order, continues in the warehouse and ends with delivery, and includes the storage of goods and picking of orders, value-added services if necessary, packaging (special packaging such as gift wrapping if necessary), preparation of the order for delivery, and the third process, order delivery or, in popular parlance, Last Mile Delivery, involves the delivery of the products (order) to the consumer.
Two of these three processes, namely the preparation of the order and the delivery of the ordered goods to the consumer, include logistics activities for e-commerce, so it would not be wrong to say that 90% of e-commerce involves logistics activities (e-commerce is actually logistics) and that the performance of e-commerce is positively or negatively affected by the performance of logistics.
90% of e-commerce involves logistics activities and logistics performance affects the performance of e-commerce. This emphasizes the importance of the Last Mile Delivery process until the delivery of the ordered products, and perhaps due to the problems experienced in this process, the customer does not completely give up traditional retail shopping. This is because in traditional shopping, the customer immediately uses (enjoys) the product they have paid to the store and can return it to the store immediately.
In e-commerce, on the other hand, customers wait a few days to use (enjoy) the product they have paid for and have a lot of difficulties in returning it. For e-commerce customers, the pandemic is no longer considered a reasonable excuse for not delivering orders on time.
Two Options
You can either do your logistics for e-commerce yourself, especially in warehouse-based operations, or you can work with 3PL companies that provide logistics services.
Logistics problems, especially warehouse-based fulfillment operations, can negatively affect your e-commerce business. If you set up your own warehouse by renting, buying or building your own warehouse in order to ensure service quality and control of the process, there will be a lot of costs, a lot of time (weeks and at least 6 months-1 year in case of construction), legal obligations, investment for infrastructure, etc.
If you prefer 3PL, you may be thinking “you have already been burned once, but there may be other good alternatives” or “yes, we are growing, but our need is not so much that they do not want to work with us, and even if they do, they may be too expensive for us and their conditions may be very difficult for us” or “our need is very variable, sometimes short-term, sometimes small area, sometimes where will we find alternatives for different locations”.
Gains with DepOrtak
DepOrtak enables you to make shorter, easier and more cost-effective deliveries to customers (consumers) by accessing warehouses very close to your customers; to reach dozens of alternative 3PLs providing warehouse-centered fulfillment services in Turkey and abroad in seconds effortlessly with a single click, to review and compare them, to choose the most suitable one for you and to be ready for operation within days.
- For example, Gray Storage locations can be used for short-term use only on special occasions such as Valentine’s Day or during special campaign periods to deliver to customers in a shorter time.
- With storage areas close to customers (consumers), delivery cost can be reduced by 10%, delivery time can be maximum 2 days, sales can increase by about 20%, exact delivery time can be given, returns can be easier, stocks can be fed more accurately without the need to warn “limited to stocks”.
- By examining and comparing dozens of 3PL companies in a very short time, the right 3PL (cost, infrastructure, technology and even product expertise) can be found and after starting to work with this 3PL, warehousing-centered fulfillment costs can decrease by 12%.
- By accessing the storage areas of the most suitable size for your needs, you can pay only for the space used.
- When more space or service diversity is needed, it can effortlessly access alternatives in seconds without the need for additional investment in existing warehouse space.
- You do not need to invest in technology. Warehouse management programs and technological solutions provided by DepOrtak can be used.
- Supply chain and logistics flexibility is ensured by using storage areas where, when and how large they are needed.
- It can switch to a new structure that can deliver e-commerce orders to customers in a very short time. Storage areas that are DepOrtak members can be ready for operation in a very short time.
NOTE: The gains indicated with % are based on “The Total Economic Impact of Flexe Logistics” conducted by Forrester Research for FLEXE.
Last Mile Storage
Different, radical and technology-oriented solutions should be developed and implemented for the e-commerce business model. For this purpose, e-commerce logistics should move from a “centralized” structure for delivery to the customer (large storage area far from the point to be delivered to the consumer) to a “distributed (small storage areas close to the consumer)” structure with the strategy of “being close to the customer”.
The logistics of e-commerce can be handled by micro e-commerce warehouses or Micro Fulfillment Centers that are close enough to consumers to deliver to them in 2 hours, instead of the warehouses far away from consumers that are currently used.
Last Mile Warehousing is the positioning of micro e-commerce warehouses where value-added services can be provided in addition to basic warehousing services for e-commerce products, in a way to deliver to customers (consumers) within, for example, 2 hours. This time can also be reduced to minutes with mobile warehouses. The fact that the micro e-commerce warehouses to be used in the Last Mile warehousing solution are very close to the consumers can be a real solution to the “shorter delivery time” demand of e-commerce customers (delivery time can be reduced to 2 hours and if necessary, the consumer can even pick up from micro e-commerce warehouses within walking distance).
These micro e-commerce warehouses, “Micro FulFillment Centers” managed by DepOrtak chains, or Gray Storage locations used for short periods of time by e-commerce sellers who want to deliver to their customers in a shorter period of time, for example, only on special occasions such as Valentine’s Day or during special campaign periods.
Last Mile Warehousing can be the solution to existing concerns, issues and complaints, as well as better, easier and leaner management of distribution and returns for e-commerce.
The fact that the micro e-commerce warehouses to be used in the Last Mile warehousing solution are very close to the consumers can fulfill the e-commerce customers’ request for “shorter delivery time” (delivery time can be reduced to 2 hours and if necessary, the consumer can even pick it up from the micro e-commerce warehouses within walking distance) and can provide the benefit of flexibility for additional order or delivery time change or delivery address change or change in quantity, color, size, etc. or resolution of errors such as missing product, damaged product, wrong product, etc. or to resolve defects such as missing products, damaged products, wrong products, etc.
The micro e-commerce warehouses to be used in the Last Mile Warehousing solution are very close to the consumers, so that returns can be received (if necessary, the consumer can bring them to the micro e-commerce warehouses within walking distance) or repeated deliveries due to “undeliverable because you are not at home” can be avoided (if necessary, the consumer, micro e-commerce warehouses within walking distance or flexible delivery time slots that best suit the consumer), and also by delivering or picking up by bicycle and on foot, there is less vehicular movement, which can reduce air pollution, noise pollution, traffic congestion, reduce the likelihood of traffic accidents and provide more space for pedestrians. For e-commerce orders, CO2 emissions, noise pollution and traffic congestion from the distribution of e-commerce products can be reduced by delivering products from micro e-commerce warehouses within walking distance, if necessary, or by eliminating the process of collecting returns (if necessary, the consumer can bring them to micro e-commerce warehouses within walking distance).
With the use of micro e-commerce warehouses, there will be no need to build very large m2 e-commerce warehouses, so there will be no CO2 emissions during the construction phase, and energy consumption leading to CO2 emissions can be reduced as equipment such as forklifts, conveyors and sorters will not be used.
Instead of e-commerce parcel boxes or bags, which are used in current e-commerce logistics applications to prevent damage to the products due to being on the road for a long time and handled at different transshipment points, the cost of the product can be reduced by the fact that the products can be delivered only with the sales packaging with Last Mile Warehousing.
The Last Mile Warehousing solution enables delivery to be made at the time or location requested by the customer, rather than leaving a “We’re here but you’re not home” note on the door, and the consumer can even pick it up themselves from micro e-commerce warehouses within walking distance if they wish.
Last Mile Warehousing simplifies the returns process and can be a hassle-free and fast solution for returns. If the consumer wishes, they can bring the product they want to return to the micro e-commerce warehouse within walking distance, where it will be checked by experts and an immediate exchange can be provided.
Current e-commerce logistics practices logistics process Last Mile Warehousing, which will shorten and reduce cost, can therefore shorten the Order Cycle time and reduce the cost of the Order Cycle. The shortening of the logistics process and especially the elimination of cargo transshipment will shorten the movement time and distance of the products, so risks such as delay, damage and loss can be eliminated. In addition, the order delivery process can be simplified and streamlined by shortening the distance and time of product movement and eliminating waste in the process.
Last Mile Warehousing can increase e-commerce sales by improving customer satisfaction with 2-hour delivery and effortless fast returns, as a logistics solution for regional marketing or sales at events (for people coming to the city for a match…) or Livestream Shopping, and by increasing the conversion rate of website visits to sales.
The most important benefit of Last Kilometer Warehousing, which offers solutions for logistics-related problems in e-commerce, is that it supports individuals and micro or small companies that want to do e-commerce to work more easily and accurately. Thus, individuals and micro or small companies can have logistics competence.
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