We live in a world that’s constantly connected. We shop, live, and communicate on a global scale with the aid of technology, and market ourselves to be available that way as well. So why should your business be any different?
eCommerce sellers already know selling online is a global game, but many still don’t know how to do it properly. Not only can you sell across the world, but you can store your inventory across the world too with the right tools. Let’s discover how to take your business global with a warehouse management system.
Manage multiple warehouses
With a warehouse management system, you can open warehouses around the country or world and manage them from one software interface. A WMS houses all your inventory information and allows you to split them up by warehouse so you can better track each facility with ease. In SkuVault, for example. you can create a space for each of your warehouses and their locations to get a better picture on the health of each facility.
You can also assign zip codes to each warehouse and assign order routing. This form of customization allows you to create the most cost and time effective shipping process to meet the demands of each geographic location. With optimized workflows, each warehouse can achieve the efficiency of Amazon and get items to customers faster.
Use smart reporting
The bulk of your business runs on data, so you need a software that can deliver the correct information. A warehouse management system like SkuVault comes with a robust reporting section designed to help you make better purchase decisions. Knowing what you have around the world is paramount to creating a global empire.
The Replenishment Report is a great tool to use in multiple warehouses. Identify SKUs that need to be replenished or restocked from suppliers or locations at another warehouse. This report alerts you when inventory dips below a desired level, so you can more accurately see when you need to shuffle inventory to another warehouse at a different location if needed.
WMS reports also allow you to forecast future purchase decisions based off of order history, suppliers, and lead times. All of these components come together to create smarter Purchase Orders (POs) for every order across your various warehouses. When you’ve got data like this compiled into one report, you’ll feel more confident and eliminate the risk of human error.
Go cloud-based
Physical software installations are antiquated. If you want to seriously compete on a global scale, you need to use a cloud-based warehouse management system. Cloud-based software can be accessed anywhere at any time, so it’s the perfect setup to operating warehouses around the world.
Cloud-based software like SkuVault warehouse management system requires less maintenance. If you’re using a physical software and it crashes or needs constant updates, it’s going to greatly hurt your business. You’ll lose sales and loyal customers due to software shutdowns. But with a cloud-based software, updates are performed by developers and won’t effect the production of your business. You can rest easy knowing the program you’re using is always up-to-date.
Global software integrations
A warehouse management system is built to specialize in inventory and warehouse management and nothing else. But because it’s just one piece of an entire business operation, a WMS integrates with other software to complete the picture. Software integrations are built through an API system which means you can access accounting and shipping information, for example, altogether inside the WMS software.
If your business is global, the software you run it on needs to be global too. Integrate with software that is also cloud-based and built to accommodate global needs. For example, if you’re going to utilize reports in the WMS, the data you’re using needs to also be readily available in your accounting software. This ease of data transfer and visibility is the key to successfully growing globally.
