Everything You Need to Know About Order Processing And Fulfilment For Small Businesses

Your entrepreneurial journey can be easier!

With Bumpa, managing, processing and fulfilling your orders is simple. It doesn’t end there; Bumpa provides you with a host of features for business management - invoice & receipt generator, an online store, business analytics, inventory management and more!

Download the Bumpa app, sign up today and get started with growing your business both offline and online, effortlessly!

Join Bumpa today!

As a business owner in Nigeria, there’s a chance that you sell on a lot of platforms. You probably have a business website where customers can directly place orders on, sell on top online platforms like Jumia, Konga and Jiji, and also have social media accounts for your business on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Then, maybe you have one nice shop in a part of town where people can also come in and make purchases. How do you manage all the orders you get from all these places, process them and all the while making sure that you always have enough stock to cater to these customers without disappointing any?

The answer lies in having an efficient order processing and fulfilment system. In this article, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about order processing and fulfilment for small businesses. We’ll discuss:

1. What order processing is.

2. What the proper steps for order processing and fulfilment include.

3. Benefits of having an efficient order processing and fulfilment system.

4. How to use Bumpa for order processing.

Continue reading to see the best ways to handle your orders and avoid staining the white of your business!

What is Order Processing?

Order processing and fulfilment refer to the activities involved in receiving, managing, and delivering customer orders. It is basically the entire journey from the moment a customer places an order until it is successfully delivered to their doorstep. It also involves keeping customers informed about their order status and providing any necessary support even after purchase.

Order processing and fulfilment are super important for your business, whether big or small because it directly affects customer satisfaction, brand reputation, inventory management and the operations of your business.

Proper Steps for Order Processing and Fulfilment

The process typically involves several steps, including order verification, inventory management, picking and packing items, shipping, and lastly, customer communication. Let’s break them down.

1. Receive Order

This is the first step in order processing and fulfilment. It involves receiving the customer's order through different channels like websites, emails, social media or phone calls. Once the order is received, carefully check and ensure that all the order details provided by the customer are complete and accurate. This includes verifying the product, quantity, size, color, and any other relevant information. This helps ensure a smooth and error-free fulfilment process.

2. Confirm Order

After receiving the customer's order, it's important to send them a confirmation to let them know that their order has been received and is being processed. The confirmation email typically includes important details such as the order number, the items that were ordered, and an estimated delivery date. See an example of an automatically generated order confirmation email sent to a customer who shopped from a Bumpa website.

This communication helps provide reassurance to the customer that their order is in progress and gives them a reference for future inquiries. It also helps establish a clear line of communication between the business and the customer, creating a sense of trust and transparency.

3. Check Inventory

This involves checking the availability of the items that the customer has ordered. But here’s where great inventory management software comes into play. To avoid a customer ordering what is unavailable, it is necessary to track inventory and know when items are out of stock so that you can de-list them from your website, or communicate with a customer when they want to order via social media or phone and avoid the customer placing an order for an item that is currently not available.

For example, if a customer is shopping on your Bumpa website which is automatically connected to your inventory, they’ll see if an item is out of stock as your website and inventory are automatically updated with each order being placed. This means that a customer will not be able to order what is currently unavailable.

If an item is unavailable, you need to decide on the best course of action, such as offering a suitable substitution or communicating with the customer to discuss alternatives. This ensures that customers are promptly informed about any inventory limitations and helps prevent delays or dissatisfaction due to unfulfilled orders.

4. Process Order

This involves gathering all the necessary items or products to fulfil the order. It's important to double-check that the correct items are being prepared to ensure accurate order fulfilment and customer satisfaction and minimise mistakes.

5. Package Order

Order packaging is an important step in the order processing and fulfilment journey. It involves selecting suitable packaging materials, such as boxes or envelopes, to securely pack the ordered items. Choose the right size and type of packaging to ensure that the products fit well and are protected during transportation. Proper packaging helps prevent damage or breakage and ensures that the items reach the customer in good condition.

You’ll love this: From Fragile to Unbreakable: The Expert Guide to Packaging Your Items for Trouble-free Shipping!

6. Verify Order & Documents

This involves generating all the necessary paperwork, such as invoices, packing slips, and shipping labels. This paperwork ensures accurate record-keeping and helps in organising and tracking orders efficiently. It is also essential to verify that the shipping address provided by the customer is accurate and matches the details of their order. This attention to detail ensures smooth logistics and reduces the chances of delivery errors or misplacements.

7. Ship & Track Order

Once the package is securely packed, you need to choose a suitable delivery company. Add the shipping label to the package and coordinate pickup and delivery of the item. Order tracking is equally important. This allows both you and the customer to monitor the progress of the package.

Sharing the order status through email or the customer's preferred communication channel helps keep the customer informed and enhances their overall experience. For example, you can mark an order as shipped on the Bumpa app, and an email is automatically sent to a customer informing them of their order status.

8. Confirm Delivery

After the package has been shipped, monitor its progress with the delivery company to ensure that it reaches the customer within the estimated delivery timeframe. This step is necessary to ensure a smooth and timely delivery experience for the customer.

Making use of package receiving and package acceptance services can help you avoid episodes of stolen packages and missed deliveries and is a simple solution to all package delivery issues.

9. Mark as Complete/Follow-up with Customer

This is the final step of the order processing system. Once the package has been delivered to the customer, mark the order as completed. It’s also a nice touch to close out the loop with your customer, either via email or phone call. For example with the Bumpa app, once an order has been marked as completed, the customer gets an email stating that their order has been delivered.

Also make sure to address any concerns or questions the customer may have, as this gives you an opportunity to gather feedback and improve customer experience.

Efficient order processing and fulfilment play a vital role in customer satisfaction and loyalty. With the steps above, you can manage your orders more efficiently, run a smoother operation and most importantly, give the best service to your customers.

Benefits of Having an Efficient Order Processing and Fulfilment System

Setting up a proper order process and fulfilment system for your business is like having a well-oiled machine running smoothly. The benefits are endless, but let’s start with 5(five).

1. Speedy Delivery: By streamlining the process, you can ship orders faster, reducing wait times for your customers.

2. Customer Satisfaction: With efficient order processing, you'll have happy customers who receive their orders accurately and on time, ensuring their smiles reach from ear to ear.

3. Cost Savings: An efficient system helps you optimise inventory levels and reduce errors, preventing unnecessary expenses and maximising your profits.

4. Data Insights: Such a system captures valuable data, allowing you to analyse trends, identify popular products, and make informed decisions for your business.

5. Competitive Edge: When you provide excellent service and speedy order processing, you stand out from your competitors. Customers will choose you over others because you rock at fulfilling their needs.

How to Use Bumpa for Order Processing and Fulfilment

One of the easiest ways to implement efficient order processing and fulfilment for your customers is to automate your processes by using an order management tool like Bumpa. Besides being a great inventory management tool, you can manage and organise your orders with your Bumpa app.

The Bumpa app makes it easy to:

1. Keep track of inventory in real-time; for every order recorded, your inventory is automatically updated.

2. Record and manage orders from multiple sales channels, making it easy to keep all your orders in one place.

3. Update order statuses and automatically contact customers; Bumpa generates emails that go to your customers when they place an order and make their payment for the order on the website. As you process the order and update the status on the app, customers also get emails automatically, e.g when the order has been shipped, or when the order has been delivered.

4. Create invoices and receipts for each order without having to write, type or edit anything, and also send them to the customer by just tapping a button. This means you don’t even need to print an invoice or receipt ever again.

5. See data insights and analytics on your business performance, and make better informed decisions.

Download the Bumpa app, sign up today and start managing your orders effortlessly!

Subscribe to our Blog

If you love tips & content like this that will help with your small business marketing and growth, then you’ll be excited to know we have more! We could always send you notifications when they are published if you share your email with us. We promise to not be a bother, and you can always unsubscribe anytime!

Subscribe Now

Want to Learn More about Bumpa & How to Grow your Business with it?

You can sign up to Bumpa in 5 seconds as a small business owner and let us begin the journey of growing your business with you!

Sign Up Now