Warehousing Solutions: Efficient Storage & Logistics

Running a retail or an eCommerce business pretty much boils down to having someplace to store your inventory until you can sell it to customers. Of course, there’s much more to the whole story, but the essence of it all are effective warehousing solutions you should have implemented. Why does that matter, you ask? 

Well, if you’re going to deliver thousands of products to thousands of people every day, you really can’t have your goods lying on the street now, can you? The purpose of your business is to fulfil the orders and purchases consumers make online and you have to be fast and efficient at doing so. 

Otherwise, the competition will leave you in the dust. You needn't be reminded just how fierce the competition is in the retail and eCommerce sectors. Therefore, a warehouse with a seamless system installed is not just necessary, but also mandatory if you wish for your store to stand out from the rest. 

As a matter of fact, a warehousing solution is the only way you can get goods from suppliers to consumers in time to meet both the market demand and customer expectations. That is why we’ll be going over some of the best warehousing solutions, as well as logistics required for everything to operate at optimal levels. 

A User-Friendly Guide to Effective Warehousing

You’re most likely wondering what warehousing is and what exactly is its purpose. It has something to do with warehouses and storing goods in them, right? Yes, but there’s more to it than it meets the eye. 

You see, warehousing is more than just storing products, materials or goods at a designated location. It’s actually a storage solution with the intent to sell the stock to customers locally or internationally, depending on the nature of your business. 

In other words, you need a system that will allow you to deliver goods from vendors or suppliers, then store, label and package products seamlessly before shipping them out to end-users or customers.

Different Warehouse Types

The type of warehouse you’d want to opt for entirely depends on what you need it for. The fundamental principle of a warehouse is that it’s designed for storage purposes. 

But how do you want to store inventory and for how long? So, here are a few types of warehouses you might want to go over and decide which one suits you best.

• Privately-owned warehouse - The most common type of warehouse is the one owned by you and you alone. You can store any number of goods here until they are needed, meaning you will most commonly store inventory that won’t move from storage any time soon. 

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A good example of this type of warehouse is a storage facility for raw materials that are kept in a warehouse before they are needed in manufacturing plants for assembly. 

• Public warehouses - Warehouses owned by the government are often called public warehouses. Their purpose is to help out fresh new business with their endeavours mostly due to budget constraints. In other words, you can rent or lease these warehouses for a cheap price if you’re currently not in a position to opt for any other option.

• Co-owned warehouses - More often than not, small businesses need to join forces in order to tackle the ever-growing market demands and consumer expectations. 
• Needless to say, not all new companies have the capital necessary to fully run every business operation independently. A co-owned warehouse allows two or more businesses to share expenses and pull resources in order to achieve their goals. 
• Sharing is caring, or so people say. If you’re just starting out and you don’t have a lot of inventory yet, sharing a warehouse with another company is actually quite a frugal approach to ensuring that you can still run a business even if your budget is thin. 

• Distribution centre - This type of warehouse is an all-in-one solution most commonly used by retail and eCommerce businesses. A distribution centre is designed to fully integrate all operations and logistics as a unified end-to-end solution. 

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That includes goods procurement, warehousing, packaging, labelling, cross-docking, order fulfilment and shipment, to name a few. Managing such a warehouse is quite expensive, but there are 3PL (third-party logistics) companies that offer their distribution centres as a service to other retail or eCommerce stores.

Key Functions of Warehousing Solutions

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Now that you have a general idea of what type of warehouse you might need, it’s time to consider why you need a warehousing storage, to begin with. Although it may seem that warehousing is just that - storing stuff in a building somewhere, it’s actually much more. 

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Not to mention the fact that it’s the centrepiece of your entire business operation, regardless if you run a retail or online store. So, let’s have a look at those warehousing functions you need to know about.

1. Inventory Management

Managing inventory is more than just placing these boxes over here and those boxes over there. For retail and eCommerce businesses, inventory management is one of the most vital processes for the entire supply chain. 

It involves placing goods in a specific order so that they can be shipped out seamlessly and in accordance with order fulfilment. Aside from that, inventory management focuses on monitoring your inventory stock. 

You don’t want to have too much or too little of anything at any given moment. This prevents increased overhead costs, as well as lack of supply for the current demand. 

And of course, there’s also the part where you manage inventory by properly packaging and labelling goods so that you always know where your products are stored and how many products in each category you have stored in your warehouse. 

2. Receiving Goods

The vast majority of retail and online stores procure products from third-party suppliers. The amount of goods you’ll procure depends on customer demand and the purchases they’ve made. 

But you also need to be proactive if you wish to beat the competition. In other words, you must forecast demand so that you can procure enough goods to boost your sales. 

So, once the goods come in, you can properly store, package and label them before they’re ready to be shipped to customers.  At the end of the day, you need a place where suppliers can deliver the goods you’ve ordered, which is where the warehouse comes into play.

3. Quality Assessment and Control

Procuring goods from different vendors and suppliers can be a tricky endeavour. If you don’t check the goods you’re getting ,you might have a disaster on your hands without even realising it. 

This is why everything you procure needs to be stored in the warehouse first, so that you can inspect everything and ensure that the quality and quantity is as it should be. 

Otherwise, you may have received wrong items or faulty products and you won’t even notice something is wrong unless you conduct a quality assessment and control.

4. Inventory Security

Once your goods are inside the warehouse, you should strongly consider securing them properly. This doesn’t just mean installing alarms and sensors that will prevent potential theft, but it also means securing goods so they’re handled and placed with care.

 This is especially true for high-value and easily breakable items. If you don’t store and secure them accordingly, things may get damaged, which means extra and unnecessary costs, not to mention customer dissatisfaction as they didn't get the item they’ve ordered. 

5. Order Fulfilment

If you run an online store, you know that fulfilling orders in a timely and orderly manner is of vital importance. In that case, your warehouse becomes an eCommerce fulfilment warehouse where goods are received, stored and prepped for delivery. 

This is the scenario where goods move fast through your warehouse, but you must know which products need to be delivered, to which destination and when. Once that’s done, your warehouse will look more like a beehive where everyone and everything is constantly on the move.

6. Shipping

Preparing products for shipment is not as easy as it may seem. All packaged goods that need to be shipped out today or next day must be categorised and organised so that they are easily accessible and ready to go. 

This requires a lot of planning and strategizing, especially since you’ll likely move a lot of goods each day. 

One mistake and things get cramped up, which leads to unnecessary and costly delays. Oh and let’s not forget that your customers will be angry as your same-day fulfilment turned into a next-day or even next week delivery.

 Therefore, your warehouse layout must fit the needs for inventory shipments, so that everything can go as smoothly as possible.

7. Cross-Docking

If you operate internationally, good chances are that you’ll be organising cross-docking frequently. What this means is transporting goods from inbound vehicles to outbound vehicles, without storing them in your warehouse. That doesn’t mean that the goods won’t pass through your warehouse. 

You still need to perform quality inspection and ensure everything is accounted for, but as soon as you're done with your inspection, the goods are loaded onto vehicles again and shipped out to customers. 

A good example of this is products delivered by ships from overseas. After they pass costumes, products are delivered to your warehouse via inbound vehicles and loaded onto outbound vehicles immediately after inspection.

Things You’ll Need to Maximise the Efficacy of Your Warehouse Solutions and Logistics

As you might imagine, improving efficiency of your warehouse solutions and logistics comes down to leveraging modern tech. Fortunately for all retail and eCommerce store owners, such technology, indeed, has the capabilities to turn your business for the better. 

It’s really amazing how a couple of software programs can revolutionise warehousing as we know it. Moreover, there’s a myriad of different software solutions that vary in features and prices, so you’ll have to pick and choose the one that suits both your needs and your budget. That said, let’s have a closer look at these marvels of ingenuity. 

Warehouse Management Software (WMS)

If you want a truly reliable warehousing solution, then a WMS is definitely a must-have. The software tracks everything from goods procurement and storage to inventory tracking and deliveries. The best thing about it is that the software plays quite nice with other systems you may already have.

 Together, they create an environment where every workflow can be orchestrated into an effective and streamlined process. So, if you want to know every little detail about what's happening at your warehouse and how, then this software is a perfect match for your business. Here are some of the main features of WMS.

• Gestion des stocks
• Demand planning
• Generates real-time performance analytics
• Omnichannel integration
• Order management
• Analysing goods in processing
• Shipping management
• Order picking and packaging
• Returns management

Inventory Management System (IMS)

While the WMS focuses entirely on your warehousing solutions, the IMS focuses on inventory optimization. Think of it as product warehousing with added features and functionalities. And yes, WMS does have similar capabilities but IMS takes things to a whole new level. 

As a retail or online store owner, you know exactly how vital it is to keep a close eye on your inventory. 

You need to know what you have, how much and whether or not it’s stored, packaged and labelled properly as this is a crucial factor in eCommerce logistics. Well, rest assured as this software does all that for you, and it does it quite well. That said, here are some of the features you can expect from an IMS solution.

• Inventory optimization
• Inventory tracking
• Forecasting inventory
• Inventory control
• Automatic reordering
• Barcoding and RFID tagging
• Suivi des commandes
• Inventory alerts
• Supplier management
• IoT and robotic integration
• Reporting and analytics

Fleet or Transportation Management Software (TMS)

It’s no secret that you cannot operate efficiently if you can’t properly deliver goods in and out of your warehouse. Sure, most retail and eCommerce companies have their own fleet of vehicles for transportation services. However, if you cannot afford a fleet, you can always outsource one. 

Nevertheless, you’ll need a TMS either way, mostly because not everything is about transportation. In fact, it’s about organising vehicles, route planning and tracking vehicles. So, if you think you can manage fine without this software, have a look at its features and re-evaluate your point of view.

• Optimising vehicles for transport
• Generating real-time traffic data
• Efficient route planning
• Satellite and GPS fleet tracking
• Reporting on shipment status
• Performance analytics
• Compliance and governance
• Freight services
• Carrier management
• Load planning
• Cost savings

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Each of the aforementioned software solutions are excellent at what they’re designed to do. However, you need a solution that will bind them all together and align them with your business goals and objectives. 

This is where ERP software comes into play. The purpose of this software is to streamline every business operation and make it more efficient. This may include everything from customer satisfaction to supply chain optimisation. 

So why does ERP matter? As mentioned before, you have to align integrated systems with your business goals. And the only way to do that is to have a system in place that focuses on all business operations as a whole. 

For instance, you may have an exceptional shipping logistics process but if your marketing efforts are lacking, no one will order anything from you. So, have a look at some of the main features of ERP and see how it can help your organisation.

• Business intelligence
• Customer relationship management
• Financial management
• Accounting
• Human resources
• Compliance
• Marketing
• Data security
• Centralised operations
• Tracking and visibility
• Scalability

Optimise Your Warehouse Storage With Bezos

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Running a warehouse operation is not easy, to put it mildly. There are so many factors to consider, which often places new businesses in a very difficult position. At Bezos, we aim to take those burdens away from you by lending you our distribution centres and logistics management. 

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We’ll take care of the warehousing solutions while you focus on other important tasks that will elevate your business in the market. Therefore, don’t hesitate to reach out today and get a quote for your needs. We align our services to your business needs and provide 24/7 support, so that you can reach out to us whenever you need.

Conclusion: Warehouse Solutions to the Rescue

Competing in today’s online market can be a real nightmare. If you’re not fast enough, proactive enough and creative enough, the competition will most likely outrun you. 

This is why you must ensure speed to market and consumers good graces through warehousing solutions that will work in your favour. 

After all, warehouses are technically the very heart and soul of every retail or online store, so if your warehouses aren’t operating efficiently, nothing will.

FAQ:

What is a warehouse solution?

A warehouse solution is a system that helps eCommerce and retail businesses store and organise goods until they are sold or distributed further. 

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The solution itself is designed to streamline every process so that there are no delays or other obstacles that will prevent a company from operating at optimal levels.

What are the seven functions of warehousing?

The key functions of warehousing are:

• Gestion des stocks
• Procurement of goods
• Quality control
• Inventory security
• Order fulfilment
• Expédition
• Cross-docking

What are the four major types of warehousing?

As mentioned before, there are several types of warehouses that serve a different purpose. The four major types are:

• Privately-owned warehouses
• Public warehouses
• Co-owned warehouses
• Distribution centres

What are the six processes of warehousing?

Once the goods are procured from vendors or third-party suppliers, they will eventually be delivered to your warehouse. This is where the magic happens and the main six processes are:

• Receiving goods
• Storing goods
• Picking goods
• Packaging goods
• Labelling goods
• Shipping goods

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