What to Consider When Choosing a WMS for Your E-commerce?

1 September 2022

Discover which WMS requirements are crucial for your e-commerce warehouse to achieve the best results

It’s no news to you that e-commerce continues to grow and has become a highly competitive market. If you already work in the sector, especially in logistics, you surely face the daily pressure of fulfilling orders quickly and accurately, as well as keeping stocks organized and highly accurate. In many cases, difficulties can accumulate, resulting in more customer complaints, increased costs, and such disorganization that you don’t even know where to start solving them. It may seem like the end of the tunnel, but the good news is that with a WMS system, you can solve all these issues and pave the way for your business growth.

WMS is a warehouse management software developed to provide full support in managing the flow of materials and work in an intralogistics operation. It is present from the receipt of goods to the shipment, ensuring that processes occur with maximum efficiency and assertiveness. When an error is made, a very common situation in warehouses, the WMS issues a warning, notifying managers and employees to correct it. By using the software, you have stock monitored 100% with real-time updated information, in addition to ensuring high productivity in order processing and shipping.

It is for these and other advantages that many e-commerce companies have already installed a WMS in their warehouses and have achieved great results, foremost among them being increased customer satisfaction. With positive feedback, these companies can retain buyers and increase their market reputation. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that WMS is one of the foundations of success for an e-commerce business.

“What is the best WMS for my e-commerce warehouse?”

You might be asking yourself this question right now. Can all the software options available on the market meet your needs and bring the results you expect? The answer is no. Depending on the option chosen, you might have more headaches than you currently have. Therefore, it is very important to choose the WMS with the utmost care to have a great ally in efficiency and profitability by your side.

The price or the reputation of the provider should not be decisive factors in your choice. What really needs to be considered is how the system will solve the bottlenecks in your operations and how it will benefit the execution of work and warehouse management. An RFP can help you a lot in this.

But there are still some points that need to be considered. In this text, we list seven requirements to meet in the process of choosing the ideal WMS for your e-commerce warehouse. Check them out below:

#1 High accuracy in all processes

It is essential to have maximum assertiveness throughout the entire flow within the warehouse. You want to have an insignificant number of errors in every process, and your WMS must help you with this. The system must appropriately record all stock movements, from the entry of a product into the warehouse to its shipment to the customer. Additionally, the software must issue instant notifications whenever an error is made, whether in information recording, data confirmation, separation, shipping, loading, etc. Remember that any error made can reach the customer, so your WMS must actively act to prevent this from happening!

#2 Accurate reports

We talk about process assertiveness, but it is also important that your WMS has the same accuracy in the reports generated, which are extremely important for decision-making. If the data is not updated or presents discrepancies, your work and that of your entire team can be jeopardized. Therefore, you must ensure that what you see on the screen actually corresponds to reality.

#3 Integration and traceability

A good WMS must easily integrate with the systems you already use (ERP, sales systems, automations, transportation systems, etc.) and be able to trace all movements made. In practice, you should be able to know information such as:

– The status of the title, when it was purchased, and when it was sold;
– The location of all goods;
– All orders placed within a certain time frame;
– All exchanges and returns made;
– All payments made.

These and other data will give you a faithful portrait of your warehouse, helping you in your daily work (Purchasing, Sales, Reverse Logistics, etc.). With integrations, information becomes centralized, offering greater reliability.

In this sense, finding a WMS that has a catalog of integrations on the market is a good choice.

#4 Real-time data and activity records

This requirement is related to the previous two. It is very important that the WMS instantly updates your warehouse information and allows real-time access to all data. Many of our clients, for example, make information available on monitors positioned at strategic points in the DC, and this makes a huge difference in performance because all employees follow the operation instantly! It’s worth adding that a good WMS offers, in addition to stock and movement data, information on team performance, allowing employees to self-manage and, consequently, increase their productivity.

#5 Ease of configuration and use

This is another very important point when choosing a WMS, after all, neither you nor your team will want to spend hours trying to work with complicated software. You have a business to manage and need to channel your time towards it; your employees have a series of tasks to complete and need a system that offers agility and doesn’t require more time. A good WMS must be intuitive and easy to use. Don’t spend money on a complex system that will make work difficult. Look for a solution that everyone can use without difficulty. And don’t forget to evaluate if the system provider offers training for your team!

#6 Scalability

E-commerce continues to grow rapidly, and your business has everything it needs to take advantage of the great opportunities the market offers you. But for this to happen, it is necessary that your WMS is ready to follow the evolution of your company, that is, the software is scalable. If you already intend to include new sales channels, it’s important to ask the provider: is the system ready to support a multichannel operation? Similarly, it’s important to evaluate if the WMS allows your company to expand SKUs, the number of orders processed per day, etc. Don’t forget to check if the system provider follows market trends and has long-term partnerships with its clients.

#7 ROI and success stories

Finally, the most important thing: how much return on investment will you get? To what extent will costs actually be reduced? How will the chosen WMS help you increase profit margins? All these questions need to be answered before making the final decision on the best system for your company. In addition to contacts with the provider, also talk to your clients and evaluate the success stories, paying close attention to the real gains achieved. You are ready to transform your warehouse, and it is crucial that this change offers you the best possible return.

At DEAGOR, we have a client who reduced the investment payback from 2 years to just 10 months. The gains were so significant that the ROI came much sooner than expected. For us, this is the certainty of a worthwhile investment!

The success of your e-commerce is within reach

If you have already decided to implement the WMS in your e-commerce warehouse, congratulations! You are on the right track! Considering the tips presented in this text and making the right decision, it is only a matter of time before you achieve the much-anticipated success. Rely on technology to reach your goals and revolutionize your business.

We, who have been working with Supply Chain solutions for over 15 years, guarantee: it is worth investing in innovation!