Customers around the world spend nearly $500 billion on online shopping each year. Current trends and future predictions indicate continued ecommerce growth for years to come.

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Well, the most valuable part of ecommerce lifecycle is order fulfilment—where the actual magic happens. If ecommerce brands fulfil their orders faster and more accurately, the happier their customers will be.

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Thus, it makes order fulfilment the focal point of ecommerce.

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But fulfilment comes with a cost, and the process isn’t simply picking, packing and shipping boxes. According to research, 53% of merchants define shipping and logistics as significantly challenging. While another research states that 24.7% of merchants say that delivery costs are the biggest challenge their supply chain faces and 12% of merchants are unprofitable due simply to distribution costs.

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Moreover, since Amazon has emerged and transformed ecommerce with its free and fast shipping, competing with such high shipping standards has been brutal on the budget of startups and small and medium-sized ecommerce businesses.  Not to mention, enterprise-sized businesses also struggle with profitability while trying to keep ecommerce fulfilment costs low.

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However, profitability lies in the execution of the fulfilment process and adoption of the right strategy.

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In this blog, you will learn what slow shipping and high shipping fee costs to an ecommerce business, and how fulfilment is a revenue driver for an ecommerce business.

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Why ecommerce order fulfilment can’t be ignored?

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Ecommerce order fulfilment is a crucial part of ecommerce landscape. Despite its challenges and high associated costs, ecommerce fulfilment is the key to a great customer experience and loyalty.

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The impact of slow shipping on an ecommerce business

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• 53% of customers have abandoned a purchase because delivery was too slow
• 55% of customers will switch retailers for faster delivery
• 75% of customers want same-day shipping
• 98.1% of customers say that shipping impacts brand loyalty
• 73.6% of customers reported delivery is most important to the overall shopping experience
• 47% of online shoppers decided to not shop from a brand again due to poor delivery experiences

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The impact of high shipping fees on an ecommerce business

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• 80% of customers are persuaded by ‘Free Shipping’ to shop online
• 49% of customers abandon their shopping carts due to extra, often unanticipated shipping cost

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Ecommerce fulfilment as a revenue driver, not a cost-centre

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Today’s customers expect Amazon-like shipping speed everywhere they shop online—they don’t like to wait. Slow order delivery can fail to meet customer expectations and when this happens, customers are less likely to come back for repeated purchases.

Thus, your order takes too long to reach your customers, you may be risking the future of your ecommerce business.

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This means that if you ensure an efficient and speedy order fulfilment process, you can:

• Meet customer expectations
• Reduce shopping cart abandonment rate
• Improve conversion rate
• Increase sales
• Enhance customer experience
• Improve customer satisfaction
• Increase repeat purchases
• Improve brand loyalty
• Boost revenue in the long run

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Thus, the impact of ecommerce fulfilment on a business is too significant to ignore.

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Moreover, you can easily rise above the challenges of fulfilment and reduce fulfilment costs by outsourcing ecommerce fulfilment to a tech-enabled 3PL provider like Eshopbox.

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Ecommerce fulfilment by a 3PL partner can help you ensure a seamless supply chain without breaking your bank. Statistically speaking, 73% of 3PL users agree that 3PLs provide new and innovative ways to improve logistics effectiveness.

Basically, you let a third-party company take care of logistics and the fulfilment process for you while you handle your core business operations like marketing, product development, branding and more.

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With Eshopbox, 100% of your customers across India qualify for express shipping. You can store your inventory in Eshopbox’s distributed network of fulfilment centres across India—enabling you to offer lightning-fast shipping while reducing shipping costs by up to 45%. Eshopbox’s proprietary algorithm uses a combination of ground, air, and regional carriers to always deliver orders on time.

This means you don’t have to lose your customers due to slow shipping or make huge investments in staffing, infrastructure, and technology just to deliver your orders fast.

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Bottom line

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Fast shipping times are a necessity of modern times. Having a sound strategy in place to offer the same can help you succeed in the ever-growing and competitive ecommerce landscape. On the other hand, slow delivery can jeopardise your business altogether. With a tech-enabled 3PL like Eshopbox, you can make ultra-fast fulfilment your competitive advantage while cultivating deeper relationships and brand loyalty with customers.