Contributing Factors

There has been a gradual increase in e-commerce over the past decade and a half, with sites such as eBay and Amazon proving extremely successful and attracting a large global customer base. However, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of consumers have been utilising e-commerce to purchase goods and services across the board. With many non-essential retailers shut down on the high street, more consumers of all demographics have turned to online shopping.

The ease and convenience of online shopping make it extremely attractive to consumers as they can purchase their required goods and services anytime and anywhere. Consumers also appreciate the increased choice offered by online shopping, the quick turnaround times and the often lower expense. This gives online and multi-channel retailers an excellent opportunity as they are trading on a market that never closes and is incredibly buoyant. There are many benefits to consumers of online shopping, but when retailers are considering moving online, there are factors that need to be considered too.

Generation Of Increased Customer Base

When considering the move to online retailing, businesses need to consider their potential for an immediately increased customer base. This is particularly true for start-ups, small businesses and SMEs that have previously only traded in the local vicinity where they are based, or have never traded before at all. E-commerce opens up the ability to trade nationally and even internationally, depending on what products are being sold.

Consequently, this can result in a sharp and sudden demand for goods, meaning that there must be provision for sufficient warehouse space to store stock, and the business must be able to efficiently dispatch the stock in a timely manner. What's more, businesses need to put strategies into place to handle returns and complaints efficiently.

Customer Retention And Competition

Many e-commerce retailers are extremely successful and build their brands quickly. However, it is important to remember that this success is constructed on a basis of efficient service and delivering consumers exactly what they want. Brand trust is essential when moving to an online space or increasing online presence. In order to boost your business, you need to keep customers happy and stay one step ahead of competitors within your market.

Consider the use of digital marketing strategies to grow your customer base, increase visitors to your website and ensure that you receive positive feedback according to the services that you deliver. Alongside customer acquisition, retention and satisfaction are factors that can make or break a business wishing to scale their online offering. It’s important to deliver a positive experience at all touch points for consumers, from initial awareness and purchasing through to handling returns and complaints satisfactorily. This will allow your business to grow and thrive.

Cost Effectiveness

When businesses move into the online space or increase the size of online operations, the cost-effectiveness of doing so must be taken into account.

For businesses that are wholly based online, there are obvious savings in cost as there will usually be lower overheads for premises because a physical store located in a town or city centre may not be needed. Regardless, warehouses and storage facilities will still be required to store stock, and the size and cost of warehousing and fulfilment operations should be evaluated as part of an assessment of where to locate a warehouse.

With the potential for more sales in the online arena, a larger warehousing space may be required. Can the profits from online sales offset the costs of warehousing, for example? An increased online presence will also incur other overheads including logistics and customer support, and these elements will need to be factored into any decision to move into or grow within the online retailing space.

Swiftness Of Turnaround

The digital revolution has brought increased competition, and with it an increase in demand for people to receive goods quickly and efficiently. From the perspective of online retailers, this means that you will need to process orders quickly, pick them efficiently from warehouses and dispatch them so that customers do not have to wait for prolonged times for their goods. For many businesses, this will mean using automation, both at the software stage of the process and at the picking stage of the process.

Customers also expect returns to be dealt with quickly and efficiently. This may mean, for example, providing free returns options, convenient access to returns labels for drop off, or collection of larger items. Dedicated spaces within a warehouse can also be used to handle and process returns, ensuring customers receive the level of service they demand and that sock can be tracked and located easily once it is back in the warehouse. The use of specialised returns storage alongside intelligent inventory management means returned goods can be picked, packed and dispatched the next time they are required, ensuring inventory is not lost and increasing the efficiency of the warehouse as a whole.

How Do Established E-Commerce Retailers Deliver Efficient Services?

E-commerce giants employ a variety of strategies to ensure that they can process and fulfil orders extremely quickly. Using intelligent online systems to process the orders, these orders are then sent to the warehouses for picking. Many of Amazon's warehouses, which are some of the largest in the world, are located in more remote areas outside of cities as this can keep costs down.

Within the warehouses, much of the process is automated. Products are picked, both by humans and by robotic systems, and are loaded onto conveyor belts. Advanced computer software then scans, tracks and weighs the packed boxes, verifying that the order is correct. Subsequently, orders are dispatched according to their intended location and method of shipping. Orders can be sent via road using lorries or via planes for international delivery.

The Logistics Of E-Commerce For Smaller Retailers

While larger e-commerce organisations have the capital to automate their systems to a high level, and employ large numbers of staff to pick and deliver items, this may not be logistically possible for smaller retailers. Therefore scalability should be taken into account as one of a number of warehouse design factors to consider. With the potential for rapid growth in demand following an increased online presence, it is necessary for smaller companies to strategise as to how they can accommodate this increased demand for products.

These strategies can include more automation at the ordering stage of the process via their website. There are many software systems that allow the orders to be fully automated, freeing up time and resources for company employees. A gradual increase in e-commerce warehousing space is also a good idea as this can be done within a company's budget in order to meet the rising demand.

What is more, recruitment for new staff may be required eventually, if not initially in order to allow for rapid picking of items and quick dispatch. Businesses should also take into account the need to implement an effective returns procedure to handle unwanted or faulty items that customers receive and wish to return.

Last Mile Delivery & Urban Warehousing

With an increase in consumers shopping online, and expectations of shorter delivery times becoming the norm, the concept of the urban warehouse has increased in prominence over recent years.

This has seen warehouses that are often significantly smaller than out of town distribution centres being set up close to or within cities or in urban centres or to handle ‘last mile’ delivery. As a significant proportion of the UK population lives in major conurbations, many brands utilise these warehouses to dispatch goods to customers in the local area, which is the final step in the logistics and fulfilment process.

Usually subject to higher rents and rates, it is vital that urban warehouses operate as efficiently as possible. This means that the facilities are usually equipped with high density storage, and where ceiling height permits, often use mezzanine levels to increase usable floor space. This can help to offset the typically higher cost per square foot involved in operating the facility; a mezzanine level can also provide additional areas for extra storage, to accommodate staff or to facilitate robotic and automated picking systems.

E-Commerce Warehouse Solutions

Whether your business is online only, or uses a combination of e-commerce and bricks and mortar stores, moving into or growing your presence within the online space undoubtedly requires a suitable warehousing solution. In fact, e-commerce warehousing solutions are the backbone of any successful online retailing business, and should be considered a foundation of your strategy alongside customer facing assets.

Additional Space For Growing E-Commerce Operations

Businesses wanting to scale e-commerce operations will require the warehouse space to do so, which may mean relocating to larger premises or adding new warehouse space to their portfolio. However, this can often be an expensive and time consuming solution.

Many organisations are able to extend the usable space within an existing warehouse by installing mezzanine levels which can be used for a number of purposes including additional item storage or as office space for warehouse personnel. Mezzanine floors can usually be installed quickly and with minimal disruption, making them a good choice for adding valuable extra space to a busy warehouse at a significantly lower cost than relocation.

Mezzanines are also valuable assets as part of a larger project to update a warehouse for e-commerce activities. They can provide a platform for automated picking systems, be used to store specialist items or specific products, and can be complemented with a range of equipment such as conveyors, chutes and lifts to create highly efficient workspaces.

Efficient Storage & Racking Systems

For an e-commerce business to thrive, it is vital that it operates efficiently. Competition within the sector means that margins can often be tight, and it is therefore important to assess efficiency at every stage of the operation and use solutions that help to achieve maximum performance in these areas.

For most e-commerce warehouses, a suitable pallet racking system is a necessity in order to store and process goods efficiently. There are a range of pallet racking and warehouse storage options to consider depending on the type of goods being stored, including narrow aisle racking which can significantly increase storage density within a facility, flow racking to enable first in, first out picking for perishable items, and drive in racking that offers highly efficient storage of pallets and effective use of available floor space.

An effective pallet racking system can help to deliver significant improvements in efficiency of a facility, both in terms of the quantity of items that can be stored and the speed with which they can be processed, picked and packed. It’s therefore essential to identify the flow of goods through the space, and the scale of storage requirements, and to introduce racking solutions that enable the warehouse to operate as efficiently as possible.

Tailored & Specialist Item Storage

The growth in e-commerce means that online retailing is a channel being adopted and used by businesses and consumers in a wide range of markets. This means that requirements for e-commerce warehouses are diverse, and that in many cases specialist solutions are required.

For example, garment hanging systems for warehouses are designed for efficient storage and processing of goods within clothing and fashion markets, whereas businesses involved in supplying large or heavy items will need storage solutions tailored to meet these specific requirements.

Returns handling is another area that often requires a tailored approach, in order to both deliver efficient processing of returned goods for consumers and to ensure businesses can accurately manage, locate and reuse goods as appropriate. A dedicated returns handling area is now common in most e-commerce focused warehouses, using tailored shelving systems that are designed to integrate efficiently as part of the organisation’s returns management solution.

Suitable Picking & Packing Equipment

When equipping or adapting a warehouse for e-commerce operations, it’s important to ensure that the right equipment for the task at hand is installed. This can mean everything from robust packing workbenches that enable staff to efficiently prepare goods for dispatch, to picking trolleys that ensure smaller goods can be moved around quickly, enabling multiple items to be collected ready for packing and thus further improving the efficiency of the process.

Warehouse Security & Safety

A warehouse that operates efficiently is key to any e-commerce operation. But more importantly, it is of course vital to ensure the safety of staff within the premises. Everything from air quality and heating and cooling systems to fire rated floors and fire control systems should be evaluated.

The use of steel partitions to create walkways and access paths that avoid hazards, or to create individual sealed areas for applicable work, ensures that staff do not come into contact with hazards unnecessarily. Mesh cages can also be used to house potentially dangerous equipment, or hazardous or flammable items such as fuel canisters.

In addition to the safety of staff, warehouse security is an important factor in ensuring goods are not lost, damaged or stolen. Warehouse security cages can be used as part of a wider strategy, enabling goods to remain in-view whilst also restricting access.

Warehouse Storage Solutions From Avanta

With over 20 years experience in the industry, Avanta helps businesses of all sizes achieve highly efficient warehouses and commercial workspaces. We work with some of the largest and most respected brands in e-commerce retailing, developing tailored solutions to help businesses grow and thrive in the online sector.

Whether you need to increase the space within an existing premises, implement an efficient racking system for improved storage capabilities, or create new workspaces for staff, we are able to assist you.

We offer a free site survey to fully assess the individual requirements of your business, enabling us to design a project that helps you to achieve your goals. And with our full turnkey solutions that handle every aspect from design and installation to the necessary paperwork and approvals, businesses can achieve the results they want with minimal disruption and without needing to allocate significant time to the project.

Contact Avanta to find out more about the range of tailored solutions available for your e-commerce operation.

A Shift To E-Commerce: Considerations For Businesses