Supply chain management

Nowadays, the majority of people shop online. Therefore, selling online often becomes complicated when you don’t have the right knowledge about how you will get the product, or how you will sell it. That is why in this article we will provide you with all the necessary information that you need.

What is Supply chain management?

The supply chain perfectly combines every step made from manufacturing to selling the product. Basically, this term connects everything that the seller must do in order to create and fulfil every single order. So, when you are wondering what supply chain management includes, you should find room in your mind for sourcing materials, manufacturing, shipping, storing and receiving, distribution, fulfilling orders and completing reverse logistics.

Supply chain management goals

The main goal for every online seller is to keep their supply chain management as efficient as possible. It means that every element has to map together and complement each other.

Your goal is to guarantee the perfection of every part. To explain we separated the whole supply chain management into different sections.

1. Sourcing

2. Manufacturing

3. Shipping and receiving

4. Distribution

5. Reverse logistics

1. Sourcing

This section of supply chain management has two subcategories – materials and components. Basically, it defines the search for raw materials, which are needed to make your product.

2. Manufacturing

The manufacturing part means all the necessary things in production. Basically, it is product development, finishing goods and assuring the quality. In this part it is crucial to make sure that your products are ready to sell.

3. Shipping and receiving

The third part of your supply chain management is to make sure that your customer receives the order. In other words, it includes stocking items and shipping them. For this, there are a thousand ways to manage it and every seller selects the one they prefer.

4. Distribution

This step is one of the most difficult parts of supply chain management. Simply because it contains inventory management, order management, picking and packing, and even fulfilment to customers. Your entire reputation and business success are directly connected to this part.

5. Reverse logistics

That is the last but not least your part of your business. It includes all your returns and repairs for your products. As an online seller, you have to make sure the quality of both your services and products is exceptional.

Let’s get back to the fourth part, shall we? As mentioned before, this part includes more management than others, so usually, sellers decide to use some additional help. In this case, it can be the help of software that is capable of automating your inventory management, taking care of your orders and completing the whole fulfilment process. One of those is Multiorders – multi-channel inventory management software that can automate your distribution and optimize your daily workflow.

Supply chain management strategies

Whether you’re not happy with visitor count or how those numbers translate into sales, chances are your website could be more efficient in directing your customers towards a sale. We’ve got a plan to improve the efficiency of your supply chain management.

View your online business as a visitor

Get on your ecommerce website and take note of everything that distracts you from making a purchase. Try your best not to be biased. One strategy to do so – imagine some general product (that your store has or offers an alternative to) and try finding it on your store. Did you find it? Did the alternatives present themselves? Some things to look for:

• Redundant, repetitive information;
• Unclear, copy-and-pasted product descriptions from the supplier’s page;
• Non-intuitive website navigation;
• Unsegregated information / product details;
• Poor image quality.

Your ecommerce website needs an identity

Decide what your identity/brand stands for and communicate it clearly. Not only does it affect customer loyalty greatly, it also creates trust. Customers are more likely to buy on your ecommerce website if they trust you.
You can achieve this through show of expertise, revealing the face/life behind the ecommerce website or other displays of transparency and honesty.
For your website to be considered a brand you’ll need your products to have something in common. Ideally, they’re all somehow connected to your brand’s core message. Simply because a mix of unrelated products can scare away potential buyers.

Compare to others

Visit other ecommerce websites that sell similar products. What are they doing differently? Try to understand the thinking behind every decision. How does their supply chain management work?

Also, a good idea is to check your website statistics and see where the fall-off happens. Is it on the landing page? Product page? Check-out? Now, with this knowledge in mind, once again visit another ecommerce website and pay extra attention to the part that’s your weakest link.

Manage inventory with software

Touching up your website obviously takes time out of your day. And an ecommerce merchant’s day is already filled. However, you can free up huge amounts of time by using inventory management software like Multiorders.

It will consolidate all order, shipping, stock control and other related tasks down to a few clicks. In other words, no more copy-pasting and filling forms by hand. Considering how quick it is to set up and that it has a free trial, you should probably just try it yourself.

Roundup

In reality, there’s always a way to improve your website to rack up more sales. However, you’re missing every potential buyer that doesn’t reach your website to begin with. Consider getting your products onto other platforms in addition to your ecommerce website. And don’t forget to give Multiorders a look – it’ll undoubtedly save you a ton of time at barely any cost.

Supply chain management problems

The entire supply chain workflow is directly connected to your inventory management speed. That is often the slowest part of the business for many online merchants. And for a good reason as well – they do it by hand.

Most common problem of inventory management workflow

Handling inventory management manually has a ton of setbacks to work out before you’re ready to improve other aspects of your business.

However, if you operate your business alone, anything you spend time on is technically a bottleneck. So, while it’s a little different for a one man army, it’s just as relevant and important to optimize the inventory management workflow.

Thus far, we’ve established that to optimize the inventory management workflow, you’ll need to strengthen the weakest links. Also, it doesn’t matter how many people take part in your business for this concept to work.

Strengthening the weakest links

For the sake of clarity, let’s specify the two main causes for bottlenecking:

• Lack of technology applied;
• Imperfect information.

First, let’s cover the second cause. Lack of experience, judgement and other intellectual resources cause these problems. These bottlenecks generally occur after the first cause is more or less taken care of.

Obviously, removing these bottlenecks varies by case. All things considered, the best way to go about this is using performance reports, market analysis and similar means. If this is your current focus – check articles tailored to this issue.

The first cause, however, can be solved universally. To be more precise – these inconveniences of inventory management workflow can be instantly taken care of by software like Multiorders.