Warehouse Operations the “Engine Room” of the E-Commerce Business

Warehouse operations are, according to Nick Finill, Principal Analyst at ABI Research, the “engine room” of the supply chain.

Last year’s Amazon Prime Day and Cyber Monday saw record-breaking sales over $4.2 (Amazon) and $7.9 billion (Cyber Monday.) According to Supply Chain, online retailers are increasingly seeking warehouse operations software to improve their speed to fulfillment and manage overall inventory more effectively.

It’s important to keep in mind that even if you don’t consider Amazon a competitor, your customers do. They shop from Amazon as well as your website and that of many other companies. If you can’t ship as quickly or as inexpensively as the “big companies” can, customers may take their business elsewhere. Having the right warehouse operations software can help you remain competitive as the e-commerce industry continues to heat up at a blistering pace.

The Warehouses Power the Entire System

The engine room analogy is appropriate. The warehouse actually powers the entire e-commerce system.

Consider this:

• If anything happens to the engine room on a ship, the ship can’t make it to its destination. The ship stalls in the middle of the ocean and runs adrift. Your warehouse must run efficiently so that the “ship” (the company) can reach its destination (sales goals). Without the warehouse engine running at peak efficiency, the company can go adrift and wander from its goals.
• The engine room crew on a ship must be quick-thinking and responsive to the captain’s orders. So, too, must the warehouse crew respond quickly to the captain’s orders. If they’re slow to act, order fulfillment slows.
• Although the engine room on a ship doesn’t set the course, it is responsible for propelling the ship on its way. Sales, fulfilled through a warehouse, propel the company “ship” on its course.

If you think this analogy is a bit of a stretch, think again. You know all too well the increasing pressure on logistics, supply chain, and warehouse managers. That’s because what you do is important, and likely to grow in importance, as the hunger for goods fulfilled through e-commerce sales increases.

Are you ready? The right warehouse operations software can help you get to your sales destination.

Scanco Sage 100 offers a fully automated software to keep your warehouse engine running smoothly. It can be used with an iOS or Android-compatible device over Wi-Fi or a cellular network. This solution is flexible enough it can be used with multiple hardware options and makes keeping track of inventory in real time easy and convenient.

Take the next step on your warehouse journey—contact us online or call us at (330) 645-9959.