How can an online retailer connect their shopping cart to a third party warehouse?

For ecommerce e-tailers, perhaps the most important steps to begin working with a third party ecommerce order fulfillment is to connect your shopping cart/ ecommerce platform to the fulfillment center. You need a way to send the orders that come into your online store to the warehouse for packing and shipping. 

The order data you will send to the fulfillment center contains information like customer name,  shipping address, the method to ship (USPS Flat Rate, FedEx Air, UPS Ground, etc.) and the sku's and their quantity. 

After an order had shipping, data will then also be sent back to your ecommerce/ logistics software from the fulfillment center such as shipping confirmation number and inventory updates.

The data exchange can happen a number of ways.

API – Most ecommerce software programs offer an API plug in that will connect directly with the fulfillment company's warehouse management system (WMS). The WMS is the system that controls all the operations within the warehouse including inventory, pick tickets, shipping, etc. This may require some custom programming.

FTP, via Email – Order files (as a csv, txt, xml etc) can typically be created automatically from a shopping cart program and placed on an FTP site and then imported into a WMS. The files can also be emailed. This can be completely automated end to end or may involve some manual file handling depending on how it is set up.

Web Portal – For lower volume clients, some prefer to enter the orders manually via our web portal.

When you are evaluating third party fulfillment centers make sure you discuss how the exchange of order information will work right at the outset. Some fulfillment centers may be limited in how they can work with certain ecommerce platforms so it is important to know that up front.

Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization for Trucking and Logistics Companies

As an example, if you are a trucking company that specializes in frozen food distribution, then you want your name to appear in Google's Search Engine Results Page (SERP) when customers are looking for the type of services your company offers. SEO is the process of creating and positioning your site to rank well on Google's search pages - organically. If someone goes to Google and searches on "frozen food logistics" you want to be the first company that potential customer sees on the page. This is internet marketing for transportation companies.

You will notice there are other listings at the very top and right margin of the Google results pages. Those are ads that companies pay for to be located in those areas. Each time someone clicks on one of those links it is costing the company $.50 to several dollars for the privilege of a user clicking on their link. Organic search like we are talking about here is the process of getting your site to rank high on the page without paying any of Google's pay per click fees. 

So what is Google looking for to rank your company highly as a logistics software company, or as an ecommerce order fulfillment provider? There are two main things: relevant content on the site related to the search terms and site credibility, which means there are other sites with "backlinks" to your site. Backlinks are a type of "social proof" that other website are linking to your website because it is credible and worthy.

So what to do? Figure out what "keywords" your customers are typing into Google that relate to what services you are selling and add related content to your site in the form of blog posts or new pages that will show Google you have authority on those topics. Then, work to get backlinks to your website from other credible websites. This can be done by responding to blog and forum posts and getting your website address out there. Both these strategies are complimented by a well executed logistics social media strategy.

These two ideas are just barely scratching the surface of ways to improve SEO for your site. The benefits of ranking well with Google are almost priceless, yet easy to achieve when executed properly.

How much should ecommerce order fulfillment and shipping cost for online retailers?

6% shipping and  4% for operations related to warehousing and fulfillment… are pretty typical. 

If you are running much higher than that look into it… of course every business is different.

Monitor your customer deliveries with the logisticsBI Delivery Dashboard and know about delivery issues before they become customer problems - click here.

Communicate with your carriers electronically - manage your logistics process better with technology - click here.

What is the latest you can ship a package to still arrive by Christmas?

What is the latest you can ship a package to still arrive by Christmas? Here are some guidelines...
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Click here for a Delivery Dashboard to keep track of your small package deliveries.

Real-Time Delivery Dashboard for Small Parcel Shippers

LogisticsBI is proud to announce the formal launch of its new Delivery Dashboard platform for small parcel shippers.

The LogisticsBI Delivery Dashboard provides online retailers, or any business shipping high volumes of small package shipments with a concise view of the delivery status of all their shipments. The tool enables the business to proactively identify and resolve issues with problem deliveries before the customer is aware a problem exists.

Tracking numbers for the shipments are fed into the LogisticsBI dashboard by way of pre-built integrations with the business' order management or ecommerce shopping cart program (such as Amazon, Shopify, or Magento). The delivery status of each shipment is then updated and available for viewing through API links to UPS, FedEx, and USPS, displaying the statuses real-time.

LogisticsBI also provides a suite of search query and reporting tools, making small package delivery management easier than ever before. Early in 2013, the service will be expanded to include small parcel delivery companies operating in the European market as well.

"Businesses are at the mercy of the small parcel carriers for the most important phase of their customer's experience - final delivery. These companies do a decent job most of the time, but historically the exception process was managed in a reactionary way by frantically dealing with lost packages or late deliveries as they are identified by the customer. LogisticsBI gives online retailers an easy, integrated tool for seeing deliveries issues before they become customer problems." says Ken Lyons, Managing Director at LogisticsBI.

Additional information is available at www.logisticsbi.com.

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LogisticsBI Delivery Dashboard is part of a suite of logistics technology solutions developed by ecommerce order fulfillment leader ShipStarter.com. 

Contact Information:

Ken Lyons

Managing Director

info@logisticsbi.com

The Ultimate Guide to Getting the Best Shipping Rates (Part ? of ?)

One shipping related choice you may face is deciding when an order or maybe some of your product inventory should be shipped with UPS/FedEx Ground or with an LTL (less-than-truckload) freight carrier. 

The issue is that at some point, usually as shipment weights increase to around 200 lbs. or so, the cost of shipping Ground becomes more expensive than LTL. Most online retailers who ship b2c are used to always shipping Ground (small package) and do not realize that LTL is a viable (and often cheaper) option for them too.

The point is to make sure you compare rates for Ground and LTL as the weight of a particular shipment increases to around 200 lbs.

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For ecommerce order fulfillment quotes visit www.shipstarter.com.

For a single dashboard view of all your customer deliveries - visit www.logsiticsbi.com.

How important is shipping to an online retailer?

Getting orders delivered is the last, but perhaps most important step in the online retail process. As an online seller, a whole lot has to go right just to get to the point of shipping the product. So there is a lot riding on the performance of your shipping company – whether you choose USPS, FedEx, UPS, or DHL.

The customer has to find your site – think of all the effort of building a site that converts, and not to mention a lot of SEO and PPC costs.

You have to have a product the customer wants to buy – and it has to be in inventory.

The right products need to be put in the right box by your fulfillment operation – and we all know that doesn’t always happen

…and the shipping company needs to get it delivered on-time.

The first three steps are easiest to manage, because they are most under your control. But once the package is handed off to the carrier all control is lost. If you are shipping dozens, hundreds, or thousands of shipments then it can be impossible to know about problems until the customer tells you about them. To really control the customer experience and be proactive managing problems that can come up during step 4 – you need a tool to give you real time delivery visibility into what is going on with your deliveries.