Warehouse Inventory Management: The Backbone of Successful E-commerce Operations

Table of Content

1. Introduction
2. Key Obstacles Faced By E-commerce Business
– Marketplace Penalties
– SOPs Adherence
– Lack of Unified Platform
– Inaccurate TAT Measurement
– Return Management
3. How Does Warehouse Inventory Management Resolve this Problem?
– Centralized Inventory
– Well-aligned with SOPs and Updates
– Measure TAT Rate Accurately
– Identify CIR/ RTO Returns
4. Unlock Your E-commerce Potential With WMS

Imagine a warehouse with overcrowded shelves. Different types of products are placed together without proper labeling. The overall warehouse environment feels so disorganized that warehouse staff find it hard to navigate tight spaces. Do you think such an inefficient system can sustain an entire e-commerce process? 

A warehouse management system is the engine of all operations. It offers a structured approach for storing and retrieving products, ensuring that each item moves smoothly through operations without errors.

Incorporating an effective warehouse inventory management software is important for an e-commerce business. It provides a blueprint for organizing your warehouse space to store your inventory efficiently. A robust warehouse inventory management system sorts every step from storage to dispatch. 

Every e-commerce business wants to fulfill orders as soon as possible to remain ahead of the competition but faces a lot of hindrances to achieving the same. Understanding these obstacles is important to come up with effective strategies. Let’s understand some of them in the below points – 

Key Obstacles in Warehouse Management

An e-commerce business, whether selling on multiple marketplaces or its website, can face some common challenges in warehouse management. Let’s have a glance at some of them –

1. Multichannel Inventory Allocation

Inventory Allocation on multiple channels is a complex process. Let’s say you have 100 units and allocate 30 to channel 1 and 70 to channel 2, but channel 1 ends up with more orders. You lose potential profit from the 70 units that weren’t sold due to poor allocation and marketplace penalties. 

The above scenario is just a glimpse; in reality, thousands of inventories are allocated across multiple channels—marketplaces, websites, and more. The key question here is, what’s the best way to allocate inventory to yield the best results?

2. SOPs Adherence

Are you looking to integrate a new system for warehouse management? That could be a problem if it doesn’t align with the warehouse’s operational requirements. But why is that important? Let’s understand it further.

SOPs are an outline that specifies how tasks should be performed in a warehouse setting. Adhering to these Sops ensure efficiency, consistency, and safety. So, if you are using a system that doesn’t follow the guidelines, it can hamper the warehouse operations. For instance, implementing FIFO (First In, First Out) in a health and pharmaceutical warehouse is essential. FIFO ensures that the oldest inventory, such as medicines with earlier expiration dates, is used or sold first. WMS prioritizes picking older inventory first, reducing the risk of expired products and optimizing overall warehouse efficiency.

3. Lack of Unified Platform

Suppose you sell on ten marketplaces. Every day, you have to log in to all platforms to check inventory status and download multiple reports for analysis. All your crucial time will go in the tiring process which you could have utilized for other purposes. 

This challenge is even greater with multiple warehouses in different locations. Accessing inventory status becomes a bit challenging due to the lack of a centralized space to track inventory status. 

4. Disruptive Inventory Flow

The success of an e-commerce business depends on what goes at the backend. Ultimately, it all depends on the efficiency of inventory flow. If the picking and packaging process is slow, there will be a delay in dispatch, which will result in late order delivery. This disruption can bring multiple consequences, such as SLA breaches and penalties. 

5. Return Management

Returns are inevitable in an e-commerce business. The returned products need to be updated in the inventory as soon as they come back to the warehouse. Any delays in updating the inventory when orders roll in will result in missed opportunities because the inventory got stuck in the returned process. That’s why an e-commerce business must have a dedicated return management system that can streamline the return process.

How Does Warehouse Inventory Management Resolve this Problem?

1. Centralized Inventory

Warehouse inventory management provides a single platform to see inventories across all platforms. And you don’t have to log in multiple times on different platforms to update inventory manually. The inventory gets automatically updated, the order gets fulfilled, or a return package is received. This process bypasses the complex procedure and saves you from heavy penalties from marketplaces. Also, there is a lot of scope to expand your e-commerce business when you have such an efficient and reliable WMS. 

2. Well-aligned with SOPs and Updates

Every industry requirement varies, and so do the warehouse SOPs. Some warehouse inventory management software are so flexible that they can align with every industry type. 

WMS is flexible as it adapts to updates on multiple marketplaces. For instance, Myntra has recently mandated attaching a tag loop to certain products to avoid trouble during customer returns. The addition of this feature in WMS facilitates sellers in processing their orders as per the marketplace’s updated requirements.  

3. Improve Warehouse Efficiency

A smart warehouse management system can provide you with precise data on every event happening in the warehouse. You can analyze the time difference between picking and packing, and if it is too long, what could be the reason? Do you need to place popular products near the packaging station? Analyzing and resolving problems like these can improve warehouse management.

4. Identify CIR/ RTO Returns

In case of return, you can easily segregate CIR and RTO products when they arrive at the warehouse. As you know, RTO products won’t change, so you can put them back in the same location. However, CIR products must be cross-checked as the number and quality of returned items may vary. 

Unlock Your E-commerce Potential With Warehouse Inventory Management System

A robust warehouse inventory management process is the key to taking your e-commerce business to new heights. WMS guides the warehouse management process to enable seamless operational flow. From efficient inventory storage to picking and dispatch, WMS can smoothen these processes. 

A smart WMS system caters to warehouse management procedures. If selling on multiple marketplaces, WMS ensures alignment with new updates, such as Meesho’s updated brand policies. The staff can view all the orders across different marketplaces on a single platform. Such a facility reduces multiple trips to search inventory and improves order fulfillment time. This way, you can avoid SLA breaches and marketplace penalties. With a robust WMS implemented, there is a huge scope for scaling an e-commerce business.

Related Read –

• What is Perpetual Inventory System?
• What is Warehouse Management System
• What is Order Management?
• What is Inventory Management?
• What is Order Fulfillment?
• What is Inventory Control System?