What Are The Key Aspects Of Cosmetics Order Fulfilment?

The cosmetics industry is particularly unusual in terms of its ecommerce, shipping and sales needs, requiring a focus on the customer journey and brand identity that is far more integrated into every aspect of the company than perhaps any other market sector.

Much of this requires the help of a dedicated cosmetics fulfilment partner who not only understands the needs of products that often need to be handled and stored with care, but also the vital importance of making every customer feel special when they order from you.

To understand why, it is important to understand why it matters, the core principles of cosmetics order fulfilment and how they differ from other industries.

Why Does Order Fulfilment Matter In The Cosmetics Sector?

The concept of order fulfilment is fundamental to any retail sector, and the first order fulfilment system, infrastructure and partnerships can mean the difference between a customer becoming loyal to your company or looking elsewhere.

In cosmetics, where brand loyalty matters so pivotally, this can mean the difference between a computer succeeding and thriving or being out of business within a few short years.

There are countless reasons why, but here are just a few of the main reasons:

• Customer Satisfaction Is Not Optional - With a luxury good such as cosmetics, products that customers order need to arrive in pristine condition and in a timely fashion. Word of mouth spreads fast, and a good store matters as much as good products.

• Quicker Turnaround Times - Cosmetics stores often have seasonal cycles for products, and optimising the management of a warehouse with more popular items in mind can help ensure orders are processed and shipped quickly.

• Brand Loyalty Matters - Unreliable fulfilment, missing, incorrect or broken products can seriously dent a cosmetics company’s reputation, but meeting and beating customer expectations can pay dividends in establishing not only loyal customers but also evangelists.

• Cosmetics Need To Scale - Many cosmetics companies start as extremely small concerns, but success means they need to scale quickly, and order fulfilment helps to bridge the scale gap between startup and success.

• Cosmetics Is Competitive - The cosmetics sector is powered by instant gratification, and part of this is having fast, affordable delivery and robust order tracking. If you lack both of these, customers may not return.

• Cosmetics Need A Robust Returns System - The final, unsung part of order fulfilment is handling returns, as sometimes a cosmetic product is not right for a certain skin type, it is broken in the packet, or there is an unusual scenario that means a customer wants a refund or replacement.

These elements are significant, particularly given that the cosmetics sector relies on the entire customer experience being exemplary. 

How Does The Order Fulfilment Process Differ For Cosmetics?

The order fulfilment process for the cosmetics sector is a pivotal part of the customer journey, with the baton being handed from the product development, brand marketing and online store experience.

Here, consistency is key, and there can be tailored elements of the process that focus on the specific needs of a particular brand.

However, there are five main stages to order fulfilment, and here are the biggest differences that are seen in the cosmetics sector compared to other industries.

Inventory Receipt And Process

The first stage is when product inventory stock-keeping units arrive at the fulfilment centre. They are itemised, checked for potential damage that could require further auditing and then logged into an inventory management system ready for picking and packing.

The key difference with cosmetics is that the inventory needs to be carefully checked for potential damage that could have occurred during transit, which could affect the quality or even the safety of the products.

Most cosmetics are designed to travel, but issues can occur during the shipping process, and auditing and removing broken, unsellable cosmetics early in the process.

Storage And Organisation

The next step is efficient storage in a carefully designed system with efficiency in picking and packing practices in mind. 

With cosmetics, products that tend to take up relatively small physical space and can often have relatively small but vitally important distinctions, an effective organisation system based on clear coding and packaging is essential to avoid mistakes being made and ensure a speedy, efficient system.

Processing

The processing step consists of the three most important parts of the fulfilment process:

• Order Receipt - Where a customer places an order, and it arrives at the fulfilment centre to be assigned.

• Picking - Where the items in the order are found and checked for accuracy and quality.

• Packing - Where the items are securely packed alongside invoices, return information, marketing materials and any other personal touches.

The processing step, particularly the packing element, is often where the personality and brand identity of the cosmetics industry are most visible to the customer.

It could involve the use of specific luxury shipping boxes or gift wrapping that can make a product purchase feel like a gift, it could involve the use of personalised or semi-personalised thank you notes or cards, or coupons that provide a discount off a customer’s next order.

This is the most involved step, and where the focus needs to be the most. The order needs to be right, and it needs to make the customer feel special, in keeping with the identity of the brand.

Shipping 

Whether you choose a separate delivery partner or take full advantage of a third-party logistics (3PL) partner to handle storage, processing and shipping together, the next step is ensuring that the order gets to the customer.

In general, choosing a tracked delivery service is ideal to provide customers with as much information as possible about their order, although balancing tracked delivery with maintaining low shipping costs as much as possible is vital.

This is especially the case with cosmetics, given the small size and light weight of many orders compared to other sectors. It also provides opportunities to incentivise larger deliveries by offering free delivery if a customer’s order goes over a certain price.

Returns

As mentioned before, processing returns is critical for any cosmetics ecommerce company, because there are many reasons aside from product quality why customers may want to return or exchange products.

Given that many cosmetics cannot be restocked unless they are unopened, it is essential to carefully manage returns and customer relations to maximise trust and satisfaction.