Wednesday, September 12, 2018

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

By Daniel Wood


It's an understatement to say that today's cosmetics market landscape is a challenging one. In an era where consumers are more informed than ever, a retailer's survival their ability to fulfill orders accurately and on time. If that sounds like a tall order for your still-growing Utah Halloween makeup online store, maybe it's time you adopted cross-docking as a logistics management strategy.

You're probably wondering what cross-docking is all about, and whether you actually need it in the first place. It's essentially a supply chain model under which inbound inventory is used to fulfill outbound orders. Upon arrival, goods are usually unloaded, screened, and segmented based on current orders. What follows is their dispatch to various destinations, often via pre-selected channels.

Much like every other concept known to man, cross-docking is far from being a universal answer for all supply chain problems. No prizes for guessing that careful planning and effort are mandatory for its successful implementation. Nevertheless, the technique has proved a handy tool for online businesses. So it's only natural that you'll want to take a look at its potential benefits:

Better Turnaround Times: This comes from the ability to link up both ends of your supply chain, thus bypassing the warehousing phase . Keep in mind, though, that this won't do away with the need for the said facility. In actual sense, what cross-docking does is reduce the amount of time inventory spends in storage. This creates room for quicker order fulfillment, more so when combined with automated processes.

Increasing Available Space: By speeding up the rate at which inventory is shipped, cross docking will free up room in your warehouse. Of course, there's nothing to keep you from scaling up your product line if other factors allow it. You could also opt to take advantage of the cost savings if you operate from a rented space. Whatever the case, your bottom line will improve significantly.

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.

Added Value for Shoppers: The ability to match market demand with fast, reliable deliveries will never go out of fashion. And if that sounds obvious, so too should it be to offer free shipping to your customers. The cost savings realized thanks to cross-docking will more than make up for the sacrifice.

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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