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Managing Multi-Channel Fulfillment With Logiwa WMS: A Technical Overview

Originally published on July 27, 2023, Updated on August 8, 2023
managing-multi-channel-fulfillment
Multi-channel fulfillment involves offering the same product via multiple sales channels. The sales channels may include online and offline platforms, such as your website, mobile app, social media, brick-and-mortar outlets, and third-party stores.

Multi-channel fulfillment offers many benefits, such as boosted sales, improved order fulfillment, and an enhanced customer experience. However, you can’t be successful with multi-channel ecommerce without an effective warehouse management system (WMS).

A WMS enables you to unify and efficiently manage fulfilling orders from different channels. Keep reading to discover more about the benefits of multi-channel fulfillment and how to execute it successfully with a WMS.

But first, here are the key takeaways from this multi-channel fulfillment guide:

  • Multi-channel fulfillment can help you reach more customers and optimize the shopping experience across your various platforms.
  • A warehouse management system (WMS) aids multi-channel fulfillment by providing real-time visibility of orders from all channels and warehouse processes to fulfill orders.
  • Automating multi-channel fulfillment processes with a WMS can reduce manual tasks, labor costs, and human errors within your warehouse.
  • Multi-channel fulfillment processes you can automate with a WMS include inventory management, order splitting and routing, rate shopping, and more.
  • Logiwa WMS offers 200+ out-of-the-box integrations you can use to easily connect all of your sales channels to your warehouse.

What You Need for Successful Multi-Channel Fulfillment

At a glance, executing and managing multi-channel fulfillment may appear complex. However, thanks to technological advances in the logistics and warehousing industries, you can easily implement multi-channel ecommerce management.

Below is everything you need to successfully streamline and manage multi-channel fulfillment and gain a competitive advantage.

Integrations

The first thing you need is a warehouse management system that can integrate with ecommerce channels, warehouses, and shipping partners. With integrations, you can use your WMS to monitor, track, and process sales on all platforms selling your products.

You can also monitor inventory levels and order fulfillment within the warehouses carrying your products. We recommend choosing a WMS that integrates with popular ecommerce channels, such as Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, Walmart, and so on.

Otherwise, you’ll have to set up the integrations manually. This is far from cost-effective because the time-to-value is longer and the integrations may not function as expected.

Complex Order Routing Capabilities

Businesses use complex order routing capabilities to manage and direct orders from multiple sales channels to the most appropriate fulfillment centers or warehouses. It’s essential for optimizing shipping in multi-channel ecommerce management.

For example, if a customer orders your product from Amazon or social media, you should ship the order from an optimal fulfillment location. The most suitable fulfillment location is the one that’s closest to the customer and capable of completing the order the fastest and cheapest.

Having complex order routing capabilities is again valuable if you must split and fulfill an order from multiple locations. Order splitting becomes necessary when different order items must come from different warehouses. The feature will enable you to split the order and route each item to the relevant fulfillment center, preventing delivery delays.

In summary, complex order routing capabilities simplify fulfilling orders with the most cost-effective and efficient shipping method.

Automation Rules

With the right automation rules, you can provide a seamless shopping experience across various platforms while practicing multi-channel fulfillment. Customers can order from any of your sales channels, and your automated system will process the order from start to finish. Such a setup makes your warehouse more efficient and productive.

Also, automating warehouse processes, such as inventory retrieval, payment processing, order routing, and boxing, speeds up order processing to improve customer satisfaction.

Real-Time Visibility

You can’t practice multi-channel fulfillment without having real-time, end-to-end visibility. This visibility gives you a bird’s-eye view of orders, inventory levels, shipping statuses, and more across warehouses and fulfillment centers. Without such insights, multi-channel ecommerce management will involve a lot of guesswork, which is ineffective.

Fortunately, with a complete WMS like Logiwa, you can monitor and track your warehouse, fulfillment centers, ecommerce channels, logistics partners, and more from one device. Real-time updates provided by the WMS will help you make well-informed, data-driven decisions that keep your facility running smoothly.

Warehouse Management Software Screens
Transform your warehouse to a DTC fulfillment center
Multi-channel fulfillment involves offering the same product via multiple sales channels. The sales channels may include online and offline platforms, such as your website, mobile app, social media, brick-and-mortar outlets, and third-party stores.

Multi-channel fulfillment offers many benefits, such as boosted sales, improved order fulfillment, and an enhanced customer experience. However, you can’t be successful with multi-channel ecommerce without an effective warehouse management system (WMS).

A WMS enables you to unify and efficiently manage fulfilling orders from different channels. Keep reading to discover more about the benefits of multi-channel fulfillment and how to execute it successfully with a WMS.

But first, here are the key takeaways from this multi-channel fulfillment guide:

  • Multi-channel fulfillment can help you reach more customers and optimize the shopping experience across your various platforms.
  • A warehouse management system (WMS) aids multi-channel fulfillment by providing real-time visibility of orders from all channels and warehouse processes to fulfill orders.
  • Automating multi-channel fulfillment processes with a WMS can reduce manual tasks, labor costs, and human errors within your warehouse.
  • Multi-channel fulfillment processes you can automate with a WMS include inventory management, order splitting and routing, rate shopping, and more.
  • Logiwa WMS offers 200+ out-of-the-box integrations you can use to easily connect all of your sales channels to your warehouse.

What You Need for Successful Multi-Channel Fulfillment

At a glance, executing and managing multi-channel fulfillment may appear complex. However, thanks to technological advances in the logistics and warehousing industries, you can easily implement multi-channel ecommerce management.

Below is everything you need to successfully streamline and manage multi-channel fulfillment and gain a competitive advantage.

Integrations

The first thing you need is a warehouse management system that can integrate with ecommerce channels, warehouses, and shipping partners. With integrations, you can use your WMS to monitor, track, and process sales on all platforms selling your products.

You can also monitor inventory levels and order fulfillment within the warehouses carrying your products. We recommend choosing a WMS that integrates with popular ecommerce channels, such as Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, Walmart, and so on.

Otherwise, you’ll have to set up the integrations manually. This is far from cost-effective because the time-to-value is longer and the integrations may not function as expected.

Complex Order Routing Capabilities

Businesses use complex order routing capabilities to manage and direct orders from multiple sales channels to the most appropriate fulfillment centers or warehouses. It’s essential for optimizing shipping in multi-channel ecommerce management.

For example, if a customer orders your product from Amazon or social media, you should ship the order from an optimal fulfillment location. The most suitable fulfillment location is the one that’s closest to the customer and capable of completing the order the fastest and cheapest.

Having complex order routing capabilities is again valuable if you must split and fulfill an order from multiple locations. Order splitting becomes necessary when different order items must come from different warehouses. The feature will enable you to split the order and route each item to the relevant fulfillment center, preventing delivery delays.

In summary, complex order routing capabilities simplify fulfilling orders with the most cost-effective and efficient shipping method.

Automation Rules

With the right automation rules, you can provide a seamless shopping experience across various platforms while practicing multi-channel fulfillment. Customers can order from any of your sales channels, and your automated system will process the order from start to finish. Such a setup makes your warehouse more efficient and productive.

Also, automating warehouse processes, such as inventory retrieval, payment processing, order routing, and boxing, speeds up order processing to improve customer satisfaction.

Real-Time Visibility

You can’t practice multi-channel fulfillment without having real-time, end-to-end visibility. This visibility gives you a bird’s-eye view of orders, inventory levels, shipping statuses, and more across warehouses and fulfillment centers. Without such insights, multi-channel ecommerce management will involve a lot of guesswork, which is ineffective.

Fortunately, with a complete WMS like Logiwa, you can monitor and track your warehouse, fulfillment centers, ecommerce channels, logistics partners, and more from one device. Real-time updates provided by the WMS will help you make well-informed, data-driven decisions that keep your facility running smoothly.

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