Order accuracy is a crucial element to measure in ecommerce since it affects client trust. However, there’s a lot that goes into preparing an order before it’s delivered, and reducing frequent picking and packing mistakes may be tough.
You can raise order accuracy and satisfy customers’ expectations if you have the appropriate systems and procedures in place..
Taking little steps to enhance your order accuracy rate produces significant advantages for your company that are well worth the effort.
In this post, we’ll look at some ideas for reducing order errors and how a reputable shipping service provider like Launch Fulfillment may assist.
What is order accuracy?
The percentage of all ecommerce orders that are fulfilled and delivered to their ultimate destination without error, such as a mis-pick of an item or incorrect unit quantity. Order accuracy is a crucial metric to track since it significantly influences customer happiness.
It’s best to avoid mistakes if you can, since they will most likely cause inconvenience for yourself and/or your client. For example, an employee who delivers the wrong order may have difficulty figuring out what to do next. This might result in lost sales or extra time spent correcting the situation.
How to calculate order accuracy rate
Order accuracy is an important indicator that should be constantly monitored and improved upon. To calculate it, determine the number of correct orders you’ve completed, divide it by the total number of orders fulfilled, and multiply that result by 100.
What is a good order accuracy rate?
Because of the numerous moving components and human interaction, fulfillment is a complex process. Achieving a 100% order accuracy rate isn’t always feasible, but your success should be as close to 100% as possible.
The most successful direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies have an order accuracy rate of 96% to 98%. Improving your order accuracy rate might give you a competitive advantage if it falls within that range.
If your order accuracy rate is less than 95%, you are at a disadvantage compared to other businesses and should seek to increase it so that consumers will not hesitate to buy from you again.
4 ways to improve your order accuracy
Whether your order accuracy is poor or you just want to enhance it, finding methods to optimize your order fulfillment procedure to decrease mistakes can help your business develop in the long run. Here are a few typical strategies for improving order accuracy.
1. Set order accuracy rate goals
It’s simple to let your order accuracy rate drop or remove it from your list of key indicators when you don’t have clear leadership. Make careful to set targets for improving and optimizing it.
Begin by determining your present order accuracy rate, and then set a reasonable goal and timetable for action items. If you have a team, make sure to clearly communicate the objective and how each member can contribute to the success of the project.
Read how Launch Fulfillment’s leadership team gained buy-in for this goal setting action in their fulfillment centers here.
2. Improve the inventory management process
The inventory management procedure can have a significant bearing on how correctly orders are picked. Orders may be delayed or canceled for a variety of reasons, one of which is if your warehouse’s inventory control and organization are inadequate.
Inventory management software, for example, can help you track inventory quickly and automatically. Setting up reorder points to avoid stockouts is one way to do this.
3. Optimize the picking and packing process
During the fulfillment process, most order processing mistakes happen during the picking and packing phases, so be sure to evaluate your distribution centers for areas of improvement to reduce error rates.
Get feedback on what may be improved, optimized, or even automated across fulfillment operations to minimize frequent errors like selecting the incorrect color or size of a similar SKU if you operate with a team.
- Are you using the right barcodes?
- Are picking lists descriptive enough?
- Are they digitized and optimized for similar inventory routes?
The picking and packing stage may be made easier with warehouse slotting, which organizes ecommerce stock in such a way that it makes the most sense for the picker (such as by type, size, weight, location, etc.).
Eliminating any confusion for the picker by removing all possible confusion allows pickers to complete their task more quickly.
4. Implement the right fulfillment center technology
The best approach to enhance the accuracy of delivery is by implementing fulfillment center technology, as it reduces the amount of manual labor required to fulfill and ship an order.
A warehouse management system (WMS) unifies information from a variety of systems and applications across the organization, allowing you to automate operations so that an order picker can focus on speed and accuracy while also providing additional validations and quality checks throughout the fulfillment process.
You may use a WMS to gain complete insight into real-time inventory levels, storage, employee productivity, and fulfillment processes in a warehouse. A WMS is an excellent approach to identify areas for improvement without the need for frequent manual warehouse audits.