Common fulfilment challenges brands face and how Granby overcomes them
Selling across multiple marketplaces and social commerce adds reach, but also adds complexity. Marketplaces and social platforms have their own data models, rules and SLAs. TikTok Shop, for example, provides Seller and Business APIs plus webhooks for events, which is helpful but requires clean authentication, permission scopes and robust error handling.
At the same time, retailers face demand and margin pressure, so accuracy and speed in fulfilment are critical. Add returns to the picture, and the stakes rise again. UK distance selling law gives consumers a cooling-off period of 14 days to cancel and 14 more days to send items back, so systems must keep stock, refunds and communications in sync.
In this article, we’re looking at common fulfilment challenges that brands face and how Granby overcomes them.
Granby’s technology
All of our advanced technology and software is built in-house by our dedicated team of developers. We utilise a multitude of technologies to ensure that our clients remain at the heart of everything we do.
Our broad scope of services has enabled us to build bespoke platforms to support contract packing, third-party logistics and promotional marketing.
Being built in-house means that the software can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your business. They have all been built for simple, on-the-go use, with a single dashboard that can be accessed anytime and anywhere.
SCOPe
SCOPe is our advanced fulfilment system, which integrates seamlessly with other platforms. This system incorporates three core modules: OrderSure, warehouse management and automation.
SCOPe enables clients to gain complete visibility and transparency of their inventory, enabling simple stock management, contract packing management and automation. Your personalised SCOPe dashboard can be accessed by your team and the Granby team. Providing the ability to:
- View real-time stock movements, from goods-in to dispatch.
- Clients can input their own KPIs and view operational insights
- Manage multi-channel order intake
- Optimise delivery routes to protect the environment
- Ensure data security
- Monitor stock levels, order trends and fulfilment performance at all times
By having all of this information available in one place, clients can optimise their performance, save money through the use of one system and maximise their service quality.
OrderSure
OrderSure is a module within SCOPe, designed to help brands manage their inventory with ease. It is packed full of useful features, from a smart search function and live support to category assignments.
Within OrderSure, brands can easily monitor our picking and packing performance. With a single sign-on dashboard, you can access all analytics and MI insights, including order status, expected deliveries and any pending items.
We ensure full transparency by enabling brands to see the exact measurements of stock and where it can be found within our secure warehouses. We also enable brands to have full control over our picking strategies based on LOT control, best-before dates and stock rotation strategies.
Find out more about our software, SwiftReceipt, and how it can help prevent fraud in promotional campaigns.
Key challenges for brands
Maintaining transparency across partners
Transparency has long been a challenge for brands when it comes to fulfilment. This is often caused by brands having limited visibility of stock, causing increased queries by both sellers and customers.
Having limited visibility from goods-in to final delivery can make it challenging to measure KPIs, a key issue for many brands. KPIs not only help to ensure that your operations are running effectively, but also shape the future of your brand.
Granby provides brands with complete transparency through SCOPe and OrderSure. These systems provide a single portal with real-time tracking and dashboards displaying accurate information from goods-in to delivery. All of this data can be accessed on both mobile and desktop, making it easy for brands to assess performance and make any necessary adjustments.
When you partner with us, you’ll have full visibility of your bespoke inventory and up-to-date order statuses. By enabling complete transparency, you can monitor your KPIs easily and ensure that your brand is working to its maximum potential at all times.
As a trusted fulfilment partner, we enable you to make informed decisions and maximise your forecasting capabilities.
Handling campaign complexity
We understand that campaigns can be complex, with many moving parts that need to align. Most campaigns include components, kitting, embargoes and regional splits, to name a few. Without effective technology and systems, these campaigns can quickly become inefficient and prone to errors.
Granby recognises this as a key challenge within the industry and has therefore built its own bespoke software that mitigates these risks.
SCOPe and OrderSure work together to create structured workflows, allowing you to see the current stage of your products at any given time. Our many years of comprehensive experience have made us specialists in every aspect of capacity planning. We ensure that all items are stored and handled correctly in correlation to their unique requirements. We carefully plan release times to ensure a smooth transition throughout our warehouses.
Clients gain access to live MI reports so that they can track progress, and launches can be coordinated effectively.
Having the ability to control everything in one place enables us to enhance efficiency for brands and achieve a faster time-to-live. Increased automation and planning features enable us to reduce the amount of manual admin involved and therefore reduce errors, which provides our clients with cost savings.
At Granby, we always put the client first and truly believe that their success is our success.
Seamless eCommerce integrations
When introducing new systems into your business operations, they must integrate seamlessly for the best results. Unfortunately, many brands find themselves integrating new systems which do not collaborate seamlessly with their existing platforms. Many of these issues arise with eCommerce platforms, such as WooCommerce, Shopify and Magento.
Poor integration can be extremely frustrating to deal with and can lead to increased errors for businesses. This problem increases in severity when it comes to multi-channel distribution, as it can cause duplicate entries and errors.
Granby’s bespoke software utilises API-first data exchange, enabling real-time order flow and status updates. Our systems are designed to integrate seamlessly with all eCommerce platforms, including Amazon and TikTok Shop. We support businesses with all aspects of multi-channel distribution.
Ensuring seamless integrations with Granby means you can reduce manual workload, experience fewer errors, and gain real-time insights into your inventory and orders. Read our article on how we achieve seamless eCommerce integrations.
Scaling for demand peaks
Many brands experience seasonal demands and must be prepared with the correct systems in place beforehand. Without this, they can experience capacity strains and poor SLA adherence.
Many brands will complete these tasks manually, causing increased staffing requirements and operational costs.
At Granby, we utilise our bespoke software to create automations for clients, reducing the manual work involved and therefore reducing errors. Our system allows for bulk ordering, capacity viewing and wave releases, enabling teams to scale without creating additional challenges.
Having these advanced systems in place not only helps you achieve steady operations but also allows you to predict labour and carriage costs with ease, leaving you without any surprises down the line. Through strategic planning, we ensure stable SLAs, even during demand peaks.
Are you looking for a trusted brand fulfilment partner with the knowledge and experience to support your brand with ease? Then look no further. Granby is ready to become an extension of your existing team. Contact us today to see how we can help.