Your business headquarters might be in the U.S., but the beauty of eCommerce is the freedom to go global – and you can streamline the process using a pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment service in Ontario, Canada.
Canada is a highly lucrative market for eCommerce, accounting for $30 billion in US eCommerce dollars in 2020 and showing steady growth despite skyrocketing inflation.
However, fulfilling orders across the border can be challenging, with exorbitant duties, fees, taxes, and strict regulations.
What if you could avoid these headaches and still take full advantage of Canadian markets?
The answer to this problem is to make your pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment Ontario-based.
How Pick and Pack eCommerce Fulfillment in Ontario Streamlines Your Shipping Process
As a business based in the U.S., using a pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment service in Ontario can improve efficiency, save time and money, and bring organization to your fulfillment process.
- Having your pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment based in Ontario ensures that your products are shipped and handled in compliance with Canadian laws and regulations. This helps to avoid potential delays or issues that can occur when fulfilling orders abroad.
- An eCommerce fulfillment service based in Ontario knows the ins and outs of doing business in Canada and has established relationships with reliable Canadian carriers, making the shipping process more efficient and cost-effective.
- Outsourcing your logistics and warehousing needs to experts means that orders are found, packaged, and shipped faster. Your costs are reduced as more work is completed properly in less time.
- Using a reputable pick and pack fulfillment service minimizes the number of mistakes, meaning fewer returns, refunds, and store credits for upset customers. This precision also ensures you avoid regulatory snafus that could lead to costly fines.
Bottom line: outsourcing your Canadian order fulfillment to a pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment in Ontario frees your time to focus on your core competencies!
Is expanding your eCommerce business into Canada on your radar for 2023 and beyond? Using a pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment service in Ontario process in Ontario can streamline your order fulfillment and take the headache out of your Canadian sales process. Contact us to learn more and see if it makes sense for your business.
What Exactly Is Pick and Pack eCommerce Fulfillment?
Pick and pack fulfillment describes the process that occurs immediately after your eCommerce store receives an order.
- Picking:
- Based on a picking list of purchased products, someone in the warehouse locates and retrieves the appropriate quantities of each item from its designated location.
- Packing:
- Products get placed in a box (or boxes) with the most suitable packaging materials and appropriate documentation.
- The package is then labeled and shipped to the customer.
Using pick and pack fulfillment for eCommerce allows orders to be separated and packaged individually rather than in bulk. Orders can be fulfilled and shipped immediately rather than having to wait for a minimum number of orders to begin the fulfillment process.
Additionally, pick-and-pack fulfillment allows orders to be packaged according to the needs and preferences of each customer, which can minimize errors and returns.
Pick and pack fulfillment simplifies and streamlines the order fulfillment process, reducing turnaround times and saving time.
While order fulfillment and picking and packing can be complex, you can break these processes down into these four main stages to simplify them:
1. Order Receiving
This stage occurs right when a customer places an order. As the purchase happens, the software used at the fulfillment warehouse creates a packing slip (either a digital or physical copy is provided).
We’ll note that the order-receiving phase calls for integrating warehouse systems with your eCommerce sales channels. Also, fine-tuning this stage ensures that your company stays accountable and accurate during order fulfillment.
2. Order Picking
Order picking is when someone in the warehouse picks the item from their designated location. While this seems simple, efficient picking is its own science and art, requiring strategic storage and picking approaches.
Depending on the items your business sells and the types of orders it receives, you can find success with any number of picking methods.
3. Order Packing
At this point, the order arrives at the packing area. A warehouse packer will then put the item securely in its package, seal it, then label it to be shipped.
Packing orders in a way that keeps shipping costs at a minimum (while protecting the products being shipped) is crucial for your business. Ideally, the order should have the least amount of boxes possible with the appropriate packing material for each item.
4. Order Shipping
Once the warehouse team has packed the orders, orders should be placed on the loading dock and sorted by the adhering carrier. This level of organization ensures these pickups are ready when the carrier arrives, keeping the process ship-shape and streamlined.
3 Common Pick and Pack Processes: Basic, Batch, and Zone
The best process for picking and packing depends on a variety of factors, including your business model, the type of products you sell, and the layout of your warehouse.
One of the benefits of outsourcing to a pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment service is that it leaves this decision to the experts. With their years of experience and established processes, they can determine which system will work best for your business.
The three most common pick and pack processes are the Basic, Batch, and Zone processes:
1. Basic Picking
With this system, a picker receives the sheet for a single order. This individual searches through the fulfillment space until they find and pick the one order.
Since this process involves one order at a time, it’s more suited to a limited number of orders. The core benefit of basic picking is that you avoid mistakes because of the granular nature of the method.
Of course, things would get dicey if you’re dealing with more complicated bulk orders and still applying this approach. Thus, the basic pick and pack process best suits smaller and medium-sized companies.
2. Batch Picking
Here’s where time efficiency comes into play–because batch picking applies to multi-item orders.
Instead of dealing with one order at a time, fulfillment software tells pickers how many of each item to pick for multiple orders simultaneously. It’s not a one-cart one-box scenario. It’s more like 11 boxes for 11 orders, for instance.
The batch pick and pack process applies most to medium-sized retailers aiming to streamline traffic in the warehouse and fulfill orders quicker.
As you’d imagine, this process is more nuanced and complex than basic picking. It requires logistical expertise to execute but is entirely necessary when your eCommerce store starts to deal in higher volumes.
3. Zone Picking
The zone pick and pack method focuses on leveraging the space of a larger warehouse to maximize efficiency.
No longer is a sole picker responsible for finding every ordered item in the warehouse.
Instead, each member of a team of pickers is accountable for picking the items in their designated zones. Since these individuals have less territory to cover, they’ll be more familiar with the layout of their assigned area, and the items ordered. They can then work faster and more accurately.
Unsurprisingly, zone picking is for more expansive operations commonly seen in large businesses. It’s a far more complicated approach than the previous two methods and is susceptible to hiccups. Therefore, the appropriate technology helps ensure this process runs smoothly and with minimal mistakes.
Pick and Pack: The Solution to Efficient eCommerce Fulfillment in Ontario
An efficient pick and pack process can do wonders for your business, especially when outsourced so you don’t have to create your method from scratch. It takes the potential chaos of a disorganized system and creates order, efficiency, and productivity, saving you time and money.
At Kain Logistics, our Ontario-based eCommerce fulfillment services are comprehensive and designed to support your growing business. We offer 24/7 access to our Warehouse Management System, which allows us to efficiently handle orders and product distribution. We are EDI-ready and can connect directly to CommerceHub, SPS Commerce, and any other EDI service provider you use.
You can trust Kain Logistics to meet your internet fulfillment needs accurately and on time.
Looking for pick and pack eCommerce fulfillment in Ontario? Contact us to find out if our services fit your business needs.