The COVID-19 pandemic caused
unparalleled disruptions in the logistics industry all over the world. The
pandemic led to shortages of supplies, shipment delays and price hikes. The
challenging situations caused by it gave ecommerce businesses a wake-up call
and made them realise the need to have better planning and forecasting systems
in place.
The volatile situation made prior
forecasting methods based on consumer demand insufficient. Contemporarily
ecommerce businesses can strive to improve forecasting and planning methods to satisfy changing consumer
demand and adapt to new situations.
What are the benefits of forecasting and planning?
Forecasting and planning
can help ecommerce businesses in multiple ways, such as:
- Aids in setting business goals
- Facilitates planning for future
- Useful in setting a budget and ensuring
appropriate usage of it
- It helps calculate consumer demand
- Aids in maintaining appropriate inventory
levels in a cost-effective manner
What are the three ways to improve forecasting and planning?
Let us look at how you can improve forecasting and planning to recover business
operations post-pandemic and excel in the long run.
1. Create multiple forecasting scenarios
Before the pandemic, using past data as
the basis for forecasting and planning and was usually the only approach;
however, that is no longer the case. The logistics industry is faced with too
many uncertainties. Ecommerce businesses can benefit from having best-case and
worst-case scenarios for a particular situation which are reviewed and adjusted
periodically.
You can regularly check predicted
customer demand and maintain inventory accordingly. Forecasts related to
expected demand based on historical sales data can also ensure cost-friendly
inventory allocation across ecommerce warehouses.
At the same time, it is also vital to
remain regular and consistent with forecasts. Therefore, forecasts which are
done at regular intervals can prove to be more beneficial and accurate.
2. Share Information
The importance of communication for
ecommerce sellers cannot be overemphasised. You can start with the customer and
determine their expected shipping speed, experience with your brand and more.
You can then utilise the accumulated data to improve the customer experience.
Moreover, ecommerce sellers can also
keep their customers abreast of any delays and disruptions in the ordering
process.
3. Prepare for the unexpected
During the pandemic, ecommerce
businesses turned to third-party logistics partners (3PLs) to help them weather
the crisis. Consequently, 3PLs became trusted partners in overcoming
challenges.
Post-pandemic, ecommerce businesses can
aim to be prepared for several contingencies so that they are not left in a
lurch, as they were during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecommerce sellers can arm
themselves with better technology as automation gives them visibility into the
entire fulfilment process. System integrations and Inventory Management Systems
can help streamline order fulfilment and maintain the highest accuracy.
Pro tip: Ecommerce sellers should ensure
that their data is correct; any fallacy in the data can lead to wrong
predictions and forecasts.
A tech-enabled 3PL provider like
Eshopbox can arm you with the data required to make sound business decisions
which ensure cost-effectiveness and profitability.
Visit our website today and call us for
a superior level of service!
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