The e-commerce supply chain — It’s all about logistics
Logistics is at the heart of the e-commerce industry, and pretty much every stage in the e-commerce supply chain involves logistics in some form or another.
Whether you’re starting out or already an established player, it is important to understand how goods are moving through your supply chain and the role of logistics in the success of your business.
So, here’s how the e-commerce supply chain functions.
Goods are produced in the company manufacturing units. From factories, finished goods are moved to distribution centers/warehouses to be stored. Customer places an order via e-commerce web-stores or mobile applications, after browsing through a list of products and brands.
From the warehouse, the order is packed and dispatched to the customer’s nearest fulfillment center. In an omnichannel distribution scenario, this local fulfillment center could either be a dark store, retail outlet, micro-fulfillment center or a pick-up locker, depending on the brand’s omnichannel strategy or the customer’s preference.
From the local fulfillment center, the order is finally delivered by an agent either to the customer’s doorstep or a predefined pick-up spot. In some cases, like a Buy Online, Pick-up In-store, or pick-up locker option, customers pick up the orders on their own as per their convenience.
What Goes Into an E-commerce Supply Chain
An Interactive Infographic
Know More From manufacturing to sourcing, warehousing, secondary distribution, and last-mile delivery, the e-commerce supply chain is all about logistics. With growing competition in the e-commerce space, and the ever-increasing customer expectations of same-day delivery, next-day and few-hour deliveries, fast and efficient logistics is more important than ever.