Importance of warehousing:
Warehousing is the process of storing inventory that is packaged and sold or distributed to customers. It also happens to be fundamental to the success of any company selling physical goods. It allows you to stock inventory, repackage, and use eCommerce shipping solutions at scale. Warehouse operations are the daily activities that prepare inventory for shipping, inventory tracking, and order fulfillment.
Here are four crucial operational components of warehousing:
Pick and Pack: A process of selecting one or more products that was ordered by a customer, checking it, and packaging it for shipping.
Inventory Management: The inventory definition is tracking, measuring, updating, and retrieving products in a storage facility, including minimum and maximum quantities, stock-outs, and service level agreements.
Order Fulfillment: The process of getting an order ready for shipment to a customer and making sure it is shipped out as soon as possible.
Warehouse Management System: A software program designed to oversee warehouse operations, inventory storage, demand forecasting, and daily efficiency.
Warehouse management is the process of managing inventory in a warehouse, including tracking quantities, monitoring expiration dates, and organizing products based on customer demand. It also includes managing the process of receiving and storing inventory, and finalizing orders for shipments.
Inventory management can also be done using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and scanners, which lets you track items in real-time and quickly scan items once they get to the warehouse space.
There are numerous advantages of warehousing for eCommerce, an online marketplace, or a small business. Understanding how each advantage fits into your business model can clarify the warehouse logistics that suit you best.
Thier are some advantages of Warehousing:
1. Control Over Products
Keeping all of your product stock in a warehouse space allows you to maintain control over it. You can leverage inventory control, get rid of outdated products, and pack orders in a centralized location.
2. Improved Workflow
Using warehouse logistics to manage orders improves the workflow of your entire facility. By monitoring your operations over a specific period of time, you can quickly uncover inconsistencies. This enables you to dedicate time and attention to resolving any such issues.
3. Faster Shipping and Delivery
Packing your products up in the same warehouse space they were received in allows shipping and distribution to effortlessly handle their part. Customers expect fast turnarounds, and by eliminating lag time, you’re likely to win repeat business.
4. Close to Target Market
Many companies place their warehouses in locations close to their target markets. This supports fast shipping and easy returns–two factors that customers have high standards for. The faster each order is shipped and delivered to customers, the more time you have to focus on growing your business.
5. Long-Term Storage
Another benefit of warehousing is storing long-shelf-life goods in a safe, profitable manner. Instead of placing MOQ orders frequently, you can place EOQ or JIT orders more frequently and ship products out as they’re sold. This reduces time spent on receiving at your facility and allows both you and your staff to focus on fulfillment, customer service, and other warehouse services.
6. Risk Minimization
It’s easy to watch a handful of products when your venture just started. As you grow, preventing losses becomes more challenging. The benefits of warehousing include appropriate equipment for minimizing risk, especially for cold items and perishable foods.
7. Task Delegation
Maintaining your stock levels by yourself, all while handling sales and marketing, is time-consuming and costly. By warehousing your products, you delegate the former responsibilities to staff members.
Importance of Warehousing In Business
All of the types of eCommerce businesses selling physical goods must have an excellent, cost-controlled warehousing method to serve and retain customers. The goal with any company is to be profitable at scale. Efficient warehousing allows you to raise your prices without too much of your expenses slashing your profits. This is challenging in physical product businesses, as there’s always a cost tied to your sales, which is the cost of goods sold. If you sell any kind of physical item, you need a location to store increasing numbers of units.
