Managing the retail supply chain from the point of purchase to management and delivery, has reached a point where automation is necessary to provide the maximum inventory turnover rate.
As retailers begin to recognize where these processes line up, it becomes easier to understand how the business is affected by even small changes in processes and practices, such as the power of purchasing.
Adapting to the Ecommerce Purchase Funnel:
The ecommerce purchase funnel is of course a recurring trend in consumer and retailer shopping, and as shopping evolves, an increase in sales and innovation is inevitable.
“B2C ecommerce sales in the U.S. totaled 531.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 and are expected to grow to 554.81 billion U.S. dollars by 2016.”
–Statista
According to Custora, consumers are spreading out their retail purchasing across channels, which forces retailers to grow their online marketing efforts.
Some aspects that have increased ecommerce referrals last year include, paid search, affiliate marketing, and email. Another important piece of the purchase funnel to focus in relation to Dynamic Order Management (DOM) includes organizing shipping methods.
“Retailers that can’t afford to invest in alternative shipping options are offering consumers more fulfillment options using what many of them do have — brick-and-mortar stores.”
–Business Insider
When handling the purchase funnel, shipping is not the only dilemma that exists. Sending and tracking orders and making the right purchasing decisions can also be problematic.
Ways to combat purchase funnel issues:
• Integrate your purchasing function to establish the best inventory levels for each stock item.
• Present ways to handle promotions for Dynamic Order Management.
• Enable order status reporting – allows you to find any line item on any order in your system, in any item state (shipped, filled, back ordered, etc.) Allows you to report on and display orders in any ‘status’ (shipped, packed, credit card charge required, etc.) Can be used as an advisement screen for processing orders (the ‘what do we do next’ screen).
When deciding on a fulfillment operation, it is crucial to take advantage of the best tactics for process automation, especially in regards to the ecommerce purchase funnel, as well as data analysis for optimal order management.
