As shoppers increasingly seek unique and tailored products, eCommerce is seeing a surge in the demand for custom orders and personalised products.
In the Health and Beauty industry, 56% of shoppers are more likely to be repeat customers after a personalised experience, and 94% of marketers believe that personalisation boosts sales. Globally, 50% of consumers now prefer retailers that offer personalised delivery options and shopping experiences.
With custom orders becoming a powerful way for businesses to differentiate themselves and meet this growing demand, many are looking to improve their custom order processes and overcome the unique challenges associated with it.
In this blog, we will explore the role of an order fulfilment software in streamlining custom orders fulfilment for eCommerce businesses.
Understanding the Complexity of Custom Orders in eCommerce
Custom orders are products that are personalised or made-to-order specifically tailored to a customer's specifications. Whether it’s a monogrammed leather wallet, a pair of sneakers with unique colour combinations, a tailored dress, or a special combination of beauty products, these orders offer customers a one-of-a-kind shopping experience.
These types of orders can also be through the forms of gifting – adding personalised messages on cards, changing the packaging, and wrapping the product according to the customer’s preferences.
This personalisation then creates a great shopping experience for the customer, elevating a brand’s reputation and creating opportunities for repeat business.
While this is an extremely competitive approach to eCommerce, fulfilling these orders is not as simple as processing standard items. They require more customisation, attention to detail, and more time to process and fulfil – factors that can all affect the production workflow and schedule, as well as the overall fulfilment process.
It also introduces its own set of challenges, including increased complexity, longer processing times, and a higher potential for errors.
Customer communication is equally important for these types of orders. Shoppers may have specific requests or changes they want to make to their orders, which can be difficult to manage without a clear system in place. Without visibility over their order status, customers may feel dissatisfaction over the lack of transparency.
If not handled properly, these challenges can ultimately lead to a negative impact on the brand’s reputation.
The Role of an Order Fulfilment Software
An order fulfilment software is a powerful tool designed to automate and optimise every stage of the fulfilment process. By integrating key features such as inventory management, order processing, shipping coordination, tracking, and reporting, this software empowers businesses to manage their orders with greater efficiency. It minimises the risk of errors, accelerates delivery times, and enhances overall operational effectiveness.
With the right order fulfilment software, eCommerce brands can unlock significant advantages, including:
1. Reduced Errors and Returns
Integrations with your eCommerce platform and the ability to pre-set your shipping preferences significantly reduces the risk of human error in the fulfilment process. With the right software, customisation tasks can be added in the workflow via tags on the sales order as items are manufactured and prepared, providing clear visibility over all the requirements for an order before and during they are picked and packed.
This reduces the chances of incorrect specifications or missed details. As a result, businesses experience fewer returns and exchanges, which not only saves on costs but also boosts customer satisfaction.
2. Faster Fulfilment Times
Speed is another critical driving factor in improving customer satisfaction. Custom orders often take longer to fulfil, but with the right software, businesses can streamline the process and reduce lead times.
One way to do this is by automating the chosen carrier for shipping your custom orders. By automatically assigning the fastest delivery carrier depending on your customer’s location, waiting time from the day the order is shipped to delivered can be minimised. You can even choose swift carriers that allow you to deliver the item within the same day it gets dispatched!
With the automation of repetitive administrative tasks a fulfilment software can provide, you can shave days off the fulfilment timeline to delight and encourage repeat business and positive reviews.
3. Cost Efficiency
Investing in fulfilment software isn’t only smart – its long-term savings are also substantial. With most Software-as-a-Service providers, you won’t need to worry about huge upfront costs as most models for subscription are Pay-As-You-Go. This means you can decide anytime if you want to scale up or down depending on your business needs.
A tangible cost-effective benefit for a business, is having access to aggregated shipping rates within the tool. SKUTOPIA’s Shipping Platform, for example, offers a wide range of carrier brands to choose from to pick the best rates in the market. This preference can then be extended to the customers so they can select their preferred courier and shipping method, adding to their personalised shopping experience.
Moreover, SKUTOPIA’s Shipping Platform also allows brands to capture accurate product and packaging weights and dimensions as they’re being fulfilled. This then incurs less fine charges from carriers, helping them further save on shipping costs.
As eCommerce businesses grow, the return on investment (ROI) of fulfilment software also becomes more evident as the volume of custom orders increases. With SKUTOPIA, there’s no minimum order requirements, so whether your company is new to eCommerce or rapidly growing, your partnership is rewarded with even more competitive shipping rates, allowing significant reduction in shipping costs as businesses scale.
Choosing the Right Fulfilment Software for Custom Orders
While an order fulfilment software is typically designed to streamline many aspects of the order fulfilment process, there are certain tools well-suited to handle the unique requirements of custom orders or made-to-order products.
At the bottom of it all, what you want is an order fulfilment software that will help you optimise your custom order process workflow.
When selecting the most suitable fulfilment software, consider these three key features:
1. Customisable Workflows
The first thing you’ll want to look at, of course, is how easy the software integrates with your eCommerce platform. Then, find out if it offers customisable workflows that you can configure to streamline your custom order process.
With these two combined, it’ll be easy to start optimising your workflows to then have more time and control over the manufacturing and the other fulfilment processes.
For example, SKUTOPIA helps businesses set up their default parcel sizes, weight, and dimensions based on their products and workflows. Configuration is also possible to automate selecting a carrier shipping method for every order. Selecting the cheapest shipping method for all orders is also possible, or you can leverage SKUTOPIA’s recommended shipping method for a quality customer experience. Lastly, custom building your own automations based on the recipient’s shipping address postcodes, the shipping method, or the product SKU, is also possible within the platform.
The Shipping Platform can also support workflows that manage orders either one by one or in bulk – providing businesses the perfect control over each custom order without sacrificing efficiency in the process.
This means brands can spend less time on administration and simplify workflows with a lot of the automation our order fulfilment software can bring to the table. As a result, you can get your custom orders manufactured, picked, packed, and shipped way faster.
2. Order Tracking and Transparency
Good order fulfilment software provides end-to-end tracking, allowing both the business and the customer to monitor the order’s progress from production to delivery. This visibility not only enhances the customer experience but also enables businesses to quickly address any issues that may arise during the fulfilment.
Having real-time updates on your order fulfilment, coupled with a clear communication system that allows customers to see the status of their orders in real-time via email or text message updates, are features that will significantly enhance your custom order processes and your customer relationships.
With SKUTOPIA, these are all available through a simple, data-rich sales dashboard where the delivery status and tracking for all shipped items are all included for complete visibility.
3. Scalability
As the demand for custom orders grows, so does the need for a fulfilment system that can scale with the business.
Performance, stability and reliability are critical to not disrupt your operations. An order fulfilment software must then be able to support your growing orders so you can keep managing and simplifying your workflows even with an increasing volume of custom orders without sacrificing efficiency.
Whether a business is processing a handful of custom orders each week or hundreds per day, your chosen software must be able to scale to meet your growing demand.
Helping you save more as you scale up is another factor to consider with your chosen fulfilment software. Some options require a minimum order volume requirement to access the benefits, but with SKUTOPIA, there’s no minimum order volume requirements ever, allowing you the freedom to change your tiered pricing as you go to unlock the benefits based on your companies needs.
Streamlining Your Custom Order Operations Today
For eCommerce businesses that deal with custom or made-to-order products, finding the right order fulfilment software is crucial to boosting productivity and optimising operations. Managing the complexities of personalised orders requires a solution that is as flexible and dynamic as your business.
The SKUTOPIA Shipping Platform is designed to meet these demands, offering customisable and automated workflows that can help simplify and streamline your custom order management for a faster and more accurate custom order fulfilment.
Delivery tracking, shipping status, and carrier selection are all available through the software, allowing eCommerce businesses to have access to competitive carrier shipping methods and rates. This can further improve personalisation through delivery and promotes cost-effectiveness for your business.
These features empower businesses to handle the unique challenges of custom orders with ease, ensuring that each order is processed efficiently and accurately. With SKUTOPIA, you can streamline every aspect of your fulfilment process—from order entry to shipping—while minimising errors and delays.
Ready to take your custom order operations to the next level? Partner with SKUTOPIA today and experience the difference that seamless, efficient fulfilment can make for your eCommerce business.
Learn more: https://www.skutopia.com/ecommerce-order-fulfillment-software
