13 June 2023 How important is the WMS system for e-commerce logistics and the success of your warehouse? Discover the 8 main features of the software that bring more organization, agility, and security. In recent years, e-commerce sales have made a significant leap, both internationally and nationally. With the pandemic and lockdown, many tried online shopping for the first time, and most of these consumers ended up embracing the practicality and convenience offered by the Internet. Since then, e-commerce has become a true trend. According to data collected by Neotrust, in the first half of 2023, e-commerce sales increased by 12% compared to the same period of the previous year (2022). The increase in the number of orders, combined with the preference for online shopping by consumers, warns managers in all niches: it is necessary to prepare the warehouse for market demand, find effective strategies, offer fast and efficient quality services, always aiming for greater productivity and profitability compared to competitors. The new consumption model is a fact, but is your business ready to respond quickly and effectively to the current market behavior? Is your company’s supply chain workflow optimized? As a manager, do you have management systems (software) capable of accelerating your warehouse’s productivity, increasing order volume, and your business’s profitability? In this article, you will discover the advantages of having a WMS operational in your warehouse and how it can optimize production and increase the profitability of your supply chain, allowing you to create efficient strategies for inventory management and improve the logistics performance of your e-commerce. Shall we? What are the advantages of the WMS system for e-commerce logistics? The WMS system (Warehouse Management System) is software designed to effectively manage warehouse inventory, increasing productivity, offering logistical solutions, and controlling activities such as: goods entry at the dock, storage, separation, shipping, and order tracking, all in real-time. Applied to e-commerce logistics, the WMS system allows the workflow within the warehouse to be more assertive and faster compared to manual management processes, which generate significant delays in order dispatch, in addition to being more prone to errors and rework. Since delivery times are one of the main factors influencing the completion of online purchases, having an operation 100% aligned to meet the market’s speed makes your company a reference, in addition to generating a positive impact on the image and gaining advantages over the competition. Thinking of helping you, manager, to increase your team’s productivity, optimize time and resources, find smart and efficient solutions for your warehouse, and become a reference compared to the competition, we have separated 8 of the main advantages that a WMS system can offer to e-commerce logistics. Look: 1. Agility in processes The WMS system plays a key role when it comes to speed in executing processes in a warehouse. This is because the software eliminates manual work, automating the registration of information and product movements, and keeping the inventory always updated. This registration is possible through the reading of barcodes and labels and allows managers to always be informed about the number of items in stock and the movement of goods, enabling them to have greater visibility regarding the status of each order, the purchase path, and customer requests. It is worth adding that the WMS also has the Active Summons functionality, which intelligently coordinates and distributes tasks to employees, ensuring that all activities are carried out without delays and with the correct resources. All this contributes to increasing the speed and productivity of the warehouse, resulting in fast deliveries and greater customer satisfaction. 2. Speed and accuracy in picking We know how hectic the picking movement is inside a warehouse. In e-commerce logistics, this intensifies even more, as we talk about the separation of fractional items and a large volume of orders per day. In this scenario, it is essential to ensure organized, accurate, and efficient picking. When the picking area is not aligned or when the company does not use the ideal picking method for the company, the operation can suffer from order delays, losses, and consumer dissatisfaction. With the WMS system, organization and assertiveness are certain. The software identifies orders and automatically generates picking orders, directing activities to pickers in a coordinated manner, according to the particularities of each order. The WMS system can prioritize and select the ideal separator (based on its location and the equipment used) and define the best separation routes, with the aim of reducing movements within the warehouse and accelerating the execution of the activity. In practice, we can say that the WMS works like a kind of “GPS” to help employees navigate the best route during picking, quickly locating the product and directing it to the shipping area without errors or delays. Another advantage of the system is the numerous picking methods offered. For e-commerce, one of the most recommended methods is batch picking, where orders are grouped and then separated into put to wall (or hive), bringing greater agility and assertiveness to both processes. 3. Dynamic inventory addressing How long does it take your team to organize products to the correct addresses? Furthermore, how long does it take to locate products that are sometimes forgotten in the warehouse and are out of stock during a seasonal period? The entire process can affect productivity within the distribution center and delay orders, especially when it comes to e-commerce logistics, where time is a crucial factor for customer satisfaction. The WMS system offers full support in receiving products at the dock, conducting controls, and, above all, defining the best address in the storage area. The software automatically indicates the position, taking into account the specificities of each item and also its rotation. Additionally: the software repositions products based on demand and sales history, meaning products with higher production, for example, are stored in strategic positions, close to the picking area, which facilitates employee access and reduces movement times in the warehouse. It is worth adding that the WMS automatically performs stock defragmentation, ensuring that stocks are always organized. 4. Higher quality of products in stock With the WMS system, it is possible to increase the quality of product storage, as the system controls and tracks data, such as batches, expiration dates, IMEI, among other crucial information for effective quality control. Furthermore, as we highlighted in the previous topic, the software determines the correct way to store inventory, following the particularities and characteristics of each product, in order to maintain the quality of the items until shipment and avoid losses and damage to the goods. Access the WMS batch control guide. 5. Greater inventory accuracy Inventory accuracy is nothing more than the indicator index of the items present in your warehouse, that is, it shows the quantity of products stored in the warehouse based on the relationship between warehouse entries and exits. In e-commerce logistics, having control of this information is essential and decisive for the success of your business. This is because it is directly linked to customer satisfaction and the shopping experience, after all, there is nothing worse for a consumer than receiving a notification that their order will not be shipped due to a lack of product, right? In some cases, the control and registration of items in the warehouse are carried out manually, compromising the truthfulness of the information. For example, when an item is out of stock, this information is not communicated quickly, which can compromise the workflow and shipments, causing purchase cancellations, delays, and ultimately generating customer dissatisfaction and a lack of trust in the brand. With the WMS, situations like this are alleviated, and the accuracy rate can reach up to 99%, depending on the chosen management system. Since all product movements and data are recorded automatically, the stock is constantly updated, increasing the reliability of the information and, consequently, the accuracy. It is also important to highlight that the WMS offers a series of cyclic inventories, both for quality control and movement control. It is also possible to transform the entrance conference into an inventory mode. Additionally, it is possible to issue daily counting orders (inserted in the operational routine) for stock updates and strict monitoring. 6. Delivery monitoring Another decisive factor in e-commerce logistics is the tracking and monitoring of product shipments, to ensure that orders reach recipients at the desired time and have predictability and agility in problem-solving, should any route errors occur. With the WMS system integrated with the carrier’s software (via EDIS and own or third-party labels), it is possible to monitor deliveries and the status of orders. 7. Information monitoring In all sectors, especially in e-commerce logistics, clear, precise, and fast information represents excellence and assertiveness in decisions. With WMS, you can have data always at hand, including information on operations, workflow, and team performance, as well as KPIs and reports that indicate productivity trends and improvement possibilities. Additionally, the system helps avoid product deviations that are easily identifiable and also provides information on workflow that involves delays, issues with orders in case of stock shortages, among others. Any bottleneck is automatically reported by the system so that the correction can be made before causing disruptions in the customer relationship or losses for the company. 8. Reduction of operational costs By automating activities in e-commerce logistics through the WMS system, some manually performed activities can be replaced, and the workforce can be directed towards other sectors, particularly strategic, marketing, and sales. Furthermore, the activities automated by the WMS have a low error rate, tending to zero. This prevents rework and reduces execution times, increasing productivity, efficiency, and profitability. The WMS is essential for warehouses that want to stand out in the market by eliminating unnecessary costs in the workflow once and for all, avoiding rework, and completely abandoning inefficient and low-productivity processes. Another advantage is the integration with automatic systems, often adopted in e-commerce operations, which bring even more agility and cost reduction. WMS in e-commerce: the path to success In this article, we have seen that surviving in a highly competitive market, fighting against big brands that follow the trends of new consumer behaviors, and standing out positively to potential customers is a challenge, right? To achieve this goal, it is necessary to seek increasingly efficient and innovative strategies, capable of accelerating results in the advancement of omnichannel and the increase in online sales requests. Investing in cutting-edge technologies has become essential. Having a quality WMS system by your side is a great opportunity to increase your team’s productivity and meet greater market demands. Therefore, it is worth relying on technology to speed up order processing and picking, optimize inventory storage spaces, maintain product quality, manage KPIs, and monitor the main data of your warehouse in one place! With Deagor’s WMS, you can enhance your e-commerce logistics, ensuring customer satisfaction, increasing visibility and profitability of your brand through customized optimizations in your distribution center. Discover the solutions our experts have selected for you to apply this year in e-commerce logistics. How does the WMS system assist in e-commerce logistics? Deagor WMS per ecommerce può aiutarti!