Nibletz Staff
We’ll start with an easy question. What do we mean by logistics? There are actually a variety of different meanings behind this term. In this case, we’re talking about the activity by commercial organisations of transporting goods to customers. It is crucial that businesses think carefully about this area of the business model for a variety of reasons. Costs, for instance, can be high here which is why there are many businesses that choose to outsource this area of the company and get another business to handle deliveries. Though, there are certainly issues that can arise with this plan. You need to think about speed and efficiency as well. If your logistics services aren’t efficient turnaround for your company is going to be slow. This could lead to customers favouring the competition instead and avoiding your business completely.
So, let’s explore some of these areas and make sure you know how to keep logistics on track in your company.
What About The Warehouse?
The warehouse is where you keep all the stock before it is shipped off to customers and a great warehouse goes a long way to making sure that logistics in your business are top notch. Obviously, if your warehouse is run in an effective way, it will be a lot easier to get things out and on the way to your customers without delay.
Tech could play a big part here, and unsurprisingly, this is not the only area of logistics where a little more tech could benefit your company a lot. Here, we’re talking about cloud servers. With cloud servers, you can complete inventory stock management remotely. That means regardless of where you are, you will know exactly how much stock is left in your company. This is fantastic because it’s not just you that will be able to check this. If it’s on the cloud server, every part of your business will be connected and be able to see how much stock is left. So, for instance, you might have more stock of a certain colored item. If that’s the case, marketing would know to push this color more than the rest. It’s a basic example, but it shows just how important connectivity can be.
Of course, if you want a great warehouse, you need to make sure that it’s easy to manage, move and prepare items. For this, you need the right equipment, and with forklifts for sale online, it’s easy to get this for your company. Though it is certainly an expensive commitment and that’s where you have to think about whether it’s worth handling the logistics of your business yourself. As already mentioned, a lot of companies do outsource, and it is worth exploring this option.
Is Outsourcing Logistics A Smart Move?
By outsourcing logistics, you will be employing a company to handle everything for stock management to deliveries and everything in between. The advantage of this move is that you no longer need to worry about these areas of the company yourself. It takes a significant weight off your shoulders as a business owner. You can also limit the costs if you get the right service, but that’s a big ‘if.’ There’s a strong possibility that you’ll find the service adds a large amount to the overall cost which is of course exactly what you were trying to avoid.
It’s why you need to compare the costs of these types of services because we’re not talking about pocket change here. You could be dealing with massive amounts of money that will ultimately be added to your business budget overall.
There’s also an issue with quality. One of the aspects that you should always consider when outsourcing any area of your company is whether the new business can maintain the same level of quality. If the answer is no, then it’s a serious issue, and this is especially true for outsourcing. If you look at reviews online, a common issue that customers have is with the speed and quality of deliveries. They hate when deliveries arrive late, when packages arrive damaged and when the customer service for the company providing the deliveries is terrible. There are ways around this. You can check whether the company has a positive performance history online and also explore some of their other clients. Check whether the businesses that they provide a service for have a fantastic record for deliveries. If they do, then there should be no issues using that particular company for your own logistics.
Still, it’s important to realize that ultimately whenever you outsource, you are giving away a fraction of the control of your business away. This isn’t always a bad move, but it does mean that you get to make none of the decisions and all of the responsibility or indeed accountability for the outcomes.
Giving Customers What They Want
When you do set up the logistics area of your company, you need to think about what customers want. Ultimately customers want to be in the loop, and they want to know exactly when a product is going to be delivered or when it will arrive. They are eager to ensure that the service is customization so they can choose when a product will be delivered too. This is something you should take into account regardless of whether you are managing your own logistics or not.
Again, tech can help here. With tracking tech, you can make sure that customers are always able to see exactly when a product is going to be delivered and how long it will take. They will even be the first to know if a product is going to be delayed and you can see how this would be beneficial for them.
You may also want to think about setting up an app for your business so that customers can keep a check on their deliveries and orders. Make things easy as possible for customers and they will buy more products. It’s as simple as that.
We hope you find this helpful when dealing with logistics in your company.
