Small and medium eCommerce brands often struggle when it comes to fast delivery. Well, we have the answer to it.
The Indian eCommerce industry is on an exceptional growth
trajectory, especially since the surge in digital adoption after the COVID-19
pandemic in 2020. It is estimated that the eCommerce sector is likely to reach
USD 111.40 billion by 2025 from USD 46.20 billion in 2020, which indicates an
annual growth of 19.24%. Retail experts foresee grocery to become one of the
key pillars of growth predicted to reach USD 18.2 billion in 2024 from the USD
1.9 billion in 2019, expanding at a CAGR of 57%. In fact, the Indian online
retail market is estimated to reach the USD 350 billion by 2030 from the
current market, amounting to the USD 45 to 50 billion.
At the India Internet Day 2021, organized by TIE Delhi
NCR, experts said that the number of online shoppers is expected to reach about
500-600 from 150 million shoppers in CY-2020. In recent years India has seen
exponential digital advancement from the increase of smartphone purchases to
the 5G rollout in the pipeline. According to the latest research, shipments of
smartphones grew by 82% YoY to reach over 33 million units in Q2, 2021.
So, this massive growth in the eCommerce sector has
encouraged many small and medium businesses or retailers to come forward in the
market and start selling their products online. However, to survive and grow,
they need to overcome the cut-throat competition and excel in their processes
and operations to escape getting replaced by the eCommerce giants.
With the massive increase in the number of online
shoppers, there is a significant rise in the competition among eCommerce
retailers. Apart from this, there is also a major shift in consumer behavior
and their expectations. Currently, one of the major demands of consumers is
faster delivery and more delivery options. You also need to ensure that every
order is delivered on time, every time. Let’s see what smaller and medium
eCommerce retailers require for faster delivery to retain and grow their
customer base:
Efficient Inventory Management. One
of the most crucial steps towards faster order fulfillment is
to manage inventory efficiently. It’s essential to be on top of the current
market trends, follow demand forecasting and analysis as accurately as
possible. To compete with the eCommerce giants, you need to have advanced
tracking tools in place to monitor your inventory and provide real-time
insight. You can also set up an automated inventory management workflow to
focus on the other aspects of the business, such as customer service, fraud
prevention, and merchandising.
Fulfillment Outsourcing. To
thrive in this highly competitive market and expand your eCommerce retail
brand, managing all the nuances of logistics operations with your in-house team
is difficult. In that case, you need a dedicated team of logistics
experts that might not be cost-effective until your
turnover reaches a certain level. Once you outsource this crucial business
function, you get enough time and resources to focus on your products and the
other aspects of the business.
Regulatory compliance.
Logistics providers handling food and grocery products need to comply with some
food and grocery-related stringent rules and regulations of the country. Some
guidelines laid down for refrigerated fulfillment have to be followed, or your
business might face legal issues.
Selecting the Right 3PL Partner. The
right 3PL partner can make or break your
brand reputation, especially if there is an order fulfillment issue. The
selection becomes a crucial process as it might risk your customer
satisfaction. After all, your customers know your brand and not the 3PL. Some
of the critical factors that you should evaluate carefully are the following:
Ensure that they understand your vision and align their
operations to help you achieve your goals.
Verify their technological and infrastructural capability
to help grow your business.
Check how adaptive they are in scalability to cater to
the ever-changing needs of a high-demand eCommerce business.
Make sure to validate their return management system as
it is crucial to maintain your customer satisfaction and be on top of the game.
Review the expertise, knowledge, experience of their team
carefully for you to trust them with an essential function of your business as
logistics.
Here comes XPDEL, a US-based high-tech provider of
fulfillment and logistics services, serving you now in India as well. In a
fiercely competitive market like India, where eCommerce giants are rapidly
replacing retail and small businesses, XPDEL is on a mission to help smaller
retailers succeed with eCommerce. Empowered with a strong network and advanced
technological and infrastructural capability, we bring growth solutions to help
you succeed. We solve your inventory, order fulfillment, and logistics needs by
providing a complete solution from the order through delivery. Our live
tracking and visibility result in an exceptional customer experience.
Conclusion:
In the end, it is a smart choice for you to partner with
a 3PL provider to overcome competition and expand your business. However,
selecting the right 3PL partner is quite crucial because, at the end of the
day, it’s your reputation that is at stake. Hence, we urge you to weigh all the
pros and cons of each 3PL service provider and then make a data-driven,
informed decision to select the right partner to win the game. Beat the
competition and get going!
