Page 10 - Logistics News - July August 2022

O P I N ION

More demand, higher expectations functions are run optimally, which ultimately results in an

Whether online shopping is driven by necessity or enhanced customer experience.
convenience, the reality is that e-commerce is becoming the
preferred method for South Africans. While this increase Outsourcing to achieve efficiency
in online shopping in South Africa presents an enormous A lot of work goes into ensuring a seamless, fast experience
growth opportunity for retailers, wholesalers and for online shoppers, from placing their order to accepting
manufacturers alike, it will be necessary for organisations delivery. However, e-commerce sellers do not have the
to reassess their entire value chain to address efficiency luxury of time when it comes to getting it right by trial and
and cost issues. This will help them scale up to meet the error. This is where a BPO provider can help e-commerce
increased demand from customers as well as an increase in players leapfrog the learning curve and jump straight into
their delivery expectations. If not choosing purely on price, delivering an experience that meets or exceeds customer
customers are likely to buy from a seller that can deliver expectations. By outsourcing their non-core processes to
their order the fastest, which means there’s little time or a specialist BPO provider, e-commerce players can refocus
space for errors in the fulfilment of e-commerce orders. their attention on activities such as sales and marketing,
which will increase competitiveness and open new market
The pitfalls of in-house management opportunities.
With e-commerce players that started small, there is
a tendency to want to keep it all in-house, including In addition to reclaiming time, organisations that
warehouse management. While this does offer the business make use of BPO providers to manage their warehousing
a sense of control, this function is likely to experience even function will also gain the benefit of complete flexibility.
more pressure, which means that there’s a heightened Here, using a WMS and deep industry expertise, a BPO
risk of error and mismanagement. It is also difficult for an provider will help the business to anticipate and plan for
internal warehouse function to meet shifting demands, fluctuations in demand. Whether sale-specific or seasonal,
particularly in peak shopping seasons such as Black Friday a BPO provider gives their clients the ability to call on
and Christmas. From anticipating sufficient stock to meet increased headcount to manage the volume of additional
supply demand to ensuring that orders are packed correctly orders while maintaining a predictable, fixed cost. The BPO
and delivered timeously, there are a lot of variables for provider also assumes responsibility for accuracy, which is
an e-commerce seller to handle from the moment the enforced by service-level agreements that specify a tolerable
customer clicks ‘add to cart’ right through to taking rate for errors or returns.
delivery of their order.
Customer satisfaction depends on e-commerce
Identifying efficiency opportunities efficiency
When examining their business operations to identify areas By implementing an efficient WMS and streamlining
for efficiency improvement, organisations should look at processes for their clients, BPO providers help e-commerce
their warehouse management function first. Unless it’s sellers keep their promises to customers, and their
their core business, there is no real reason for a company effectiveness is measured strictly according to set KPIs.
to keep this function in-house. Outsourcing warehouse Given that profitability for the BPO provider depends
management is one of the most effective ways to increase on performance, their clients can rest assured that they
productivity, using a business process outsourcing (BPO) will receive efficient service delivery that generates a
higher revenue value as a direct result of outsourcing and
provider. Such a provider will step in, conduct an in-depth
L O GI S T I CS NEWS solutions that assist e-commerce sellers in streamlining customer satisfaction is seen as a direct result of efficiency,
optimising functionality within their supply chain. When
needs analysis, identify gaps in performance and provide
it becomes clear that keeping warehouse management
their operations. The BPO provider assumes responsibility
and the risk of inefficiency in-house is not a risk that any
for the warehousing and order fulfilment function for the
e-commerce business can afford. •
e-commerce seller, and in doing so, ensures that these

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