What is Order Fulfilment Rate?

Order fulfilment is a vital part of the E-commerce business. Ideally, a business fulfils orders efficiently by getting the orders to customers on time and reducing operating costs too. E-commerce makes up 38% of retail business in the UK. But how do businesses that make up a good chunk of the total retail business know they’re meeting customer demand and doing so efficiently? It’s through order fulfilment rate.

What is Order Fulfilment Rate?

Order fulfilment is taking orders, processing them, pricing them, packaging them, and shipping them to customers. Order fulfilment rate, on the other hand, is how many times the process was completed divided by how many orders were received. Any company focusing on growth and profit increase must complete all product deliveries to fulfil market demand. This is why the management strives to build strategies for a high order fulfilment rate.

B2B Vs. B2C Order Fulfilment

The order fulfilment rate for B2B and B2C will look different. B2C orders are usually for E-commerce stores. The stores have fewer goods and send them directly to customers or through a pick-and-pack service. B2B orders are much larger in quantity, but exchanges happen with lower frequency. B2B clients purchase the order once every few weeks or months, and the purchases are usually quite large.

The Order Fulfilment Process

The order fulfilment process occurs in seven steps:

1. Receiving Inventory

Businesses can receive their goods from various sources. These sources can include other businesses, the company warehouse, etc. The employees will count or use a management system to check incoming inventory. An inspection will also happen at this step to make sure the quality is acceptable.

2. Goods Storage

Once goods are received and inspected, they go to the fulfilment centre. The goods will either be distributed immediately or sent to short-term and long-term storage. Typically, items aren’t kept for future sales but to help organise distribution.

3. Order Processing

As the order is received, employees will pick and pack as per the order. This can be manual or through an automated system like an order processing management system. The system can be integrated with the E-commerce website, automatically initiating the process. It also has more benefits, which has made the multichannel ordering management market reach 4.2 billion USD.

4. Picking Order

An automated robot or an employee will pick up the items from the storage or fulfilment centre as per the instructions on the packing slip. The slip has specific details such as the item SKUs, colour, size, units, and location.

5. Packing

Once the employee or the automated system picks up the product from storage, it’s sent for packing. The packing team will pick materials by multiplying the length by the width. Since space on delivery trucks has a limit, the packing team will optimise it for dimensional weight or DIM weight.

6. Shipping

Once packed, the order is sent to a transportation channel for shipping. Shippers and carriers can include freight lines or airlines. The transportation channel will determine the billable costs. The billing can be on package weight or dimensional weight.

7. Delivery

There are various shipping methods and routes. A carrier may pick up a package at a fulfilment centre and later deliver it through another carrier to a customer’s home.

3PLWOW – Your Ultimate Fulfilment Partner

3PLWOW is not a fulfilment company that will treat your business like another number. To us, you’re a business partner. Get great service at great prices, unlike any other fulfilment service provider in Great Britain. We offer order fulfilment in London, Newcastle, Birmingham, and other places in the UK. In addition, we also provide an E-commerce pick and pack service.

Worried about storage issues or need a helping hand with shipping? Give us a call.