Tuesday, 4 September 2018

Cross-docking Might Just Be What Your Halloween Makeup Store Needs To Thrive

By Daniel Wood


The better informed that consumers become, the more the pressure they put on retailers when it comes to fulfillment. Specifically, the former expect their orders to be delivered quickly, precisely, and for free. Chances are that you've been looking for a way to do this without affecting other areas of your online Utah Halloween makeup store. With that being the case, it's the high time you switched to cross dock operations.

Think your business is too simple for you to start throwing around terms like 'cross-docking?' It's actually less complicated than you think. Specifically, it involves the use of inbound inventory to fulfill existing customer orders. A typical cross-dock facility is designed to allow unloading, screening, and sorting of incoming shipments under the same terminal. They're then dispatched to their relevant destinations via pre-selected means.

Of course, it takes a great deal of planning and effort to sustain speed in what's already a demanding supply chain. Not that it will make sense in all situations either. Still, cross-docking has proved a success for businesses that depend on online sales. This makes it worth your consideration, but there's no harm in exploring its benefits:

Quick Order Turnarounds: Cross-docking can be thought of as a way of linking inbound and outbound ends of a supply chain. Although this doesn't eliminate the need for warehousing, it does give room for faster turnarounds. It's actually commonplace for products to arrive at and depart from a facility in less than 24 hours. This in turn allows orders to be fulfilled quicker, more so when processes are automated.

Frees up Space: The less time it takes to ship inventory after it's received, the more square footage you'll have available in your warehouse. From there, it's up to you to decide whether to scale up your operation or use the space for other purposes. Even if it's a rented facility you're using, the reduction in your requirements will still boost your business's bottom line in some way.

Less Risky: Ever felt like the cost of damaged and lost inventory could be weighing you down? You'll be glad to know that cross-docking lowers the amount of handling required to process shipments, and is therefore less vulnerable to such risks. The likelihood of being overstocked also shrinks considerably as well.

Cost Effective: With cross-docking, shipments headed to a similar destination can be transported together. This leads to better utilization of the available carrying capacity, thereby optimizing costs in the long term. The carbon footprint of each unit product also shrinks.

Increasing Customer Satisfaction: Who among your customers wouldn't love to have their orders delivered quickly? You don't have to guess, but what's important to note is that adopting cross-docking could make it possible to provide free shipping as well. Although this will require you to sacrifice a fraction of the cost savings, such opportunities are hard to come by.

The biggest concern for any product-dependent business is to match existing demand with supply capacity. Additionally, this is an era where cost-efficiency can be the difference between your success and failure. Cross docking could very well be your ticket out of this catch-22 situation. Of course, proper planning will be key during its implementation.




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