While managing an e-commerce business, the most important task is to deliver the order on time & this is the most crucial step of the whole process. If you are unable to deliver the order on time it can affect your whole business. All your time and efforts you are investing in your e-commerce website, right from uploading various products, their images, and description along with variety will give you zero return only if your order processing is not going well.
There are two ways for processing the order, Manual and Automated. You can prefer according to your operation size. But I suggest choosing an automated process, as it reduces the cost and errors for processing the order. Here is the complete guide for your e-commerce business. Let’s see how you can process error-free order delivery.
- Order received
People visit your website and order something they liked. As they click on ‘Place Order’ your system should check if the customer filled in all the required details or not. In the required details, you can consider the name, contact details, delivery address, and payment mode. These details you must have to move the process forward. After verifying the details, your system should send the confirmation mail to the customer. If you didn’t get the details send them the mail accordingly.
- Order Processing
Once the order placed successfully, the next step is to prepare the order for delivery. The manager checks the product name description carefully and picks the correct item to make it ready for shipping. Also, it is necessary to check if the item has defected. While packaging the most taken care of thing is if the item is fragile or should be handled sensitively, you have to put a sticker on it with respective instructions.
After packaging the product, the last important step is to take a sticker from the shipper having the customer’s name, contact details and shipping address, shipping ID, cost of the item, etc. Put that sticker and now your product is ready to deliver. Once all the steps are done, you have to inform the shipping department to pick the order and deliver it to the customer.
- Order Delivery
The order delivery process is of two types; either you can deliver the product directly to the customer or you can connect with the shipper to deliver the order. I suggest you prefer dealing with shippers, as they allow a customer to track their order using shipping IDs. So, it is convenient to deliver the order in a given time.
Also, don’t forget to send a timely update to the customer via email or text message. For example, your order is received, your order the sipped, your order is on its way. When you send the last message i.e., ‘Your order is arriving today in that message provide contact details of the delivery agent as a customer can contact the delivery agent.
- Order Completed
This is the final step for processing the order. Once previous steps are done, you are now ready to hand over the product to the customer. While delivery of the product you need to ask them to sign on the receipt that the order is received. And if the payment mode selected by them is ‘Cash on Delivery’ then collect the cash while giving their parcel.
After delivery of the product, you have to send them a thank you message for shopping with you and you can ask them to give ratings or feedback about the product. This feedback will be helpful for you and your next customers.
If you are running an e-commerce business, then you must have to follow a well-set process for avoiding mistakes during processing the order. If your process is automated then it will save your time and efforts. However, the manually handled process has more errors comparatively.
I hope we helped you in some way with your new e-commerce business.
Frequently Asked Question
How are e-commerce orders processed?
From the moment your customer decides to purchase until the moment, it is delivered; there are a lot of moving parts involved. The process of fulfillment includes receiving and picking products, packing, and shipping orders. This also includes tracking orders for shipment and delivery. It involves several steps: ordering, shipping, receiving, and customer service.
How long does order processing take?
When an order is placed on an e-commerce site processing can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few days, the order processing time depends on a few factors, such as the size of the order, the time of day, and if you have selected a shipping method. In general, order processing times will vary from 1-4 business days.
What are the six steps in the order fulfillment process?
Understanding the order processing process will help you make sure your orders are processed properly. The six steps in the order fulfillment process are order processing, order acceptance, order verification, order shipment, order tracking, and order status updates.
