How Freight Companies Can Help Your E-commerce Business

Shipping and fulfillment mistakes can be costly to a business, especially if its operations are wholly or partially based online. Many small businesses often lack the resources to properly manage their own shipping and fulfillment, which results in costly errors that can significantly damage a brand's reputation.

Fortunately, reliable freight companies aim to bridge this gap and offer reliable and cost-effective solutions to ensure that shipments reach customers on time and without incident. Read on to find out more about common e-commerce fulfillment issues and how freight companies can help.

1. Insufficient Storage Capacity

As your small business grows, so too will the need for extra re-stock capacity. Unfortunately, most small businesses lack the ability to scale their storage operations quickly enough, which leads to shortages or inventory pileups that cause significant customer delays.

For example, if you run your business from a small storage unit, you may not be able to store enough items to meet a sudden increase in customer demand. This situation can easily turn into a major issue if you don't have the right infrastructure to handle larger orders in limited space.

You may need to re-route shipments to other locations to help manage the overflow –– a solution that can cause significant delays and customer dissatisfaction, especially if you've already established a certain turnaround time.

If your current storage solution can no longer meet the demands of your e-commerce business, a reliable freight company can provide the necessary resources and infrastructure. The company can provide additional storage capacity, which allows you to organize and manage inventory more effectively.

2. Inaccurate Shipping Addresses

Inaccurate shipping addresses are a common issue in e-commerce. Even if customers provide the correct information, there's always a chance of typos or minor errors that can cause significant delays.

For example, if the customer enters an incomplete address, the package may end up in the wrong location, or they may not receive the package at all. And while you might think that this problem is easy to fix, you might lose both time and money as you try to locate the package and re-route it.

Thankfully, a freight service follows a step-by-step process to verify each address before a product ships out. The company double-checks the address information before they ship a package, and if necessary, they'll contact the customer on your behalf to get additional information or make corrections.

You could have an arrangement with the freight company to receive an email notification each time they verify a customer's address, which could provide some peace of mind since you know your order will get to the right address.

3. Poor Tracking and Reporting Systems

Today's customers expect more transparency when they want to track their orders, so a robust tracking and reporting system is a must for most online businesses. These tracking and reporting systems should give real-time data about the status of your shipments, which can help you keep customers in the loop.

Unfortunately, most small businesses don't have the resources or expertise to properly set up and manage such systems. They require constant updates and high upfront investments, which take up valuable time and resources you could devote to other aspects of your business.

On the other hand, freight companies have a specialty in order delivery and tracking, which allows them more flexibility in the allocation of resources. These professionals have sophisticated tracking systems that provide valuable insights and information on the status of your shipments.

The freight delivery service can set up a system that tracks each shipment in real-time and generates automatic reports to show you and your customers where products are in transit. This information can help you make more informed decisions about your business and better manage customer expectations.

So if you want permanent solutions to your shipping and fulfillment issues, work with a reliable freight company like RB Logistics. Our primary focus is to provide effective, efficient, and cost-effective freight services that meet your needs. We provide the resources and infrastructure to help businesses overcome all the common shipping and fulfillment mistakes discussed here.