Reduce Order Processing Times: Is it Time to Replace Your Basic Shipping Software?

To keep up with the retail giants, your fulfillment operation needs to consider moving away from a basic shipping software to a shipping solution that’s equipped to handle the ever-growing consumer demands, while helping you scale your business.

So how do you know if it’s time to make the switch from basic shipping software to a more advanced shipping solution?

First, you start by identifying the pain points that your fulfillment operation must address in order for your business to succeed. For this particular article, we will be focusing on order processing times. Just because your business has survived thus far with average processing times doesn’t mean it can do the same in the future. Common pain points that significantly impact order processing times are:

Manual steps and processes - are your warehouse workers having to enter customer order information manually? People make mistakes - typos happen and double checking information that can be automated is wasting precious time. And when those mistakes aren’t caught, you’re left with unhappy customers and a costly misshipments.
Having to use multiple shipping platforms (ex: shipping connector softwares and numerous carrier portals) - jumping from a shipping connector to a carrier portal then back to a platform takes time. Double data entry leaves your business at risk for human error (read more about how one of our customers replaced SIX shipping softwares with ShipHawk’s consolidated platform).
Slow software response time (latency rate) - is your current shipping software painfully slow or even completely timing out on orders?
Tribal knowledge - does your operations team rely heavily on tribal knowledge when fulfilling orders? That isn’t scalable and will not work during peak season when you need to bring on new team members. Worrying about employee onboarding shouldn’t be something you put off until the holiday season because by then, it’s too late.

If even a few of these pain points ring true to your current operation, you’ve likely outgrown your basic shipping software. So what’s next?

Finding an advanced packing and shipping software to automate your process is crucial to resolving those pains. Retail operations aren't going to disappear or even dwindle in near future, nor should you want it to! Taking stock of where your operation is at and thinking about where you want it to be should be a top priority. Looking at your fulfillment operation metrics plays a big part in this. Specific to order processing times, we’d recommend looking at:

Average time to pack and ship orders
Percent increase in average orders shipped/hour
Time from order sync to label print

If you aren’t already tracking your operation’s metrics or if you're currently experiencing the pain points associated with outgrowing a basic shipping software, schedule a time to speak to our team to find out how you can make the shift to automating your operation before your next peak season.