Put simply, automation is everywhere. For decades, automation technology has been slowly integrated into various facets of society and different aspects of life. Today, we can find examples of automation just about anywhere we look. From automatically paying your utilities every month to automating entire business processes, automation is a crucial technology to implement for a scaling business or automated Amazon store.
With Amazon Prime Day around the corner, many independent retailers and automated Amazon stores, that rely on the ecommerce mammoth, are working on preparing for the expected influx of business and higher order volumes. Part of this preparation involves developing an efficient and accurate solution for order fulfillment.
Order fulfillment is a perfect place to consider adopting automation tech to eliminate tedious and time-consuming tasks from employee’s regular day-to-day workflow. Instead of spending hours on data entry tasks, these employees can then use that time on more fulfilling and valuable work.
On top of giving employees hours back into their workweek, automating order fulfillment can be more accurate than manual-entry. Robots and computer programs are notoriously good at reading and transporting data, making order fulfillment an ideal task to automate.
Becoming a digital-first organization relies on embracing modern technology and integrating solutions that make sense for your organization. Download Impacts eBook, “Fast-Tracking Your Digital Transformation” for insights on how to successfully modernize your organization efficiently.
Stepping up Your Automated Amazon Store With RPA Fulfillment
Robotic process automation (RPA) utilizes technology to complete a task or a series of tasks in a more efficient manner than is possible manually. There are several advantages that result from strategic RPA implementation, including lower operational costs over time, more efficient and accurate data entry/transportation, and a better employee experience.
Some other advantages that stem from implementing an RPA like FBA into your automated Amazon store are as follows:
- Accuracy – Order fulfillment is the process that begins after a customer finalizes a purchase. This is a multi-step process that involves the storage and inventory of goods, along with the sorting, packing, and shipping procedures. Because pieces of data like shipping addresses need to be accurate time and time again throughout this process, it’s more reliable to delegate these tasks to a robot.
- Improved Consumer Experience – On top of improved accuracy compared to manual data entry, using RPA for order fulfillment allows you to keep the consumer informed with real time updates on their orders without adding any extra tasks for your customer service reps to worry about, in turn creating an enhanced consumer experience.
- Improved Employee Experience – The consumer isn’t the only one who sees an improved experience with RPA implementation in the way of fulfillment. Employees get valuable hours back into their workweek they can spend on other more gratifying, complex, and emotion-based tasks.
FBA or Fulfillment by Amazon
Whether you’re operating an automated Amazon store or just use Amazon as one of your many sales outlets, you might want to consider automating order fulfillment with Amazon’s own software, FBA or fulfillment by Amazon.
Because FBA is native to Amazon Vendor Central, the Amazon vendor portal, there’s an immediate compatibility there that makes it an easy choice for brands operating an Amazon store. Not only that, but there are a wide variety of benefits that stem from using FBA for your shipping needs.
First and foremost, you’ll never run into a scalability issue with Amazon. FBA truly handles 90% of the logistics when it comes to your fulfillment needs for a regular fee. This is extremely attractive for many small business owners who don’t have the time to spend on tasks like packing, picking, and shipping.
Not only that, but the fees you incur using FBA might save you a considerable amount of money when you consider the shipping fees you would pay if you handled everything yourself in house. In a similar vein, if you utilize the FBA services, you won’t have to worry about maintaining additional warehouses for inventory.
One other noteworthy benefit Amazon sellers get from using FBA is access to the “Amazon Buy Box.”
“The Amazon Buy Box refers to the box on the right-hand side of the product listings that says either ‘Add to Cart’ or ‘Buy Now.’ For sellers, getting Amazon customers to click on those boxes is imperative, especially since more than 80% of Amazon sales occur through it.”
The buy box is clearly part of a strong Amazon strategy for an automated Amazon store, or any brand relying on ecommerce as one of their main revenue sources.
Using RPA and FBA to Enhance the Consumer Experience
In the modern digital-first economy, organizations that leverage technology to the advantage of their employees can often take this same approach to enhancing the consumer experience.
This is well-demonstrated by robotic process automation in order fulfillment specifically. Using an RPA like Fulfillment by Amazon to handle the warehousing, picking, packing, shipping, and other fulfillment activities is capable of enhancing both the employee and consumer experience. We’ve discussed its impact on the employee experience already – freeing up time, eliminating repetitive data-entry tasks, and creating additional efficiencies.
On the consumer side of things, RPA and FBA work together in order to deliver automatic status updates to consumers so they always know where their package is along its fulfillment journey. Taking this even further, these systems can relay information about delays, early deliveries, or any other pertinent fulfillment updates that could alter the delivery time or date.
Final Thoughts on Using RPA for Order Fulfillment During Prime Day
Robotic process automation is an integral aspect in many organizations and business processes already. With Amazon Prime Day happening this week, ecommerce brands, independent retailers operating on Amazon, and automated Amazon stores can all benefit from using a reliable RPA, like Fulfillment by Amazon during this period of high traffic, sales volume, and orders.
Automating your fulfillment process can save your employees valuable time, increase accuracy, and enhance the consumer experience through automated updates generated by the software. Fulfillment automation, though, is just one way to leverage new aged technology in your organization.
If you’re considering embracing a digital transformation in your organization, the experts at Impact can facilitate a conversation and find custom solutions that fit your needs and that can help take your organization to the next level.
Modern organizations thrive when they leverage technology to their advantage. Impacts eBook, “Fast-Tracking Your Digital Transformation” will help you quickly integrate technological solutions that fit seamlessly into your current operations.
