Order Management In Dropshipping Pratices
Dropshipping is the model in which the seller does not handle the product directly. Instead, it has another supplier or manufacturer fulfill the order and deliver it to the customer. This keeps the seller from the warehouse and storage burden while enabling customers the get the product faster. However, because the selling merchant does not stock or own inventory, it possesses an order management issue. It is rather simple to keep track of stock changes if you own the inventory. But the number of orders changes every day. You need to be in touch with the supplier all of the time to fulfill the order in time. Fortunately, there are plenty of apps these days to help. One of the most effective software is the Atom8 automation workflow. The app lets you sync with the suppliers and contact them in just a few clicks. How can you do that? This article will discuss 4 easy ways that dropshipping merchants can automate their order management. 1. Categorize orders by address Customer segmentation is extremely important for order management, especially when you’re operating on a dropshipping model. Without accurate grouping, you risk sending the product to the wrong customer. Because the supplier delivers it on behalf of your store, you’ll suffer from reputation damage and additional costs to fix the mistake. Thus set up a workflow in Atom8 to put your customer in the right group after the order is placed. You can also send a notification email to your suppliers so that they’re aware of the new package and address. 2. Export orders to a spreadsheet A spreadsheet always helps in managing data, especially when you’re dealing with tons of them per day. You never want to wait until the end of the week or month to manually update every detail all at once. It’s too exhausting for anyone. Instead, you can export the data to your spreadsheet under specific conditions. In this example, the file will be automatically updated once the order status is changed. You often have to wait for a while until the issuing bank verifies the billing information. Yet the advantage is that you don’t have to go in and out to change the status and send emails yourself. 3. Change order status according to shipment method This is particularly useful if your customer wants to pick up the package in-store after paying for it. This makes things a little bit different. You might want to hand the item to your customer after receiving it from the manufacturer. Or you can direct them to the supplier location to pick up the items. Make sure that you discuss this with your partner beforehand to avoid misunderstandings. 4. Assign product to backorder Sometimes some products get a higher demand than usual. In this case, being out of stock might cause a tremendous loss of customers and revenue. One solution is to allow backorder in your store. This way, whenever an item runs out, your customer can still order and have it delivered later in the future. The key is to clearly disclose all the information related to the waiting time and shipping method. Final notes After all, dropshipping is not perfect, especially when it comes to order management. It is a quick way to get money, but you should always keep an eye on the challenges to maintain a smooth business workflow. Remember, you can always seek help at Atom8.
Should You Automate Your Shopify Store?
Shopify, being a highly renowned E-commerce platform that opens the gateway to set up an online store of your choice and sell your products and services. As online shopping has become a trend today, it is for sure that your online store will generate good revenue. Automating your store will fetch innumerable benefits to you as well as your customers. When You Should Automate Your Shopify Store? If you are looking forward to boosting your sales to the next higher level, then automating your store will be a great decision. At the time of automating, you must focus on every step that is taken by the customer. With a wide range of apps by Shopify, it will become easy to take your sales to the next higher level. Now, wondering about the right time to automate your Shopify store? If yes, then below are some vital situations where you will benefit manifold by automating your online Shopify store: Inefficient operational processes Inefficient operations may result in repelling your both new as well as old customers. For example, slow fulfillment, late delivery, or having too many manual tasks like data entry, publishing content. Keeping the problem for granted may hamper your business manifold. So, automating your Shopify store will ensure that all your operations are taking place efficiently. Finally, it will reflect a good impression about your store that will finally persuade your customers to land and make a purchase. Also, it will help in building trust in your brand and bring a real feeling to your website. Difficult and time-consuming data migration Transferring thousands of data lines can take a lot of time if your staff is doing it manually. Through a simple copy and paste operation, little bit of negligence may result in something disastrous. If you are having a hard time finding where your data is or spent days migrating data to a different place, then you might need to implement an automation system. Automating your online Shopify store will ensure smooth operation in a hassle-free manner. You need not worry about missing any file from the source while transferring it to a new destination. Preserving previous data will prevent you from any mishaps in the future. Unhappy customers Generally, customers become unhappy when eCommerce service is not up to their expectations. For instance, slow delivery with a lack of order status update, or inaccurate product and inventory information. Finally, they remain left with no other option except switching on to a new e-store. Automation will help optimize aspects that are slowing down your business. Moreover, automating your Shopify store will ensure smooth and effective returns from sending newsletters and email marketing. With high ROI, it will become easy to generate a good amount of revenue from your store. Increasing human errors It’s common for staffs to make mistakes during busy hours, but if the errors keep increasing and start to affect your profit. Then it’s time to optimize your operations. Are people making mistakes such as shipping to the wrong address, uploading the wrong image or product description, or are constantly asking each other how to solve various cases? In that case, you might need to start implementing workflow automation to improve productivity. Also, you will be able to plan further to expand your business. Automating will open the gateway to stay in touch with your customers all along the year too. Restless customer service If your customer service team is always busy answering the same questions again and again while customers are still dissatisfied. Chances are your website’s FAQs and policies are lacking information, or your operational processes are facing problems. When you fail to provide your customers with the latest updates regarding new products and services and discount offers, it will be very difficult to retain them. With decreasing number of customers, your business will go through a heart rendering loss. Automating your store will prevent such mishaps. As the operations will become smoother and optimized, it will become easy to update your customers regularly. Hence, in conclusion; automate Shopify store will no doubt fetch a wide range of advantages. If you don’t want to lose the human touch in your business, it is always favorable to start with the most time-consuming task like data upload.
