When a package is being fulfilled, it can be manually handled multiple times. On average, a package can be manually handled 20 times or more during shipping, which accounts for an average of 17 times an ecommerce delivery may be dropped or mishandled in a single shipment. This handling includes various stages of the fulfillment process, such as receiving the order, processing, picking, packing, and shipping.
The efficiency of the fulfillment process significantly impacts customer satisfaction and business success. For instance, 69% of shoppers are likely to not shop with a retailer again if a purchase does not arrive within two days of the promised delivery date. Therefore, optimizing each step of the fulfillment process is crucial to minimize handling errors and ensure timely delivery.
In the context of order fulfillment, companies like Amazon process a vast number of packages daily. For example, Amazon processed over 66,000 packages per hour, or roughly 1.6 million orders per day in 2023. This highlights the scale and complexity of modern order fulfillment operations.