Importance of Packaging in Ecommerce

Importance of Packaging in Ecommerce

Importance of Packaging in Ecommerce

There has been a shift in the packaging of goods in recent times with ecommerce businesses around the world taking care to improve their packaging and labelling to not only ensure the safe delivery of a product but also for the promotion of one’s brand. When a customer receives an order in a good state, there are greater chances of a customer placing more orders in the future, thereby leading to increased growth in one’s business.

Following are the Importance of Packaging and the ways it can enhance e-commerce businesses:

  1. Helps in Reducing Company Costs

    Good packaging helps to reduce a company’s costs significantly as it ensures that a product does not get damaged during shipping, thereby reducing the chances of customers sending the product back and having to incur extra costs for reshipping the returned product. By investing in packaging, one can avoid such extra costs.

  2. Helps to Build a Good Relationship with Customers

    If a product is well-packaged, it has a lasting impression on a customer and can increase customer loyalty as well as customer retention. It also creates a good impression on of your brand on customers and helps in customer retention.

  3. Creates Brand Identity and promotes Brand Value

    Proper packaging further helps to create a strong brand identity. High-quality printing, use of good packaging material, distinctive design helps in engaging users thereby differentiating one’s brand from others. Good ecommerce packaging has a great impact on the success of one’s business. It minimizes the volume of returns and foster customer loyalty, and establishes in building brand value. Packaging is as important as branding. Packaging is an extension of one’s brand and plays a major role in conveying the nature of one’s business as well as what the products are about, and the feeling it generates. Packaging should match the brand value, proposition as well as position in the market.

  4. Increase in Interest / Retention

    Good packaging enhances customer lifetime value. In addition, proper packaging benefits one’s business through word of mouth and leads to customer retention.

  5. Order Values

    The size of the box to ship packaged goods can also make a big difference to the shipping costs of a retailer, in particular with the introduction of volumetric and pricing that are in proportion to shipping charges. It is therefore important that a retailer has appropriately sized boxes for their order, combined with a sensible unit price for one’s packaging.

  6. Slow Shipping

    Slow shipping time often discourages customers. While a reliable courier makes a big difference, what people forget is that picking as well as packing of an order also takes time. If an order is picked and packed quickly and efficiently then it gives one a fighting chance of offering next or even same day delivery options. Slow delivery times often puts off ecommerce customers and hence it is important to ensure that one’s packaging does not affect this.

  7. Customer Loyalty

    Custom packaging drives loyalty among people. Over half of people who have received custom packaging are likely to purchase products from the same company for future orders. That itself is a huge impetus to considering good custom ecommerce packaging. Custom packaging is cheaper to send, protects the contents better by eliminating movement during transit, and is better for the environment as it would include using less material in addition to eliminating secondary packaging and its requisite costs such as foam pellets, polystyrene etc.
    It would also give retailers a chance to drive loyalty, increase visibility of your brand and delight your customers by providing them with a great shopping experience. Custom, and even personalized ecommerce packaging helps in driving loyalty among customers and helps in retaining them.

The importance of packaging in ecommerce

The importance of packaging in ecommerce cannot be overlooked. It is extremely important, especially as a marketing tactic as one’s ecommerce packaging has the potential to build brand value and brand image, increase sales, improve customer loyalty as well as help to position one’s business where retailers hope to be in the market. A combination of all these factors will have a significant impact on the success of the business of an ecommerce seller and his or her profitability.

Importance of Inventory Management

Importance of Inventory Management

Importance of Inventory Management

Inventory Management

Inventory Management is crucial to prevent an “out-of-stock” situation that can lead to lost sales for ecommerce sellers and disappointment for customers. Inventory management controls the entire flow of goods from manufacturers to warehouses and from there to point of sale. It entails management of orders, returns, logistics, returns etc.

It is necessary to streamline the inventory management system as a mismanaged inventory can lead to retailers witnessing huge losses.

Why do you need Inventory Management?

It is imperative for ecommerce retailers to be aware of its inventory in order to achieve efficient as well as fast operations, at an affordable cost.

An efficient management of inventory results in reducing costs that further helps to keep accounts and finances of retailers in check.

It also helps in offering better customer service through fast delivery of goods and low shipping charges, thereby meeting customers’ expectations.

Benefits of Inventory Management: There are a plethora of benefits in having inventory management.

Keeps track of one’s inventory and provides a centralized view of stock.

Controls the costs of ecommerce sellers by creating stock reports in order to analyse the inventory.

Enhances delivery by proper management of stock-outs and meeting the expectations of customers.

Assists in planning and forecasting by properly analyzing the data trends.

Reduces the time taken for managing the inventory by keeping one’s records in place.

eVanik OneWorld Suite: eVanik OneWorld Suite from the trusted eVanik Networks, which is the most awarded ecommerce solution provider in India, helps in effective inventory management. Over 12 thousand ecommerce sellers rely on eVanik OneWorld Suite to automate their back-office marketplace operations and skyrocket their online business on the best online seller sites in India.

eVanik OWS’s inventory management software is a centralized and synchronized inventory management software for multi-store, multi-channel businesses selling online and offline. This inventory management software manages common inventory for several channels and automatically reprice it to stay on “Buy Button” always thereby helping ecommerce retailers to keep growing their sales. It also helps to manage the order lifecycle. From procurement to warehousing, from order processing to shipping to returns, eVanik OneWorld Suite helps in the entire order lifecycle management. The software also provides Live/Out of Stock and Price Tracker. For brands selling through partners, dealers etc, one can get real time visibility on Live/ Out of Stock products and price change alerts with email notifications. eVanik OneWorld Suite from the trusted eVanik Networks also provides ecommerce reconciliation, with 99.6% accurate reconciliation of payments, returns, commissions and inventory in real time, with no cumbersome excel uploads or downloads.

Benefits of eVanik OneWorld Suite: Inventory management and Business profitability are interrelated and the biggest reason for the success or failure of a business is the way the inventory was managed. In the e-commerce marketplace scenario, inventory management becomes all the more important and hence it is imperative to have a seamless and centralized ecommerce inventory management software like the eVanik OneWorld Suite.
1. eVanik’s inventory management software tool helps an ecommerce seller a great deal by automating the online sales and inventory management system.

2. eVanik OWS is connected with all major e-commerce marketplace channels for inventory management. All one needs to do is set up the virtual common inventory once and the system will manage it across all marketplace channels for all products.

3. eVanik OWS Inventory Management Software is a boon for ecommerce sellers as it helps to manage their inventory across Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, ClubFactory among others.

4. eVanik’s inventory management software helps sellers to save valuable time so they can focus on growing their retail business while eVanik OWS Inventory Management Software improves visibility into their supply chain.

5. It manages their online inventory by easily tracking and syncing product quantities across all online sales platforms in real-time. Every time a retailer receives an order from an online channel, eVanik OWS’s inventory management software apart from fetching that order, also automatically refreshes stock data to all online channels where the product is listed.

6. Does not require any software to install

eVanik OWS Inventory is a fully web-based solution that is hosted in the cloud. As a result, retailers never need to install software, upgrade updates, or archive their data.

7. Integration of multiple selling platforms

eVanik OWS Inventory has over twenty integrations with many selling platforms including Flipkart and Amazon, and will mitigate the headaches due to overselling. eVanik OWS automatically updates the selling channels in real-time with updated stock levels.

8. Support High Transaction Volumes

eVanik OWS Inventory supports higher volumes of transactions so sellers do not face any problem.

9. Free training and support

eVanik OWS provides a free training session from the start, and on procuring the software, ecommerce retailers are assigned a dedicated customer relationship manager to handle all their queries.

Key Features of eVanik OWS’s inventory management software: Following are the chief features of the eVanik OneWorld Suite from the trusted eVanik Networks, which is the most awarded ecommerce solution provider in India.

1. Composite SKU’s (bundles/kits) One can now combine SKUs to create composite SKUs that will depict the inventory of the underlying SKUs. Managing inventory with bundles will help to enhance your catalog by creating new offerings from your existing products with attractive pricing for higher-order values.

2. Advanced Order Routing

The software further offers Advanced Order Routing based on geolocation, warehouse priority, and stock availability. You can now combine SKUs to create composite SKUs that will depict the inventory of the underlying SKUs.

3. Custom Alerts
Ecommerce sellers can now set custom alerts for low inventory levels and create purchase orders.

4. Product SKU Mapping
With our unique inventory mapping system, sellers can track their products with different identifiers.

5. Multichannel Tracking
One can track product quantities and sales across boundless integrations. For retailers that have inventory in multiple warehouses, eVanik can allocate inventories and designate orders based on predefined rules, such as region, shipping method, or other special designation of inventory.

6. Sell better, faster with eVanik OWS
With the best inventory software, you can turn inventory faster, maintain higher margins, and reduce manual inventory-related tasks, helping you focus on what you do best: sell.

7. Centralize your inventory
Visibility across multiple sales channels, stock locations, and stages of the product life cycle within one simple inventory app.

8. Sell flexibly
Take advantage of merchandising techniques like bundling and pre-orders.

9. Low Stock alerts
Avoid overselling and stockouts with low-stock alerts, and automatic stock adjustments as sales orders are processed and purchase orders are received. Low inventory alerts make it simple and convenient to place a reorder from the appropriate supplier directly from eVanik´s.

10. Automate purchase orders
eVanik´s powerful capabilities automate and simplify your inventory management. eVanik automatically adjusts inventory through purchasing or vendor feeds. Product availability amounts are automatically updated across all marketplaces.
11. Transfer and track inventory
eVanik´s end-to-end platform will automatically reserve availability when an order is first created and decrease it from physical inventory upon shipping.

12. Cloud-based inventory management software
Modern Inventory software without the excruciating updates; available regardless of where a client or group is based.

13. Integration with accounting software
Build and study Sales and Inventory Reports

eVanik OWS Inventory Management software thus is an efficient and affordable software that gives retailers a robust product that has a plethora of advantages that helps ecommerce retailers catapult their business and take it to greater heights.

15 Effective Inventory Management Techniques

15 Effective Inventory Management Techniques

Effective Inventory Management

A recent study which is done by the Warehousing Education and Research Council found when it surveyed the number of e-commerce companies that the main the reason why many companies face loss is due to a lack of inventory management. These companies doesn’t have effective inventory management techniques.

Inventory Management plays a vital role to run a successful business or company. Have you ever wondered how companies earn a great profit? There are many companies that face loss due to mismanaged inventory. Inventory management is essential for a business or company to be successful.

The clothing retailer H&M company has made it to the top with a $20.3 billion yearly sales. In a decade, retail giant Walmart has grown from $70 to $127 billion and dominating the whole market. This is all possible due to a solid inventory management.

If you want to remain competitive and profitable in the market then you need a cost-saving solid inventory management system that helps to boosts the profit of your business. There are also some companies which get a lot of sale and customers but cannot make a profitable business from it due to lack of inventory management.

Inventory is a placeholder for your money. Holding an inventory ties up with a lot of cash. That’s why it is very important to have good inventory management for growing a company. There are various inventory management techniques are available, and choosing the correct one can lead to providing the correct goods, at the correct amount, place, and time.

Large Inventory. Warehouse Goods Stock for Logistic shipping banner background.

Here you will get some best techniques for inventory management. By implementing these inventory management techniques you can take your business at the next level. But before that lets us know more about inventory management and it’s importance.

Organizations from small as well as large businesses can make use of inventory management to manage their flow of goods properly.inventory management includes aspects like controlling and overseeing purchases from the suppliers as well as customers in order to maintain the storage of stocks and to control the amount of product for sale and order fulfillment. Business is useless without proper inventory management.

As per the research, the data came in front of us that about more than 43% of business owners don’t track their inventory. This is one of the reasons why many companies and businesses cannot grow even though they had a lot of demand in the business.

The survey by Supply Chain Dive shows that one-third of warehouses do not have a proper inventory and warehouse management system which is the main reason why companies are facing loss even after a lot of demand for products. So it is very important to have solid inventory management to run a successful business or company.

Effective Inventory Management2

Inventory management uses many techniques to keep the right amount of goods on hand to fulfill customer demand and operate the business profitably.

15 Inventory Management Techniques for your business

Here are 15 Inventory management techniques that will definitely help to improve your inventory management and cash flow. Optimal inventory management varies for every company, but there are some general strategies by implementing any business can grow. We have listed here 15 techniques for great inventory management.

1) FIFO ( First in First Out) Method

It is a very important concept and widely used in inventory management by various businesses. It works on the basic principle that the product which comes first in the warehouse should be sold first. In this method First or the oldest stock will be used first.

This method ensures that the oldest stock will be used first which helps to reduce the cost of obsolete inventory. This inventory system is commonly used in several companies and warehouses. The FIFO method is applied to both warehouse management and accounting.

FIFO technique plays an important role in the warehouses that contain perishable products. It is widely used in the food and beverage industries. It helps in Effective management of your warehouse space.

2) Minimum Order Quantity ( MOQ)

Generally, suppliers used to supply the product in whatever quantity which you have ordered from them for your business. But there are many problems we have to face while order certain products from the suppliers because they have minimum order quantity criteria.

A minimum order quantity (MOQ) is the lowest or minimum amount of stock that a supplier is willing to sell or accept. If you are not able to purchase the minimum order quantity of a specific product, then the supplier won’t sell it to you.

The main purpose behind minimum order quantities is to allow suppliers to make more profits while getting rid of more inventory management.
Wholesalers generally don’t prefer doing business in such a way, but in many cases, wholesalers are forced to sell using MOQs because they’re forced to buy a minimum amount of stock from the manufacturer.

3) ABC Analysis

There are many products available in our inventory and it is obvious that we are more focused on the products which have more demand in the market and have high sales. But to manage the inventory effectively it is very necessary that we should give attention to each and every product.
For this Many businesses use the ABC Analysis technique which is the best method to efficiently manage your inventory. In this method, the products are getting categorized into different groups.

Effective Inventory Management3

ABC analysis is an approach for classifying the products which are present in the inventory as per their consumption values. Consumption value is defined as the total value of an item that is consumed over a specified period of time.

ABC analysis is a method of analyzing which helps to categorized products into three categories: A, B, and C.

Category A

In this category, the products are of high-value but have a low frequency of sales. Such products required more attention because it consists of products which have more financial value.

Category B

In this category, the products are of low value but have a high frequency of sales. In this case, such products may require less attention because they are continuously moving because of high demand.

Category C

In this category, the products are of moderate value and of the moderate frequency of sales. But this also required some attention and financial assessment.

4) Safety Stock Inventory

It is the level of extra stock that is maintained to mitigate the risk of run-out for goods and raw materials due to uncertainties in the supply or demand. It plays an important role in order to avoid stock out and keep customer satisfaction at a high level.

safety stock inventory helps to keep your warehouse and supply chain running smoothly. The goal of safety stock inventory is to make sure that your customers will be satisfied and keep coming back to you.

Safety stock protects against unforeseen variations in supply and demand. In simple words, Safety stock is an additional quantity of products added in the inventory to reduce the risk that the product will be out of stock.

5) Centralize your Inventory

Centralized inventory is a method in which stock is kept in a single location. Businesses generally merge all their products into a single place to make inventory management easy.

Centralizing your inventory has a number of benefits for your business. One of the greatest benefits of Centralize inventory systems is operational efficiency.

Centralized inventory maybe sometimes changing demand. With stock in a single location, it can be difficult to fulfill orders when there’s been a spike in demand in a specific geographic region or weather makes fulfillment impossible from your single warehouse.

Centralize inventory is the key to the profitability of your business.

6)Batch Tracking

Batch Tracking is a method that is used to group and monitor a set of stock that has similar properties. This process is used for the efficient tracing of goods.

It gives you detailed information about the product from raw material to finished goods. It helps you to know where it comes from, and where it went.

There are several benefits of batch tracking like:

  • It helps to improve relationships with suppliers.
  • It helps to identify which products are going to be expired.
  • It has fewer accounting errors.

Batch tracking allows insight into the quality of your finished goods by tracking the raw materials of your suppliers. This identifying your best and worst suppliers which helps you to decide the right suppliers.

7) Dropshipping

It is a very simple method in which there is the direct delivery of the goods from the manufacturer to the customer.

Dropshipping is a supply chain management that allows businesses to reduce their inventory costs by not holding any inventory. It is one of the best inventory management techniques.

It is a very simple method in which we first receive an order then we have to forward it to the supplier and the. The supplier fulfills the order.

There are several benefits of using the Dropshipping technique for inventory management:

  • One of the greatest advantages of Dropshipping is that we don’t have to invest a huge amount of money. It requires very little capital.
  • Dropshipping required fewer overheads Because we don’t have to invest in purchasing inventory or managing a warehouse.
  • Nowadays, dropshipping business can be run from anywhere. As long as you can communicate with suppliers and customers easily, you can run your business from anywhere.
8)Managing Relationships

It is one of the most important factors for running a successful business. A good relationship is very important in business. It is about clear, proactive communication.

It is very that you should have a strong relationship with the supplier to run your business effectively. This will be helpful to you for minimum order quantities. You can ask your supplier for a minimum order quantity so that you don’t have to carry much inventory. Good Relationships play a key role in order to build a successful business with maximum profit.

9)Contingency Planning

If you are running a business there are many uncertain inventory management issues are come in front of us and it is very difficult to fix or resolved those issues on time.

The problems which can arise during inventory management are as follows:-

  • The product has a low frequency of sales takes the maximum space of your warehouse and there is no or little space available for products having a high frequency of sales.
  • The unexpected rise in demand for a specific product and the product is out of stock.
  • Cash flow turns to negative and it is not possible for you to pay for products which you needed.
  • The manufacturer stops the delivery of the product without any prior notice. So it is necessary that you should identify the risk and make a solid contingency plan for better inventory management.
10)Regular Inventory Audit

An inventory audit is defined as the analytical procedure that helps to cross-checks the financial records which match inventory records, or the count of physical products.

It is very necessary to do regular auditing of the inventory in order to have an idea of stock in the warehouse. There are three ways by which the inventory can be tracked

  • Spot Checking-It is the method in which the products are manually counted and cross Check with the actual data. This is generally done for high-value products.
  • Physical Inventory-Many businesses prefer to do counting if the whole inventory only once at the end of the year because of the accounting and tax filling purpose.
11)Set par levels

A par level is defined as the minimum amount of a product that should have on hand of any business. This helps to meet the customer’s demand while also maintaining safety stock in the case of uncertain demand.
The par level is ideal for use Effective management.
If you track par levels in real-time it will help you to track which stocks are depleting faster than others and which products have less demand in the market. It will prompt proactive orders to replenish stock so you don’t run out.

If you don’t maintain par levels properly, you might find yourself in a situation where you cannot fulfill customer demands.The concept of par levels is helpful for warehouse managers and business owners for control of the inventory.

12)Prepare for different Seasonality

There is a massive change in the demand for the product as per the season. So it is very necessary for the business that you should be ready for the changes in customer demand in the market.
Seasonal inventory required stock which is in high demand during particular times. these periods of time often coincide with the different seasons, and companies need to be proactive in preparing for different demand during these key times.
Seasonal inventory can be unpredictable in the market. seasonal inventory can be a challenge to your inventory control plan, making it difficult to prepare for the changes in demand for various products in the market.
So it is necessary to forecast the demand of products from past data to achieve better inventory management.

13)Tracking your sales

Tracking sales and available inventory help in determining what you need to order. Using the point of sale and tracking programs can add to the expense but they will help you to ensure that your customers have what they want while you maintain the minimum amount of stock necessary.

It is very necessary to track inventory levels on time for proper supply chain and critical for e-commerce brands that want to scale up successfully in the market. If you do not properly track your inventory sales it will end up with frustrated customers, excessive inventory, obsolete inventory which is not good for your business.
A good inventory system will help in communicating with suppliers and making demand adjustments. Using an inventory tracking system is the most efficient inventory tracking technique as it helps in achieving better transparency and accuracy than other techniques.

14) Accurate Forecasting

For ideal inventory management requires accurate forecasting of the demands for different products. But the forecasting is not an easy task it requires deep study and analysis of the market. It depends on the various factors
Various Trends for different products in the market.

  • The growth rate of the current year.
  • The demand of customers for specific products.
  • Guaranteed sales from contracts and subscriptions
  • Seasonality and the overall economy

Demand forecasting goes beyond simple estimates of product demand, looking into complex patterns overtime to produce more accurate and timely predictions. Any organization will be able to better manage inventory, increase revenue only after proper inventory management and accurate forecasting of sales.

If you are running a business and want to scale up, then it is very important to investigate the efficiency of their inventory management and forecasting processes.

15) Lean manufacturing system

Lean manufacturing system is an inventory management technique that primarily consists of a set of tools, a philosophy, and a system. It aims to reduce waste, optimize production, and helps put the customer first.

  • The lean manufacturing technique delivers the most valuable product to the customer.
  • It undergoes a process of ensuring all of your value-adding steps flow smoothly without any delays or interruptions.
  • It maps out the steps and processes required to manufacture high-value products.
  • Lean thinking and process improvement is a core part of the company culture.
    Lean inventory management is the calculated approach to increasing the value of a company inventory by identifying and eliminating waste which is left after the manufacturing of the products.
Conclusion

It is very necessary for wholesalers and businesses to focus on inventory management to run their business effectively and having a check on finance and accounts. If there is a lack of management you cannot efficiently get items to customers when they need them. Inventory management will help you to know which products are overstock, under stock, and out of stock. Inventory management helps to keep a check on the financial activities of the organizations.
Inventory management touches many parts of your business. This can lead to different types of problems in the business. Inventory management helps in faster shipping, within the warehouse. you can easily know that you have the inventory on hand to ship. You’ll have more control over your inventory and be able to track it over different locations.
So now it’s time to take control of your inventory by using the above inventory management techniques which will definitely stop you from losing money and make your business more profitable. eVanik gives you the capability to implement all the above mentioned techniques.

Top 9 Shipping Aggregators for Online Sellers

Top 9 Shipping Aggregators for Online Sellers

Shipping Aggregators

During these COVID-19 outbreak time, consumption patterns have changed tremendously. One siginificant change lockdown has brought that whole digital landscape has been changed.  People livingi n Tier-II and Tier-III cities have become part of digital revolution. They can been seen attending video calls, video meets, e-learning etc. This transformation has also led the buying of essential and non-essential goods from various e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm etc and small niche websites of various people.. Online sellers has felt the need to have better control on their product distribution as well as last mile connectivity. Hence, role of shipping aggregators for online sellers became more relevant.

This is giving rise to shipping aggregators, which is benefiting the transportation domain. Shipping aggregators are increasing which helps the e-commerce traders to transport their products to each and every corner of the world.

Almost all the online sellers hire a shipping aggregator to maintain the position of their business. Also it helps the business to grow and expand.

It is very important and useful for the online sellers to hire shipping aggregators to grow their business as one person cannot handle and manage everything. Outsourcing is essential in every kind of business as it leads to better management and reduction in Costa as well.

So, We selected some of the best shipping aggregators for online sellers.

 Advantages of using shipping aggregators for online sellers

Shipping Aggregators1

  1. Reducing transportation cost: If you own an online business, you have to own or rent vehicles and hire drivers for transportation which will cost you too much. Also, you have to give taxes for your vehicles and pay the bills of the fuel used during the shipment. But if you outsource the transportation, it will result in cost reduction as all the changes will be reduced and you have to pay the minimum fees to shipping aggregators.
  2. Maintenance charges are reduced: When you will provide your own transportation, then you have to maintain all your vehicles. Also, you have make them register for commercial use. The registration cost will also be eliminated if you outsource the transportation.
  3. Better Performance: The businesses that outsource transportation have better performance as they have more time to concentrate on their main work which helps in expansion of the business. Online sellers have time to plan the strategies for future. Also, it becomes easier for them to manage the accounts which is a great relief for online sellers.
  4. Reduction in training cost: When you will provide transportation yourself, you have to provide training to all the delivery boys. But in the case of outsourcing, all the cost of training is handled by the courier service providers.
  5. No stress of liability: If you provide your own shipment, many losses may occur life theft, accidents etc but in case of hiring a shipping aggregator, online sellers are free from these kind of losses and liabilities.
 Things to consider before choosing a shipping aggregator

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  • Always choose a courier service provider which provides fast delivery as when the delivery of the products will be late, the customers tend to loose interest in the products and remain unsatisfied.
  • If you run a large scale business, you must look for a shipping aggregator which provides their services at the global or a larger level as to provide shipment to all the customers in each and every corner of the world.
  • You should look for the shipping aggregators who provides you the facilities of tracking and managing your accounts as it is more convenient, helpful and also a effective service for your business. Also, it helps reducing the cost of the system which ultimately helps in gaining profit.
  • Try to choose a courier service provider who support cash on delivery. It will help the business to make a good connection and trust in your customers which will lead to the expansion of the business.
    Best shipping aggregators for online sellers 
    1. Shiprocket:

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  • It has 8 shipping partners to give the best services to e-commerce traders which helps the online sellers to expand their business.
  • It is cheap and also offers discounted shipping which helps the e-commerce traders to earn profit by providing reasonable rates to consumers.
  • It also offers 4 types of pricing plans to e-commerce traders so they can choose the plan as per their convenience.
  • It provides the services to 20000+ pin codes on cash on delivery which is very beneficial for online sellers. It is the best shipping aggregator at cheap rates.
  • It provides a dashboard which gives the tracking details of the shipment to the online sellers as well as to the customers.
2. ShipYaari

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  • It is the oldest shipping aggregator which makes it trustful for all the online traders.
  • It has 3 pricing plans for online sellers to give online sellers a choice which helps the online sellers to choose a price plan as per their convenience.
  • It gives the plans on monthly, half yearly and annual subscription model.
  • It provides their services domestically and internationally too as it have 2 international and 4 domestic partners. Best shipping aggregator in India.
  • It also offers discounted rates at bulk shipping which gives profit to online sellers.
  • It does not provide multi location pickup which is the only problem online sellers suffers while contracting with Shipyaari.
3. Shipkaro

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  • It is very promising and reliable shipping aggregator for online sellers.
  • It also provides 3 pricing offers to the online traders that are individual, business and enterprise to provide convenience to the traders.
  • It provides shipping domestically as well as internationally as it have 12 shipping partners. Best shipping aggregator with COD availability.
  • It gives a huge discount to online sellers for bulk shipping orders.
  • It offers full cash on delivery support at 20000+ pin codes which helps online sellers to expand their business.
4. Pickkr

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  • It works on pay per use basis which helps the small scale businesses to grow with little amount of capital.
  • It provides services domestically as well as internationally. It also provides a B2B shipping as well as B2C shipping.
  • It provides the tracking facilities to online sellers as well as to the customers which makes the customers delighted.
  • It provides pickup service as well to multiple locations which benefits the online sellers to make their customers satisfied.
  • It provides services at very low rate so that online sellers can make profit with 3 price plans to provide convenience to online sellers. Best shipping aggregator globally.
  • It also provides a NDR calling support with NDR management tools.
5. Zepo Couriers:

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  • It offers courier service to the e-commerce sellers. It has partnership with 6 courier service companies which makes it very effective and efficient.
  • It provides delivery to 15000+ pin codes in India to reach each and every corner of India.
  • It works on a very reasonable price rates and also provides 3 price plans to the e-commerce sellers.
  • It offers discounted rates but not at monthly and half yearly subscription which creates a difficulty to new or emerging online sellers. Best shipping aggregator with huge discounts.
  • It also supports cash on delivery which gives a relief to online traders.
6. Shyplite

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  • It works on pay as you go model which helps the new or emerging online sellers as they can pay in parts and not in bulk.
  • Due to pay as you go model, it cannot provide premium advantages which becomes a great reason of large scale seller to not to choose shyplite but this proves the best courier service company for small scale e-commerce traders.
  • It is growing and has 8 courier service companies as its partner.
  • It also provides cash on delivery facility to some of the locations which helps the e-commerce traders to grow. Best shipping aggregator in India.
  • Overall, it provides the services to 26000+ pin codes in India which helps the e-commerce sellers to reach each and every corner of India.
7.  Vamaship

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  • It is the cheapest alternative for the e-commerce traders which attracts almost all the online sellers.
  • It provides the shipping facilities globally with 26000+ pin codes to cover whole of the world which is very beneficial for the online sellers as it gives them an opportunity to expand their business.
  • It does not take platform usage fees and only take shipment fees which makes it the cheapest courier service.
  • It provides you a platform to send your customers a customized ‘best buying experience’ notification to delight your customers. Best shipping aggregator with tracking facilities.
  • It also supports cash on delivery all over India with a pickup facility too which helps the online sellers to build a trust of the customers all over India.
8. ShipDroid

Shipping Aggregators10

  • It provides an easy account management system to the online traders which helps them to calculate their sales.
  • It is economical and provides services at low rates which helps the online sellers to gain profit without pressurizing their customers.
  • It provides a dashboard to online sellers which gives all the tracking details of every minute to customers as well as to online sellers. Best shipping aggregator for online sellers.
  • It supports cash on delivery which facilitates the online sellers to make their customers comfortable and helps in building trust of customers
9. iThink Logistics.

Shipping Aggregators11

NameNo. of partnersPin code servicesCOD facilityPlatform feesCustom Tracking page
Shiprocket819000+YesYesYes
Shipyaari410000+YesYesYes
Shipkaro1315000+YesYesYes
Pickrr10+26000+YesNoYes
Zepo Couriers615000+YesYesYes
Shyplite1220000+NoNoYes
Vamaship1426000+YesNoYes
Shipdroid220000+NoYesYes
Think Logistics626000+YesNoYes

Conclusion:

 E-commerce is growing day by day which is leading to the emergence of shipping aggregators in transportation sector. There are many benefits of hiring shipping aggregators which majorly are reduction in transportation costs, maintenance charges and training costs. It also helps in better performance.

You should consider many things before hiring a shipping aggregator that are fast delivery providers,  tracking and account manager providers and most importantly if you run large scale business, choose a providers who can service globally.

eVanik provides direct integration with various logistics partners which helps onlines sellers in managing shipping for their e-commerce orders.

Everything you should know about warehouse management systems.

Everything you should know about warehouse management systems.

about warehouse management

It is believed that the journey of warehouse management started in ancient times when farmers thought to keep a record of grain from the crop.

All they wanted was to use the record so that they could prevent famine.

With time and technology, the process turned out to be fast and tracking became easier.

However, the basic concept of warehouse management never changed. Therefore, it can be defined as “managing everyday operations of a warehouse”.

The process includes arranging warehouse and physical inventory management, maintaining appropriate equipment, conditioning of product, managing new product, space management, packaging, stock receiving, and tracking.

Hence, improving overall warehouse performance!

And “an application or software designed to optimize the method of storage by controlling and administrating the operations in a warehouse is known as a warehouse management system”.

This was a glimpse of all the content that we are going to discuss in today’s blog. Let’s first start with understanding the basics of warehouse management systems.

What does a warehouse management system do?

A warehouse management system controls and manages the process of stock storage with the aim of providing consistent availability of the product.

It is a software supporting day to day operations in a warehouse, giving you a centralized system to control the process of storage.

There are many other benefits of using a cloud-based warehouse management system for your business growth.

Benefits of a modern cloud-based warehouse management system

With technically growing nations and advanced customers who mostly prefer digital mediums for all their purchases, it is the right idea to adapt the smartest technology.

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And a perfect match for that, in today’s world, is moving to the “Best cloud-based e-commerce management system”.

  • It will help you in saving your precious time by integrating multiple complex channels at once.
  • Connect you directly with all the leading e-commerce marketplace platforms, shopping carts, accounting ERPs, 3PL providers, and Payment Gateways.
  • It will help you to lower the upfront cost as you don’t need to hire an IT specialist and no longer need countless software or hardware.
  • With a cloud-based system, there is no upgrade or maintenance fee. And still, you can always use the most upgraded version.
  • You can now quickly expand your supply chain operation and meet all the market expectations with a modern cloud-based management system.

Therefore, the tool helps in providing digital support to all your warehouse management processes starting from receiving goods until delivery of the product.

about warehouse management3

Warehouse management process

The process of warehouse management involves the following steps: receiving goods, put away and storage, order picking, packing, and shipping.

All these processes involve certain functions and you can always optimize your functions according to your business needs.

1.   Receiving of goods

The process of warehouse management starts with receiving the product and unloading it from the vehicle.

Here you have to ensure that you received the right product, in the right amount and right condition.

Don’t just receive but validate!

When the shipment arrives, make sure to check and validate the product, which means you have to check the quality of the product.

Quality control here can help you in making further processes smooth. It involves checking the goods you ordered thoroughly and then taking them forward to your inventory.

If any product is damaged, keep it aside and inform about it in real-time.

Unload the products and check if the number of boxes is the same as mentioned in the

delivery shipping notice i.e. you have to check the product count.

Check all the return documents such as invoice and packing slip.

After all these processes are done you have to prepare goods received note mentioning the details of the products you received.

The details include the description, quality, date of receiving, GRN number and so on.

This will help you to make entries in the inventory about the product and you can also cross-check that you received all that you ordered.

Finally, you are ready to arrange the product in your inventory accordingly.

Receiving a new product!

 With a growing business, it is quite obvious to expect a frequent rate of new products in inventory.

With new products, you have to play a little wiser!

Remember to mark enough space for newly arrived products in your inventory and guide your team about the product and its handling.

Add necessary labels and barcodes to the product at the time of putting away and don’t forget to update your inventory. As in this way your product will be ready to sell.

2. Put away and storage

Similarly, for every product once received, you have to put away the product in the right, place and keep the product in the best suitable condition.

Doing them right can help you to get the most optimum results in the future.

Make sure to do the “material handling right” for this entire process.

As by handling the product right, there will be less damage leading to more satisfactory delivery and you know the rest.

Use this principle and optimize the process!

 “Minimal touches of goods,” the principle states that you should directly put away goods to its final location.

The fewer the touches are, the less will be the probability of product damage.

Also, make sure to do the put-away process on the day you receive stock.

It is often seen that when the new orders arrive, the team turns to be busy working on it. Hence, the priority of that moment is picking and packing.

keeping the new stock aside. And this may negatively affect your warehouse.

The put-away process and storage go hand in hand, once you are ready with where to keep the stock, make sure to consider the storage required by your products.

The conditioning of products must be given a high priority depending upon the needs of the product.

You can also use the ABC tool!

 According to this tool, the products get classified into three sections.

1. A Item- These are the high-value products with low sales frequency.
2. B Item- These are moderate value products with moderate sales frequency.

3. C Item- These are low-value products with high sale frequency.

You can keep C items closest to the packaging area and Vice Versa for A item.

You can also categorize the product according to its requirements.

For example, if the product is very heavy, try to place it with the proximity of the door, or if a product is required to be kept at a particular temperature, make sure to place it accordingly.

Rearrange the warehouse with time!

 No doubt the process is really time-consuming, but good management is all about investing the right resources at the right time for optimum future results.

Right?

So do not hesitate to rearrange your warehouse according to the need of time.

As there could be some products that are at high demand during summers and during winters no one wants them.

Once the put-away and storage are done to your product, you start getting orders and therefore the process of order picking starts.

3.   Order picking

As the name itself signifies its meaning, the process involves picking up the goods as per customers’ demand.

It is found that this process involves the highest percentage of all warehouse operational expenses, comprising 55% of it.

The process of order picking involves selecting the item from the warehouse to satisfy all the independent customer orders.

Therefore, it is recommended for you to follow a smart technical way to analyze the process.

Choosing the right order pick up system involves the requirements of your product by customers.

Since the requirement of every product is different, it is not necessary that one plan will work for all.

So, here are some of its types!

1. Zone picking- In this method, the inventory is divided into zones and the order picker will only work for one specific zone.

The process of zone picking works best for businesses with high order volumes and multiple daily ships.

The process may take more days for shipping as products are passed around in the warehouse.

2. Batch picking- A picking process that mostly works well for any business, that follows the motive to fast order fulfillment.

In this process, instead of working for a particular zone.

The team works for the orders to pick them up in batch and move for the packaging process.

The process is considered best for businesses with high order volume and has a common SKU.

3. Discrete picking or single picking- In this process, the team works for one order at a time, the team will only move to the next order when the first order is entirely complete.

This is usually done by small businesses, businesses with a small team or business working for heavy goods.

4. Wave picking- It is similar to discrete or single picking process, the only difference is, in this process orders from all the zones are picked and orders are then sorted as per requirement.

So these are all the picking techniques, you can choose or follow any of them.

But don’t forget to move to the next, till you find the best!

4. Packing the product

Once the product is picked, packing is to be done for further shipment.

All you need to be definite about is, you are shipping the right product to the right customer and of course with the right packaging.

Packing is much more than just tossing your products in a carton.

You have to be sure about the box size in which the product is to be shipped, packaging material and have to make sure if the product is not damaged.

Don’t miss to check!

Before moving to the package, make sure to check the product once with the order slip.

Once you are sure about the product, move ahead with a light packaging so that the weight of packaging does not add more to the shipping of the product.

And also make sure that the packaging of the product supports its efficient transportation.

5. Shipping

Shipping is the final and one of the most important steps of this process. Once the product is packed, it is now ready to be shipped to your customers.

Reports depict that 63% of customers buy more items if the delivery takes minimum time and has the option of free delivery.

Therefore, this process needs more tracking as you have to make sure that the right product goes to every customer without creating any hassle.

Successful shipping of products confirms that your process of warehouse management is right!

Make a right decision

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There are different ways to adapt a warehouse management system and choosing the best one increases your chance of right management.

Let’s have a closer look.

1. Standalone warehouse: This management process involves managing the functions to the warehouse with some advanced functionality.

The functions that standalone warehouse manages are management of warehouse inventory, date tracking expiration, Recordkeeping, Inventory analysis and Directs putaway, order picking, and packing slip support.

It is interesting to note that it can be integrated with other systems and can be used.

Remember, if you have a small business this is an option to make a move!

The standalone warehouse system will take you ahead of traditional and manual systems without a high financial expenditure, unlike the supply chain and ERP.

2. Supply chain: The process helps in the coordination and integration of different supply chain processes.

To understand it better we can say that in this process all the manufacturers, material providers, transportation providers, distribution centers and retailers work together.

As communication and collaboration may become difficult when many companies work together, with the process of supply chain management, this is not a problem.

The process helps warehouses to integrate with suppliers, carriers and retailers.

If you are an e-commerce company or a company working with a large volume of orders from a different party. This process can be right for you.

3. Enterprise resource planning: ESP can be understood as an important system to manage everything in your business.

This system helps you in integrating your warehouse systems with many different tools and systems.

Like accounting and finance tools, human resources systems, point-of-sale systems or order managing systems, project management systems, and compliance systems.

Any business can go for ERP but is considered to be an expensive method as it could take a high budget to hire a consultant to hire with ERP procurement or sometimes a large IT team to manage it.

Using the right software for warehouse management!

The best way to manage a warehouse is by using good warehouse management software which will not only reduce the cost of your back office work but will also help you to automate and digitize all your work.

And yes, all the high growing retailers use one or the other automation tools. So if you want to be one, let’s find the right tool for you.

With warehouse management software you can make your work convenient and the workflow systematic, It can help you in many ways like;

1. Control and track- With a warehouse management system software, it will be much easier to control and track the transfer and storage of your product in the warehouse.

With the software, you can scan and keep a note of all your products and inventory.

So, no paperwork and the data of your warehouse will be on your fingertips!

And you can anytime analyze data of goods shipment, payment, etc.

2.  Reduce risk- While working on your warehouse manually there are high chances of errors. The WMS software helps you work with minimal errors.

You can now trust technology!

3. Make your own plan – The warehouse management system software provides you a chance to create your own optimized process.

You can create a process that not only suits your business but also suits your product storage in the best way.

4. Branding – A quick and accurate delivery of products will help you in improving your relationship with customers.

This will help you to build up a good image of your brand.

5. Provides security – As we know, all the information traditionally was stored in hard copies with a high probability of loss in data but now you can easily deplete the paperwork and secure your information.

Also with the software, every employee will have a different identity to work with and make transitions, increasing accountability and decreasing the risk of theft.

6. Reduce operational expenses- With software, it is easier to manage all the processes in one go.

You can easily manage the process of warehouse management system i.e. receiving, putting away, picking, packaging and shipping from one common point.

It will also help you in understanding your product and its storage reducing the damage of certain perishable goods.

Even in the case of non-perishable goods, you will have an idea of the efficient use of space and labor for them.

7. Optimizing customer service- A good customer bond is all you need to grow your business, and right warehouse management software understands that.

It optimizes the delivery process right from the product order to shipping by accurately finding the item availability and exact delivery dates.

8. Better ERP, better you- The right software will help you to enhance the enterprise resource planning, making your outgoing shipment accurate and reducing chances of return.

So if you are looking for the right software with all the above features, eVanik is here for you.

Are “Inventory management and warehouse management systems” the same?

Whenever we talk about warehouse management, the term inventory management comes along.

But are they both the same?

The functions of inventory management and warehouse are somewhat similar, as both of them help in tracking parts and products, picking, packing, shipping and receiving the order.

But critical analysis helps in understanding the major difference in both of them.

We can say that inventory management is an initial step in the warehouse management system.

For example- If you want to know about the location of any product, the warehouse management system will help you to know the exact location.

However, the inventory management system will reflect that the product is somewhere in the warehouse.

Another way to understand the difference is that the warehouse system consists of multiple compartments and rows for a particular product providing the entire detail of it.

On the other hand inventory management can only provide information on how much is present here.

A final look over!

The warehouse management system supports managing the processes of the warehouse, starting from receiving the product to delivery.

A right system ensures less damage and high profit for your business, all you need to do is follow a smart management process in every step.

The system gives you convenience and provides your customer’s satisfaction. Moreover, you can always keep track of the work done and improvise accordingly.

Since change is what makes you better, a good WMS software will help you to understand and create a strategy to be better, actually to be the best.

Precautions that e-commerce sellers should take during the coronavirus (covid19) pandemic

Precautions that e-commerce sellers should take during the coronavirus (covid19) pandemic

coronavirus (covid19) pandemic

The Novel Coronavirus (nCoV19) outbreak has affected over 75% of the countries in the world since its outbreak in December 2019. The SARS-CoV-2 spreads mostly from person to person through close contact or from droplets that are scattered when a person with the virus sneezes or coughs. This means that the novel coronavirus is highly contagious, which means it spreads easily from person to person. The average incubation period of the virus seems to be around 5 days.

Millions of online shipments exchange hands every day. Right from the supplier to the warehouse staff to the courier delivery boys and finally to the end shopper. This gets multiplied as over 20% of online shipments get returned to the seller causing a much higher threat.

How can Coronavirus COVID19 affect the business and health of E-Commerce Sellers and their employees?

Studies show that its cousin viruses, SARS and MERS, live for a few hours on the surface of an object. They are spread most often by respiratory droplets from one person to another. Besides, no medicine or vaccination has been developed till date to fight this pandemic. The earliest probability of getting one as per various research organizations and scientists is one year from now.

The logistics providers have been experiencing a surge in orders from shoppers who are ordering online, especially after delivery commitments like “Same Day/Next Day” delivery promises from online retailers like Amazon and others. This leaves a certain possibility of the packets being a carrier of the virus from the origin to the shopper. And that’s quite a risk. 

To make matters worse, in the case of buyer returns, the packets come back from thousands of shoppers back to the seller through multiple delivery boys throughout the day, every day.

One theory is that after the outbreak of the pandemic, more people will stay indoor and order online instead of exposing themselves by going out and shopping in physical stores. While this may sound to be a boom for eCommerce sellers, the worry is far bigger.

Ecommerce sellers need to deal throughout the day with warehouse staff and courier staff to ensure timely delivery of orders to buyers.

Now, this poses a serious 2-way threat to eCommerce Sellers. Some of the situations and scenarios which are more akin to the business of eCommerce sellers and safe practices that one should follow are:

PICKING & PACKING
  • Definition – Order picking is the process of finding and extracting products from a warehouse to fulfill customer orders.
  • Conventional Practice – On receiving orders, picklists get generated and given to pickers to bring the items from different locations (Racks, Shelves, Bins, etc) of the warehouse to the packing area. Packers would then put the products in various packets/boxes, affix the shipping label, use adhesives and tapes and move to the dispatch area.
  • Hazard Threats
    • One Carrier (Picker) may transmit droplets to locations (Racks, Shelves, etc) from where it could transmit to another carrier in case he goes to the same location.
    • The coronavirus appears able to linger on plastic and steel surfaces for two to three days.
  • Safety Recommendation
    • Clean, sanitize and disinfect all high-touch surfaces and warehouse locations (tables, racks, shelves, bins, light switches, barcode scanners, desks, etc.) 2-3 times a day. Cleaning does not kill germs, but by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection.
    • Allow 1 person at a time to go to the warehouse location for picking and once he has picked the items, he should wash hands and/or apply sanitizer every time after the picking.
    • Ensure people wear safety mask especially those who are commuting through public transport. An added precaution would be that pickers wear disposable safety gloves and discard them properly at the end of every day.
DISPATCH
  • Definition – Dispatch is the activity performed when the goods have to be delivered to the customer(s) or handed over to the courier
  • Conventional Practice – Once all packed items are kept in the dispatch area, they get physically handed over to various courier/delivery boys

coronavirus (covid19) pandemic1

Picklist for safety precautions for e-commerce sellers
  • Hazard Threats
    • The delivery boys from the courier company may be potential carriers of the virus.
    • In case any employee is infected, the virus could get transmitted through the surface of the packages.
  • Safety Recommendation
    • Keep courier wise packets in a separate area with a large display tag containing the dispatch information (Manifest IDs, no. of packets, courier name, etc.) so that the person coming to pick up the shipments can identify his consignments.
    • Keep a drop-box where the receiving person can leave the signed acknowledgments of the picked-up consignment receipts.
    • Wear masks when engaging with the external courier/delivery boys who have come to pick up the consignments.
    • Clean, sanitize and disinfect the dispatch area at the end of every day once all the consignments have been picked up.
RECEIVING RETURNS OR PURCHASED ITEMS
  • Definition – Inwarding is the process of physically receiving the products into the warehouse either from a supplier or through a customer/courier returns and doing a putaway into the warehouse locations.
  • Conventional Practice – Returns and purchased items are physically received and inward almost immediately when they land in the warehouse.
  • Hazard Threats
    • Returned packets may be a carrier of the virus through the person who has delivered them
  • Safety Recommendation
    • Keep a distinct covered area in the warehouse where the senders can keep the stock and a drop-box where they can leave the documents. Ask for suppliers to send a copy of the documents electronically to verify and respond with confirmation electronically. Mention the reason for doing this in the electronic email.
    • Disinfect all returns received
    • Wash hands every time after receiving returns and doing the putaway.
    • Since the virus lingers just for a few hours on the surface, it is advisable to make physical contact with the packets after 3-4 hours of their landing in the warehouse.

The safety of our business is in our hands. These small and simple steps will help us combat coronavirus. These will protect our business and the health and well-being of our employees.