Attaining Peak Performance at Peak Times

Visibility is key

Your drop-shipping technology must offer clear visibility of the supply chain at every step, from the order placement, through the dispatch from the manufacturer to the tracking of the item until delivery.

If not, you may have to deal with late or missing orders or wrong orders and your customer service team will struggle to manage these issues in a timely way.

Ensuring that your drop-shipping partner offers you complete visibility means that problems in the supply chain can be easily found, monitored and even prevented. These peak times are vital for keeping customers happy.

Missed or late deliveries, for example at Christmas when products may need to be sent on elsewhere once wrapped and need to hit postage deadlines, can impact hugely on the customer’s emotional response to your brand.

Don’t be the company that ruins Christmas!

Potential pitfalls at peak times:

• Late/missing/wrong orders due to a lack of visibility on the status of a delivery from the supplier or a delay in the supplier receiving order details
• Human error may cause the wrong information to be provided to the supplier
• Placing orders with a supplier who does not have the stock and therefore the retailers cannot meet their promise to the customer
• Damage to the retailer’s brand if the supplier does not follow the retailer’s requirements for packaging and documentation or delivery times
• Drop-shipping suppliers not following the retailer’s processes
• Lack of control over the customer service level or despatch lead time
• Lack of visibility of the fulfilment process