Let’s start with a fact, 96% of customers will leave a brand if they are delivered bad service. That said, getting inaccurate/wrong orders is at the top of the list of causes of bad customer experiences. Thus, it’s essential to make sure every order that leaves your door is correct and precise.
Ensuring that orders are fulfilled accurately can significantly enhance customers’ shopping experience and foster trust in the business─just like how inaccurate, or wrong orders can result in customer dissatisfaction, returns, additional costs for the business, and potential harm to the company’s reputation.
So, how can you enhance the accuracy of your orders and become one of those awesome brands that ace each delivery? To help you get to the bottom of it we will talk about:
- Calculating order accuracy
- Making sense of your order accuracy rate
- 13 ways to improve fulfillment precision
So, let’s dive in!
Calculating Order Accuracy
First, let’s start with the kiddy pool and figure out what your order accuracy rate is. Calculating order accuracy involves comparing the number of accurately fulfilled orders to the total number of orders processed within a specific period.
To calculate order accuracy;
- Begin by determining the total number of orders processed during a given timeframe, such as a day, week, or month.
- Identify the number of orders that were fulfilled correctly without errors or disparities. This includes orders where the correct items were selected, quantities were accurate, specifications were met, packaging was done correctly, and deliveries were made on time.
- Once you have these figures, divide the number of accurately fulfilled orders by the total number of orders processed and multiply by 100 to obtain a percentage.
This percentage represents the order accuracy rate, indicating how many orders were fulfilled accurately out of the total. For instance, if 500 orders were processed and 480 were fulfilled correctly, the order accuracy rate would be (480/500) x 100 = 96%. This calculation measures how accurately orders are being fulfilled and can serve as a key performance indicator for monitoring and improving order accuracy over time.
Making Sense of Your Order Accuracy Rate
Above 98%: Your order accuracy rates are excellent! Keep up the good work and maybe you’ll hit the 100% mark!
Between 95% and 98%: Your accuracy rates are average compared to competitors. You can try applying enhancements, keeping in mind that the direct benefits may be comparatively lower.
Between 85.7% and 95%: Your competitors can start leveraging order accuracy any time now, start applying some best practices and get those order accuracy rates up!
Below 85.7%: Your order accuracy rate requires immediate attention as there is significant potential for improvement. But, you’re here reading this blog so it’s safe to say you’re halfway done!
13 Ways to Improve Fulfillment Precision
Whether your order accuracy rates are shooting stars and you’re just looking for a good read or you need to polish some of your moves, here are the 13 most crucial factors for achieving fulfillment precision.
- Have clear goals
- Improve inventory management
- Automate your fulfillment process
- Conduct regular quality checks
- Use clear communication and documentation
- Optimize your pick and pack process
- Choose clear and organized storage
- Use correct labels on the products
- Provide trainings and onboarding to your employees
- Pay attention to feedback and performance metrics
- Use pick-to-light or pick-to-voice systems
- Weigh packages before shipping your products
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement
1. Have clear goals
Sorry, every improvement blog starts with goals because you cannot measure success if you do not define what that means to you. Having clear goals ensures that everyone is working towards a shared objective and provides a benchmark for measuring progress and holding teams accountable.
The key is to be realistic and take one step at a time. First, aim at improving your order accuracy rate by 5%. Then, gradually move up your goal until you reach +95%.
2. Improve inventory management
Improving your inventory management is another game-changer when it comes to enhancing order accuracy. When you have an effective system in place, you confirm that you always have accurate and up-to-date information about product availability, stock levels, and where everything is located, which all helps to fulfill your orders accurately.
Implementing WMS systems can also boost your efficiency and cut down costs, freeing up resources and time to invest in improving your brand and customer experience. You can provide quicker shipping and enhanced packaging options, establish loyalty programs, enhance after-sales support, and enhance customer experience in your sales channels.
TARQAN’s open API facilitates seamless integrations with all WMS! Learn more!
3. Automate your fulfillment process
Manual fulfillment processes are prone to error. However, by harnessing automation technology, you can minimize human errors and enhance overall efficiency throughout the order fulfillment journey.
There are various ways to automate your fulfillment processes. However, the most common one is to deploy fulfillment robots to automate the picking process, whether Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) or Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). Why? A fulfillment robot like TARQAN can single-handedly increase your order accuracy levels to 99.99%!
Plus, it doesn’t stop there! G2P solutions can help improve many other KPIs, like Total Order Cycle Time (TOCT),while helping you cut back on labor and time costs!
TARQAN, the first fulfillment robot to be created by a fulfillment provider, is also the thinnest within its class. Thus, it saves 10% more storage space than all its competitors. Learn more!
4. Conduct regular quality checks
Implementing systematic and consistent quality checks throughout the order fulfillment process ables you to identify and rectify any errors before they happen.
Quality checks can involve many things, from verifying that the right SKUs/barcodes are matched with the correct item to software/system maintenance.
5. Use clear communication and documentation
When order details, specifications, and customer requirements are communicated clearly and effectively, it minimizes the chances of misinterpretation or errors. Thus, providing accurate and detailed documentation, such as order forms or packing manuals can further enhance clarity and order preciseness.
Clear communication also ensures that all stakeholders involved in the order fulfillment process, including order pickers, packers, and customer service representatives, clearly understand the customer’s expectations.
6. Optimize your pick and pack process
If you have manual operations and are not planning to automate them anytime soon, it’s then best to focus on optimizing your pick and pack process.
One of the first things you can do is optimize your picking zone layout. Next, consider implementing technology solutions like barcode scanners. These tools help order pickers locate and verify items with ease, minimizing the risk of human error.
Another thing you can do is use your packing station as a verification step and implement systems that will confirm that the items that are packed are the ones that are within the order.
While a person collects 120-150 products per hour, TARQAN collects 400-500 products per hour, increasing workforce efficiency by 300%. Learn more!
7. Choose clear and organized storage
When your storage areas are well-structured, it becomes easier for order pickers to locate and retrieve items accurately. Keep in mind that well-structured does not mean color-coded cosmetic shelves or nicely folded Christmas sweaters, which, we know is impossible within the chaotic warehouse environment.
What you can do is start from the very beginning and make sure that products are stowed away in the right shelves. If you’re still using manual tools, then it may also help storing products that have similar appearances far apart as they can easily mix up when you don’t have a tool to verify the product.
8. Use correct labels on the products
This one, again, applies mostly for those who have manual processes or not-to-sophisticated software. Make sure that you do not have any duplicate SKUs. Also, it won’t hurt to have somewhat descriptive barcodes. For instance, if an item is a pair of yellow socks, the barcode can have a letter for the color, a letter for the item type and perhaps numbers that indicate its size.
9. Provide trainings and onboarding to your employees
Equipping your team with the necessary knowledge and skills ensures they understand the importance of accuracy and the specific requirements of order fulfillment.
Training programs should cover various aspects, including proper handling of products, order documentation comprehension, and efficient picking and packing techniques. Employees gain a solid foundation for performing their roles effectively by providing clear instructions and best practices.
Additionally, a well-structured onboarding process for new hires ensures they receive the necessary training and guidance, setting them up for success.
10. Pay attention to feedback and performance metrics
Actively listening to feedback from customers and order pickers provides valuable insights into areas that may need improvement. Customer feedback can highlight any recurring issues or specific challenges related to order accuracy. Internal feedback from order pickers can illuminate potential bottlenecks or process inefficiencies affecting accuracy.
11. Use pick-to-light or pick-to-voice systems
Pick-to-light or pick-to-voice systems provide real-time guidance and instructions to order pickers during fulfillment. With pick-to-light systems, order pickers are guided by visual cues, such as lights or displays, that indicate the location and quantity of items to be picked. This reduces the chances of human error and speeds up the picking process.
Similarly, pick-to-voice systems use voice-guided instructions to direct order pickers, ensuring they select the correct items and quantities.
12. Weigh packages before shipping your products
An oldy but a goody, weighing items can ensure that the correct quantities are packed and shipped to customers every single time. That is, of course, you have data on how much the items should weigh.
Weighing items provides an additional layer of verification, especially for products sold by weight or items with varying weight specifications.
It helps in identifying potential errors such as under packing or overpacking by comparing the measured weight against the expected weight, and it is an incredible way to doublecheck huge mass orders like B2B orders.
13. Foster a culture of continuous improvement
Encouraging an environment where employees are empowered to identify and address opportunities for enhancement, you create a mindset focused on constant learning and growth. This culture motivates individuals to actively seek out ways to improve order accuracy, whether through process optimization, adopting new technologies, or implementing best practices.
It also fosters employee engagement and enables employee retention, which is invaluable within an industry with such labor scarcity.
All in all…
Each day, new players enter the market, making delivering impeccable CX─and accurate orders─ a must to survive within the industry. The good news is, if you’re struggling with poor order accuracy rates, there is many you can do to improve it.
If you want to up the game right away with 99.99% order accuracy minus the hassle, contact our automation specialists to learn more about TARQAN!
