In an era where fast delivery times, seamless service and customer trust are an eCommerce company’s top priorities, maintaining efficiency, sustainability and quality presents an often insurmountable challenge.
The time has well and truly come for eCommerce providers to embrace automation and harness all the tangible benefits it can offer. The rise of eCommerce over the last several years has fundamentally altered how products move across the entire supply chain, from the initial manufacturing facilities to customers’ shopping bags. Automation technology itself has emerged as a pivotal and influential enabler of success in this complex paradigm.
With 53% of global consumers opting to continue purchasing goods from brands that can offer competitive prices while offering free and fast delivery (in a report from Hostinger), the salient point is that delivering them isn’t enough. eCommerce businesses must do so with precision, accuracy, and speed.
To keep up with the evolving consumer demands and priorities, fulfilment automation must be embraced in order to streamline operations and help keep customers happy.
The traditional fulfilment model sees warehouse staff physically sorting, picking, packing and shipping orders. Recent innovations in automation technology have seen those duties now fall to smart robotics, which, coupled with the explosive growth in online retail, has seen global eCommerce industry valuations predicted to be $4.32 trillion in 2025, and $5.89 trillion by 2029 (growing at a CAGR of 8.02%).
For packaging industry stakeholders and decision-makers, understanding and recognising the relevance and strategic placement of automation in eCommerce fulfilment has become vital. Those businesses that do manage to integrate it successfully and methodically can maintain a vital competitive edge. Business owners who find success with robotic eCommerce automation also stand a solid chance of making meaningful changes in sustainability, labour shortages, and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) while preserving human autonomy and supervision.
Many automated fulfilment centres and solutions integrate several technologies to create a unified, aligned, tech-led processing system.
These include (but are not limited to):
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Robotic systems – Powered by AI and computer vision, these systems can process orders with an unrivalled degree of accuracy, minimising the risk of human error. As a result, errors stemming from manual handling mistakes can be dramatically reduced, and businesses can handle higher order volumes, meet tighter shipping deadlines, and operate around the clock. Businesses must be mindful of packaging design considerations, with products requiring engineering for robotic handling compatibility as well as consumer appeal. It’s expected that robotics technology is present in most distribution centres nowadays, according to Cleverence.
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AGVs – Automated Guided Vehicles have transformed logistics through the autonomous transport of products between picking and packing stations. With the help of magnetic strips, lasers and vision technology, the manual effort involved in fulfilment is significantly lessened. Packaging must be uniform and precisely sized as they are handled through a facility, to ensure even weight distribution in storage and shelving.
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Conveyors – Smart conveyor systems now include integrated sortation technology, which automatically routes packages based on weight, dimensions, destination and shipping method. For packaging professionals, this involves designing a system that can support conveyor transport and space requirements while ensuring product integrity from point A to point B.