The adoption of e-commerce as the consumer’s retail channel of choice has increased by 30% post-pandemic, spurring urgent mandates for e-tailers to scale operations and services. 

When it comes to fulfillment, e-commerce market leaders are delighting their customers by offering a menu of options. Shoppers appreciate the resulting flexibility and control when choosing how, where and when they want to receive their orders. 

To achieve flexible fulfillment, e-tailers need order-management systems that can handle complex inventory and omnichannel distribution models. To make that a reality, forward-thinking e-commerce businesses are flocking to composable commerce — drawing on best-of-breed components to meet particular business needs — along with business process management (BPM) tools to modernize their tech stacks. They’re also adopting extensible order-routing capabilities, which enable the agility needed to adjust order routing rules on demand, without involving IT or outside vendors.

Supported by next-generation technologies, flexible fulfillment has emerged as a game-changing driver of stronger customer satisfaction, loyalty, and competitive advantage. Following are four steps to making that happen.

Customize Fulfillment Options

Flexible fulfillment strategies allow customers to direct their own shopping journeys, so that they can move through multiple channels seamlessly while enjoying consistent product availability and pricing.

For example, buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) allows shoppers to search and purchase products online, and collect their orders at a location of their choosing. This option offers the efficiency of online shopping without the shipping fees and wait times. For e-commerce businesses, BOPIS increases in-store foot traffic. The strategy requires full integration between online and in-store inventory management systems.

When it comes to last-mile delivery, algorithms can analyze traffic patterns, delivery windows, and package sizes so that vehicles take the most efficient routes. GPS technologies facilitate real-time tracking, providing accurate location information for both delivery personnel and customers.

Shoppers can also take advantage of ship-to-home, store, or locker options. For those that are concerned about deliveries left unattended, a ship-to-secure location ensures that orders are safe. Mobile apps and e-commerce websites include features for selecting delivery options, adding addresses, and tracking orders.

By providing fulfillment data upfront, e-tailers can manage customer expectations and reduce problems resulting from undisclosed delays or costs. When customers can access information on local store availability, delivery windows and shipping fees, they’re apprised of cost and delivery time before completing the transaction.

Build Flexibility for Order Routing

Customers will never see the underlying technologies and workflows that power flexible fulfillment options. Retailers, however, can use these tools to optimize order routing, preserve the order value, maximize profit margin and reduce the total cost to serve. This metric encompasses numerous factors, including production costs, logistics, distribution, customer service and operational expenses. 

A retailer might opt to route products based on the nearest location during peak season to ship faster, or switch locations due to supply chain disruptions. Applying flexible order routing strategies, retailers can meet customer expectations while preserving profit margins. Routing flexibility refers to dynamically directing orders to fulfillment centers based on inventory levels, distance, and shipping speed. Applying these capabilities, retailers, distributors, and manufacturers can optimize their supply chain efficiencies and meet customer demand reliably. For example, if a customer orders an item that’s out of stock in their local store, flexible routing automation redirects the order to an alternative store or fulfillment center. Or, if there’s excess inventory in a fulfillment center and high demand in a different location, algorithms can dynamically re-route orders to deplete the excess stock and reduce carrying costs.

Apply Business Process Management 

BPM refers to automating the steps for fulfilling customer orders from receipt to delivery. For e-commerce businesses, the result is improved efficiencies, fewer errors and happier customers. 

Order tracking monitors each step of the fulfillment process from receipt to completion. Automated shipping and delivery processes, such as label printing, carrier selection and delivery tracking, help keep orders on track for on-time delivery.

Algorithms can reduce costs and accelerate warehouse operations, such as inventory management, picking and packing, returns processing, refunds, and exchanges. Automated order confirmation e-mails, shipping notifications and delivery updates improve customer communication while reducing the burden on customer service teams. 

Adopt Composable Commerce

Success with flexible fulfillment relies on a combination of composable commerce tools, business process management, and extensible order-routing capabilities. 

Characterized by their flexible design, composable commerce applications provide a modular and highly adaptable architecture that allows businesses to customize and scale their operations on an on-demand basis. They improve on the traditional approach to e-commerce technologies by allowing businesses to execute extensible order routing as well as assembly and integration of components and services.

BPM helps optimize processing time while minimizing errors. When e-commerce businesses experience demand fluctuations, BPM enables flexible scaling to accommodate higher order volumes without compromising quality or speed. Tools provide real-time visibility into flexible fulfillment, from order placement to delivery.

Flexible fulfillment involves coordination across multiple systems, such as order management, inventory monitoring and carriers. BPM platforms can integrate with those systems to enable seamless data exchange and workflow orchestration for streamlined operations.

Ram Venkataraman is chief executive officer of Kibo.