AI tools and platforms for fulfilment teams

The UK is home to one of the most advanced ecommerce markets in the world, with more than a quarter – 28.1% – of retail sales made online, and sales rising year on year.

With consumers spending more online every year and wanting a positive purchasing experience, ecommerce AI tools can provide additional support in the increasingly complex digital landscape.

Why AI is transforming fulfilment and supply chains

Using AI in fulfilment and supply chains can speed up processes and remove the risk of human error. It means that customers can receive their goods as quickly as possible, while online retailers – who are under pressure to deliver a great product, a positive experience and drive repeat orders – can provide a great customer experience.

Within supply chains, various types of AI software may be deployed, including natural language processing, machine learning (ML) and predictive algorithms.

Learn how you can work with an ecommerce fulfilment specialist like e2b to adopt automation technologies to speed up and improve the experience for your customers.

AI tools for ecommerce fulfilment teams

In the UK, it’s not just ecommerce order volumes that are growing – customer expectations are, too. To keep up with fulfilment demand and to ensure a positive experience, AI is being utilised in various ways within the supply chain.

AI tools for ecommerce fulfilment are developing rapidly and proving to be a gamechanger for businesses that want to increase their profitability without compromising on service.

Data-driven fulfilment operations – AI can be used to analyse real-time data for improved visibility and accuracy on inventory and order routing, streamlining operational costs, increasing profitability and helping you to plan for scaling up. All of this leads to better processes and planning for ecommerce businesses.

Predictive decision making and demand forecasting – by scanning data sets across the whole of your business, as well as external sources, AI can support supply chain decision making and reduce the risk of costly mistakes – McKinsey & Company suggests that AI-driven forecasting can reduce supply chain errors by between 20 and 50 per cent.

Historical data can also predict user purchasing behaviour based on past sales and seasonal trends, while potential supply chain delays caused by geopolitical events or extreme weather can also be predicted.

Real-time operational visibility – gain the most accurate picture of your fulfilment operations with AI to make your fulfilment operations proactive rather than reactive. Having a real-time picture of sales enables better planning for staffing levels, ordering stock and communicating with customers.

And customers are beginning to expect it. Research from Scurri found that 60% of consumers expect AI to improve their delivery updates and 59% want retailers to use AI during peak periods.

Order prioritisation and route optimisation – with AI, your fulfilment provider can prioritise the picking, packing and shipping of the most urgent orders, which is good news when it comes to keeping customers happy. Findings from the RetailX Online Shopper Study suggest that 91% of ecommerce shoppers choose where to purchase from based on available next-day delivery options.

Removing human-led decision making also reduces the risk of human error, making AI a valuable asset to fulfilment teams.

Automated inventory management systems explained

An automated inventory management system removes all manual data entry, providing a software solution that can track stock inventory, orders, fulfilment, returns and more.

The key benefits of automated inventory management include:

• Real-time stock monitoring – for more accurate visibility on products
• Low-stock alerts – to flag when SKUs are likely to go out of stock
• Automated replenishment – to reorder stock or arrange a stock transfer without manual input
• Multi-channel inventory syncing – delivers a full picture of your inventory levels and sales from across all platforms, including DTC and Amazon.

How inventory forecasting software improves fulfilment

Improving operational efficiency and profitability starts with forecasting. Without data, forecasting sales and trends and predicting consumer behaviour is almost impossible.

When we combine data with AI, the result is industry forecasting that delivers more accurate predictions.

By implementing AI-led inventory software, we can better predict customer demand for your full product range, utilising seasonal trend analysis and peak buying cycles to help you forecast ecommerce sales.

Armed with this information, you can make more informed purchasing decisions and reduce excess inventory, saving your business time and money.

AI in warehouse optimisation

AI is quickly becoming a vital tool for warehouse optimisation, providing valuable insights to support date-led decision making.

There are three key areas that are really benefitting from warehouse optimisation. Learn what this means for your business:

Smart warehouse layouts

Optimising warehouse space with AI ultimately leads to cost savings. By maximising available warehouse space, optimising picking routes for staff and understanding product demand, your fulfilment provider can ensure your operation works as quickly and efficiently as possible, streamlining fulfilment and shipping.

Picking route optimisation

AI-powered picking systems are transforming ecommerce fulfilment and driving huge efficiencies. Optimisation strategies incorporate dynamic sequencing, which identifies the most efficient route for picking via a continuous path, and batch picking, which groups multiple orders and enables them to be picked simultaneously to reduce time and travel.

Reducing worker fatigue

Optimising picking routes also benefits workers. By reducing unnecessary travel through the warehouse, AI is also identifying ways to reduce fatigue and improve worked wellbeing, which results in improved order picking accuracy.

Faster order processing

Customers want their goods as soon as possible, so any opportunity to speed up order processing and fulfilment should be embraced. The benefit of using AI in warehouse optimisation is that it can identify all the building blockers for creating a smarter, more efficient ecommerce operation with the end goal of processing and dispatching orders more quickly.

What is smart order routing?

Smart order routing uses AI and automation to determine the fastest and most efficient way to ship a customer’s order.

It evaluates multiple variables to automatically select the best fulfilment location, including:

• Customer location
• Stock availability and location
• Shipping costs
• Delivery speed
• Environmental impact

This technology can be used to drive efficiencies across ecommerce fulfilment operations while ensuring a positive and seamless customer experience.

How smart order routing technology supports ecommerce growth

Smart order routing systems can offer an easy route to scalability for growing ecommerce brands by identifying opportunities to streamline operations.

This technology can provide your business with valuable shortcuts to save your business time and money, while also improving the customer experience.

Multi-warehouse fulfilment – identifies the most efficient location to ship a customer’s order from, for the fastest and most cost-effective delivery.

Cross-border ecommerce support – optimises fulfilment for international operations, ensuring goods are shipped using the closest fulfilment option.

Accurate order processing – valuable for driving customer retention and protecting your business’ profit margins.

Real-time stock inventory – provides accurate stock levels to prevent overselling and manage out of stock items, enabling you to better manage purchasing cycles.

Faster last-mile delivery – uses the shortest and most efficient vehicle routes for delivery to reduce transit time while also providing customers with accurate ETAs – seven out of ten shoppers say parcel tracking increases their confidence when shopping online.

Building a faster, more efficient and more robust fulfilment operation with smart order routing technology will put your brand in the strongest position for future growth.

It will also provide the time and space to enable you to concentrate on your growth strategy, rather than your fulfilment strategy.

The benefits of AI for supply chain and fulfilment operations

As outlined above, AI is already transforming supply chains and driving efficiencies in ecommerce fulfilment.

These are the key benefits your fulfilment partner should be offering your brand by implementing AI solutions:

• Faster operational decisions – so you can use data to make the right decisions at speed, while reducing risk
• Reduced waste and inefficiency – working with you to identify ways to streamline your fulfilment operations to improve cost efficiencies and sustainability
• Better inventory accuracy – giving you clear visibility of the goods you have in stock
• Improved forecasting – to help you plan ahead more accurately and prepare for peak season
• Enhanced customer satisfaction – by ensuring your customer communications are all joined up, from purchase to delivery and beyond
• Greater resilience during demand fluctuations – using AI to help you understand and predict when demand for goods will be strongest or weakest

Not seeing the benefits listed above? Read on to find out how e2b can help.

How e2b Fulfilment supports scalable ecommerce operations

As ecommerce fulfilment experts, we’re here to help you unlock a wealth of data to help drive efficiencies across your business.

With our technology-enabled fulfilment services, you can benefit from improved warehouse efficiencies and operational visibility, giving you the scalable fulfilment infrastructure you need for your growing ecommerce brand.

To learn more about how e2b Fulfilment helps ecommerce businesses like yours, contact our team.