How Small E-commerce Businesses Can Increase Order Capacity

To earn revenue, a business must be able to take and fulfill an adequate amount of orders. However, there are practical limits to just how many orders a business can take. While order capacity is primarily a function of available inventory, it’s also bound by the very systems a business uses and the resources they have. Taking these into consideration, smaller e-commerce businesses thus tend to have problems raising order capacity because of a lack of resources; they also have to consider both virtual and real-world bottlenecks.

Fortunately, increasing order capacity ultimately comes down to consistently doing several small things right. Though small e-commerce operations can still experience setbacks and lose opportunities because of their smaller scale—one can hardly order more inventory without sufficient capital, after all—they certainly have a few options for ramping up their ability to meet orders, such as the following:

Expand Sales Channels Beyond the Main E-Commerce Site

A small e-commerce business planning to expand its operations must consider adding other channels to supplement its website, depending on its customer base and capabilities. The most obvious choices are third-party marketplaces, but getting on these platforms isn’t necessarily straightforward for all businesses. 

Fortunately, social media sites and chat apps can now also be used as serious sales channels. For instance, link payment solutions are now being used to send customers payment links through popular chat apps like Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, Viber, Whatsapp, and Telegram. Maya Payment Links, a link payment solution developed by leading digital bank Maya, even facilitates credit card, debit card, and e-wallet payments via email, chat, and SMS. This gives small businesses a highly potent tool for expanding order capacity. What’s more such link payment solutions often have an associated invoice payment tool that lets merchants send digital links to paying customers, for example, via email.

Take Loans to Expand and Improve Inventory

Small businesses that can demonstrate sufficient market demand through their orders may be able to secure loans to purchase additional inventory. Alternatively, they could use the loans to develop new products or further refine their inventory processes. 

Thanks to the explosion of small e-commerce businesses, there are now several options for securing temporary capital, ranging from traditional lines of credit to new types of instant loans offered by digital banks. Depending on how fast orders need to be fulfilled, these avenues should be able to provide smaller e-commerce operations a means to rapidly grow their inventory and meet customer demands.

Optimize Inventory Management

For small businesses that are averse to taking out loans, using moderninventory management software can be a good solution. This software can be linked to payment and e-commerce systems, giving small businesses multiple ways to ensure that the right amounts of stock are always on hand. 

These systems are typically set up to automatically remind managers to make new orders before current stocks run out. Beyond this, they can also provide stock information to customers to set expectations and encourage purchases of limited items. They can also be set up to dynamically change the price or offer promotions depending on item availability and expected demands based on seasonality.

Offer Pre-Orders for New Items

Pre-orders can help gauge demand for new products and secure sales before inventory is available, thereby increasing order capacity without the need for immediate inventory investment. The main advantage of using a pre-order system is that a business never has to order more items than necessary. This frees up inventory space and avoids additional sales expenses.

Keep E-Commerce Websites Optimized

Optimized e-commerce websites can handle higher traffic volumes, preventing errors that cause site visitors to drop out of the purchase journey. Page load times and site navigation should be checked and reoptimized every few months according to known best practices to keep them functional and focused on the market’s current needs.

Explore Economical Warehousing Options

For small businesses that consistently face challenges with storage, emerging solutions like shared warehousing and on-demand services can provide the needed space without the long-term commitment or high overhead costs associated with traditional warehouse leases. This can be especially relevant for businesses that depend on strong seasonal sales, as it keeps them from having to pay for empty storage units during off-peak seasons.

Use a Flexible Staffing Strategy

During peak periods, order capacity bottlenecks caused by labor inputs can be addressed by hiring temporary or seasonal staff. Alternatively, small businesses can outsource certain order processes to third-party service providers. These options are especially compelling for small businesses, as they can limit their labor and training commitments while simultaneously giving them direct access to specialized skills that may be impossible to develop internally.

Continually Review and Optimize Order Fulfillment Processes 

Gains in order capacity are cumulative. While a single process change may not make a huge difference by itself, continuous small improvements over months and years can give small operations the breathing room they need to effectively prevent stockouts and unfulfilled orders.

Order fulfillment processes should always be subject to regular reviews so that managers and line employees alike can do more with less effort. Better automation, packaging procedures, and technologies should be considered and tested if they offer any demonstrable improvements in speed or accuracy.

Why Should Small Businesses Care about Order Capacity?

Order capacity essentially reflects an organization’s commitment to trust and dependability. Unfulfilled orders can waste customers’ time and cause anxiety, particularly when online stores take payments without actually delivering products. Even when the reasons for insufficient order capacities are benign, customers can feel that they’ve been put through a “bait and switch,” leading to a permanent erosion of trust in the business. Through continual, well-managed expansions of order capacity, smaller e-commerce businesses may achieve greater success.