E-commerce is growing at lightning speed at shows no sign of stopping. Anything customers need, from a loaf of bread to a piece of furniture, can be ordered online and shipped to their door. And warehouses have to react properly to this new reality to work efficiently.
Organizing a warehouse for efficient shipping is very important. You might have to ship out an entire pallet of product to a company or just one piece to an individual. It’s best to divide your warehouse into sections for individuals and companies, with the same types of product in both. That way, you’ll never have a pallet missing one piece for a company and can easily grab one or two products for shipping to an individual.
You also should be prepared for inevitable product returns. Designate a special spot for them until they can be assessed and prepared for resale or destruction. This is especially important in the event of a recall. Recalled items should be kept separate from other inventory until they can be destroyed.
As an e-commerce business evolves, it can switch between selling more to companies or more to individuals. As these aspects of the business grow or shrink, it stands to reason that the warehouse space they take up will grow and shrink as well. It’s important to plan for that by having reconfigurable storage solutions in the warehouse. Storage units that can expand or contract or temporary walls that can separate the areas will become important.
But most important of all in a warehouse setting is safety. Be sure employees in the warehouse moving all that product around are well trained so they can do their jobs without injury.