In today’s digital age, e-commerce has steadily become many customers’ preferred way of acquiring the things they need and want. The convenience that e-commerce offers can’t be beat, allowing people to shop via their phone or computer and to have their orders delivered right straight to their doorstep. Additionally, online stores often offer a larger selection of products compared to brick-and-mortar stores. This is because e-commerce stores aren’t restricted by lack of display space or rent costs, which means they can simply list all of their inventory and have specific items retrieved from warehouses as needed.
This unprecedented boom in online retail, however, has also given rise to various challenges for many e-commerce businesses. For instance, higher volumes of orders require faster handling to ensure they can all be fulfilled on time. The task should be done accurately as well to avoid returns of wrong orders, which often also result in customer dissatisfaction. One effective way for an e-commerce business to overcome said challenges is to equip its warehouse with reliable order picker machines. Here are several reasons as to why e-commerce businesses should consider investing in order pickers for their day-to-day operations.
- Increased Picking Accuracy
Accurate order fulfilment is a must in e-commerce. After all, mistakes in shipped orders can lead to negative reviews from customers and increased costs on the business’s part in the form of return fees. Order pickers help increase picking accuracy as they can be integrated with technologies such as barcode scanning systems, RFID systems, and voice-directed picking solutions to ensure precise selection of items.
In improving order accuracy, e-commerce stores can foster trust and loyalty among their customers as they position themselves to be businesses that can be counted on to consistently deliver the correct products.
- Faster Processing Times
Given the rise of next-day and even same-day delivery options, customers have now come to expect fast turnaround times to be the norm. To stay competitive and to ensure customer satisfaction, e-commerce businesses can rely on order pickers to facilitate faster picking. By enabling the mechanisation of order retrieval, order pickers reduce the time needed to navigate the warehouse to pick the required items as compared to just having workers walk from shelf to shelf.
Faster picking translates to faster order processing as well. With the item quickly retrieved, workers can then immediately arrange it for packaging and shipping, allowing the business to meet tight deadlines and increase the number of orders fulfilled each day.
- Enhanced Ergonomics for Workers
Physical strain is inevitable in manual order picking, often leading to fatigue and even injuries among workers. To provide workers with more comfortable and safer working conditions, e-commerce businesses can invest in fuel-powered or electric order pickers to minimise the need for workers to bend, reach, and lift. An order picker can lift the operator at the optimum level so that they can just comfortably reach out to pick the item instead of having them carry and climb a ladder and then force themselves into an awkward position.
Promoting safer and healthier working conditions can significantly boost morale among workers. In turn, this can result in increased productivity and lower downtime while also reducing healthcare and workers’ compensation costs on the part of the business.
- Scalability for High Demand
E-commerce businesses often experience high demand during holidays and sales events. By investing in order pickers, e-commerce businesses can effectively handle these demand spikes without compromising accuracy. This ensures that customer expectations are met even during peak periods.
Seasonal spikes can also be especially tough on workers. Having order pickers around lessens their burden by having a machine that can quickly transport them around the warehouse, ensuring that they don’t feel as overwhelmed and fatigued despite the increase in demand.
- Data-Driven Optimisation
Modern order picker models can now also be integrated with warehouse management systems (WMS), providing e-commerce businesses with insightful data on their inventory movement, picking times, and order trends. This data can then be used to optimise warehouse layouts, stock placements, and picking routes.
For instance, through data gathered from order pickers, a business may discover that some of its top-selling items are located far from the packing area. They can then opt to have them moved to a closer shelf, thus reducing retrieval times and further increasing efficiency.
- Cost Efficiency over the Long Term
While order pickers may require significant investment—especially if a business chooses to buy them rather than to rent units—they can provide substantial cost savings over time by improving operational efficiency and reducing worker errors. After all, return and replacement costs can quickly add up if they happen frequently. Moreover, such mistakes can damage the business’s reputation, which can negatively impact customer patronage.
Order pickers can save time taken in picking orders as well, allowing the business to fulfil more orders each day. This increased productivity can then lead to higher profit margins. Likewise, efficient order picking enables businesses to maximise their warehouse space and inventory management, allowing them to move products and sell them more quickly.
In order to effectively meet the growing demands of customers, e-commerce businesses should invest in equipment that can help improve their overall operational efficiency. A top-of-the-line order picker can certainly accomplish that and more, not only enhancing picking speed and accuracy but also keeping workers safe as they go about their picking tasks. By making this strategic investment, e-commerce businesses can stay competitive in a fast-paced market and aim for long-term success.
