Why Prioritize Order Fulfillment?
One study reports that for the average online order, the cost of fulfillment eats up 70% of the value. That can make it extremely difficult to turn a profit, so it’s important to drive down costs as much as possible. The major players of eCommerce, such as Amazon and Walmart, do this through economies of scale.
These firms have made huge investments in their distribution and fulfillment networks to take them national and worldwide, and for many of them it’s paid off handsomely. Amazon Prime subscribers get to take advantage of Amazon’s powerful logistics infrastructure to get two-day shipping on millions of items. According to one study, that translates to Prime customers spending, on average, $800 more per year than non-Prime customers. With 95 million Prime subscribers, that kind of increased order volume has been a huge driver in Amazon’s climb to the very top of commerce.
Of course, most retailers aren’t Amazon or Walmart. For many smaller businesses who don’t have the capital to expand their scale massively, it can be more difficult to achieve the necessary performance and cost-effectiveness. When you’re working on that scale, every small improvement in efficiency can make a big difference, and AirSea Containers offers numerous options to create those turning-point advances. We pride ourselves on providing the shipping and packing solutions that address these issues affordably, conveniently and effectively.
What Are the Difference-Makers?
Many of the most effective ways to drive fulfillment performance aren’t anything that you need a business consultant to tell you. Briefly summarized, these difference-maker areas often include:
- A smooth warehouse flow that empowers employees to achieve optimal picking productivity
- Sturdy and dependable packaging that also presents the brand image you’re looking for
- Achieving and maintaining the correct conditions to protect sensitive goods
- Materials and practices that drive productivity in shipping while achieving regulatory and safety compliance
- Product return procedures that minimize the hassle for both the customer and your business
These are fundamentals of the fulfillment process that you’re probably already looking at, but actually achieving them can present real challenges. AirSea Containers’ packaging solutions can help you translate theory into performance as a daily practice for your business. Each stage of fulfillment requires its own set of tools, and we’ve committed ourselves to providing exceptional value at all of them. Take a look at what we can do for every step of your fulfillment process.
Picking the Order
Picking, or the process of collecting items for an order from a warehouse floor, is a common focus area for businesses trying to scale their omnichannel operations. Improved picking productivity means that employees can pick more items more quickly and, thus, fulfill more orders. In other words, this step is all about optimizing the performance of your warehouse itself.
Many businesses use methods that involve calculating the precise minutes and seconds each employee spends picking. These methods can produce great results, but they involve a level of micro-management that’s not always the right fit. Improving your warehouse facility’s storage and handling systems can often be an effective way to increase efficiency. This is particularly true for facilities that handle hazardous materials, where a significant increase in picking speed isn’t feasible without compromising safety.
When you’re looking at implementing best practices for safety and productivity in your warehouse, AirSea offers several options that can be helpful. Our warehouse storage and organization systems include:
- Drum storage rack systems for storing and organizing goods in drums
- Dollies, cradles and lifters to help with safe warehouse handling of drums
- Storage and safety cabinets to ensure hazardous materials are stored properly
- Disposal systems for used containers including disposal of gas cylinders and disposal of aerosol cans
Packaging the Order
Take a moment to consider what the purpose of a package is and what its essential functions are. Chances are, you can think of several things that a good package should do:
- Protect the physical integrity of your items
- Allow products to be stored and delivered safely
- Establish and maintain an image for your brand
- Provide maximum performance with minimum waste
- Comply with all applicable laws and regulations
Durable corrugated shipping boxes in a wide variety of sizes- Steel shipping drums and plastic shipping drums, available new or reconditioned, for high-volume shipping of liquids and dry goods
- Biodegradable air cushion pillows, available in both standard and super strength, provide the void fill cushioning you need
- Jerricans and pails ideal for lower-volume liquid shipping, plus durable jerrican shipping kits
- Shrink wrap for unitizing and immobilizing pallet goods and bubble wrap for fragile goods protection
- Hazmat and non-hazmat packaging
- Custom box dimensions to fit your product just right
- Printing on up to four sides with up to three colors on orders over 500 units
- A fast and easy custom box quote process that lets you get your order more quickly and with fewer hassles
Keeping Conditions Right
Many products require special shipping conditions. You’ll often need to regulate temperature, moisture and other factors to ensure that a product gets to a customer safely. This can be an especially pressing need with hazmat shipping, where improper conditions can present a serious safety hazard.
These needs can be a big challenge to address without the right equipment, but AirSea Containers has a range of options for them, including:
- Vermiculite, a high-quality absorbent mineral that’s great for controlling moisture levels in packaging
- Refrigerant gel packs, a safer and more eco-friendly alternative to dry ice for keeping products cold
- Drum heaters and blankets for warming goods in shipping drums
AirSea’s complete kit for lithium battery shipment.
Shipping and Labeling the Order
In many ways, there’s never been a more difficult time to be shipping ground freight in the U.S. A massive capacity crunch is shaking the trucking industry as more and more truckers retire without being replaced. At the same time, customers expect more and more for less and less when it comes to shipping: 74% of online shoppers surveyed ranked free shipping as the most important aspect of choosing what to purchase.
Squeezed from both sides by logistics difficulties and increased customer demands, many shippers are cutting costs any way they can. However, cutting costs should never mean cutting corners. Local, federal, and international regulations exist to protect everyone while keeping goods flowing freely, so keeping in compliance with these rules and laws is in everyone’s best interest.
One of our goals at AirSea is to give our customers the tools to achieve efficiency increases without sacrificing quality and performance. To that end, we offer all the shipping materials you need to ensure that your shipments are safe, secured, and in compliance:
- UN-compliant 4G and 4GV shipping boxes for shipping specialty items such as car batteries and metal paint cans
- Special kits for shipping lithium batteries safely and efficiently
- UN-compliant hazmat shipping labels and placards for all nine hazmat classifications
- A complete selection of hazmat shipping regulations manuals and codes, including the US CFR 49 and the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations
- Sturdy overpack boxes, great for bundling and protecting containers such as jerricans
- Recyclable dunnage bags to fill the space between cargo boxes and create a protective cushioning effect
- Fragile label rolls for marking breakable goods
- Biological substance packaging for transporting sensitive biological materials including biohazard specimens
These kinds of special transportation needs are a common source of logistical headaches and cost increases for shippers. Naturally, your business’s relationship with your logistics providers will influence many of these concerns. However, it’s also possible to create impactful improvements before your product even goes on the truck by optimizing your packaging and shipping practices.
Creating a seamless flow for your logistics and packaging can help your product get to the customer smoothly. But when things don’t go as planned and a customer needs to return a product, how do you handle it? Here’s how AirSea can help you tackle the challenges of returns.
The Product Return Process
Retailers can be understandably reluctant to deploy extensive resources for dealing with customer returns. However, studies show that return policies can make all the difference for many shoppers in deciding where to take their business. A frustration-free product return process is your business’s way of telling your customers that you’ve got their backs.
Returns are another area where AirSea’s custom cardboard boxes provide excellent value. For B2C consumer goods retailers, having dedicated return boxes on deck and ready to go is a great way to increase the speed of your RMA process. Our salvage overpack drums, meanwhile, offer great value and outstanding safety features for our B2B and industrial customers who may need to accept returns of leaky or otherwise damaged products. Whatever the specific needs of your return process, AirSea can help you devise a solution.
Order fulfillment is one of the biggest battlegrounds for the power players of online retail, and it’s only growing more important. In this highly competitive market, every day matters to the customer. For your business, that means valuing minutes and seconds more highly than ever without losing sight of product and performance. Successful businesses will have to address these challenges head-on.
So, it’s certainly a delicate balance—but AirSea can help. Through our extensive selection, customizable products, competitive pricing and five-star customer service, we’ve created the ultimate resource for both hazmat and non-hazmat shipping and packaging materials. To find out how AirSea’s packaging expertise can help empower and streamline your eCommerce strategy, reach out to our friendly staff. Just call (866) 596-9448 or get a free quote online today! 
