Great Business Systems Beat Lipstick Every Time

When you are outsourcing your order fulfillment you are buying systems. These systems will affect the success or failure of your company. Make sure you buy a great fulfillment system.

When I look at many of the offerings out there, the infamous “lipstick on a pig” cliché comes to mind. Specifically, there are numerous old-school warehousing companies that are now trying to pass themselves off as e-commerce fulfillment providers. In reality, they're just putting a software layer on top of antiquated warehousing systems. It's a slow, inefficient way to fill orders, and it's prone to the same human errors that have plagued warehouse operations forever.

Then there is the other extreme, which is represented by one Silicon Valley software startup. This company has focused all its effort on software development and doesn’t even own or operate any warehousing systems. In other words, it's selling fulfillment services without controlling any of the actual fulfillment process. The firm is outsourcing its outsourcing!

From the first day of operation back in 2000, Webgistix’s online and offline systems were designed and built for the real-time world of the Internet. The front end of our system, SmartFill, is fully integrated with our internal warehousing and shipping software systems all of which are accessible in a secure Cloud and are fully integrated with our physical warehousing, customer service, and administrative operations. This makes for a very powerful order fulfillment system that we believe gives our customers a true competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Because we built the system for the Web from day one, we can operate the company in real time on a global basis and scale it with relative ease. More importantly for our customers, they get a seamless real-time order fulfillment solution. Because we have an integrated Web based system, we can confidently guarantee every order will ship with 100% accuracy within 24 hours. Smooth and seamless order fulfillment is the result of powerful well designed systems.

May We Live in Interesting Times

At Webgistix, we have a front row seat to observe and assist hundreds of e-commerce companies meet the global challenges of selling physical products online. I am continually amazed at the creativity, ingenuity and vigor our customers used to overcome these challenges. I am also amazed at the breadth, depth and uniqueness of products they are selling online.

The sheer volume and variety of the global marketplace becomes clear to me through the eyes of the hundreds of online retailers who have built successful businesses. Our position in the e-commerce value chain gives us a unique perspective on global issues affecting the industry. I hope to use this blog to share my thoughts and insights on this and other topics of interest.

E-commerce is growing and changing rapidly. This is truly a very exciting and interesting time to be involved in global commerce. Welcome to the journey.