Store management - which processes should be automated (part 2)

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Synchronizing inventory and prices with a wholesaler

If your store uses an external warehouse or relies directly on the availability of products in a wholesaler (especially during dropshipping sales), it is crucial for its proper functioning to ensure that product data - such as their price or stock status - is up-to-date.

Depending on the type of assortment, the type of data source - manufacturer, wholesaler or own, external warehouse; the scale of sales, and the amount of goods available to the source, the minimum recommended frequency of refreshing this data may vary.

Cooperation with a clothing manufacturer disposing of thousands of pieces of a given product will look different; it will be different with a wholesaler of branded music equipment, where a smaller scale of sales balances a smaller stock, and it will be different with an outlet wholesaler, where the availability of products may change from minute to minute.

The amount of products you would like or want to offer in your store is also an important consideration. Maintaining control over the stock of a dozen or several dozen products is achievable without dedicated tools, however, in the case of an assortment counting in hundreds or thousands of articles, we can already talk about the need to apply automation to this activity.

In such a situation, we recommend using the tools available on the market for automatic integration of your store with a selected source - they allow both importing new products and thus stocking your store, as well as regular updating of selected product information - in particular the previously mentioned stock and price.

By using them, you can be sure that your offer is always up-to-date and reflects the status of your wholesale or external warehouse, so you can focus on the more important aspects of running your store - order processing, marketing and contacting customers.

You can learn more about automatic integration on our website:

https://www.megamo.pl/en/content/39-product-feed-automation

Generate waybills and manage shipments

Selling products through an online store differs from selling through a stationary store in many ways. One of the challenges faced by online store owners is the need to deliver the items offered on its pages to the end customer.

Shipping requires, of course, establishing cooperation with a selected courier company, as well as generating individual waybills for each order and submitting them for processing.

Depending on the specific shipping method, the data necessary for its implementation may vary, however, a common element for most of them is entering the address of the sending point, the address of the recipient or the reception point, as well as determining its dimensions - size and weight.

Preparation of a waybill and its submission to a courier company should also be properly timed in relation to the order processing by the store - waiting for payment, picking, packing and preparation for shipment.

Almost every courier company sets specific pick-up times, which also need to be taken into account during logistic planning, as well as when informing the customer about the expected delivery time.

The answer to the question of whether it is worth considering automating this process depends, of course, on the total number of orders and the resulting time consumed by their fulfillment. If the store is based on small-scale sales of high-margin products, in many cases in the initial stages of its operation, a single person or a group assigned to this task may be responsible for preparing waybills.

In the case of stores with a larger scope and scale of sales, automation of shipment generation becomes a necessity - not only because of the amount of resources that would be required to perform this task in the traditional manner, but also because of the chance of errors related to their processing proportional to the total number of orders.

You can learn more about synchronizing your store's orders with courier companies using the link below:

https://www.megamo.pl/en/304-integration-with-couriers-and-the-post-office

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