ZALORA is no longer a new brand in the field of fashion but is one of the most well-known e-commerce service platforms in this country, especially in today's digital era. The title of 'e-commerce specialist' that is owned today is certainly contributed by ZALORA's productivity and efficiency in providing the best service to customers and their partners.
Recently the writer had the opportunity to visit and see for himself how the ZALORA service operation process is at the ZALORA e-fulfillment hub, Shah Alam, Selangor. This location becomes the place where the process of stock management, delivery and return management to customers is done. There are a number of important processes that are set in motion, including the Inbound, Outbound, Inventory and Return/Refund processes.
The application of technology and AI will certainly be used for some motion processes in the studio. The help of AI allows a variety of themes and backgrounds of product images or product models to be produced. This method indirectly makes the editing process faster and a lot of costs can be saved.
Overall, the results of the visit to the ZALORA e-fulfillment Hub explained that through technology, system productivity and the use of AI in internal processes applied by ZALORA in this e-Commerce service is a very positive thing.
Utilizing technology and AI in an effort to provide the best service to customers and partners will not only be able to provide profit to ZALORA but many parties will also receive the benefits. This matter is also in line with the government's wishes and goals which are actively implementing digital transformation through AI while also being able to utilize it for a good economic surge for the country.
Inbound
Inbound is the main process level that needs to be done where in this process the receipt of stock or goods in the warehouse takes place. Once stock is received, quality control will be performed on all products. This process is to ensure that there are no damaged items and that all the quality of the items are in good condition before going through the next process. Not only that, in this Inbound process as well, products such as clothing in particular, will be measured so that more detailed information can be provided to customers through the application to help customers make purchasing decisions more easily.
Inventory
Next is the Inventory process which involves the management of product storage in the warehouse before the sale and shipment of goods. To ensure a more effective workflow, ZALORA takes advantage of technology by building its own application that can facilitate their workforce to carry out stock storage and sorting.
Not only that, work productivity is also improved with a very organized and efficient method of separating goods together with the help of technology through applications and the use of devices such as tracking devices and smart phones.
Outbound
The Outbound process involves organizing the goods that have been ordered and also the production of stock of goods in the warehouse to be sent to the customer. The process of sending out this product certainly involves many logistics partners and different markets including inside and outside the country which will then be taken out of this e-fulfillment center to be sent to the customer.
Looking at the method used, everything is seen to be very organized, where the goods to be handed over to the sender are put into each container that has been marked with the name of the sender who will pick it up. This kind of handling simultaneously ensures that work moves that are more productive, organized and fast can be implemented.
Return/Refund
As for the Return and Refund process, the process of returning goods and refunding is done to the customer. Customers are allowed to return goods or request a refund if they are not satisfied with the quality of the goods received or there is a problem with the goods purchased from the ZALORA platform.
Making it easier for customers is that ZALORA also provides drop off locations where there are more than 10 thousand drop off locations that allow customers to send back the items they want to return by simply sending them back to the nearest 'drop off' location. Once the returned goods arrive back at the fulfillment center, quality control of the goods will be carried out and the refund process to the customer will be activated.
In order to ensure that the quality control performed on the product becomes more efficient and productive, ZALORA created several forms of hardware such as a table with light emitted from under the surface of the table. It allows other blemishes or damage to clothing to be detected easily and quickly.
STUDIO
After leaving the Zalora e-fulfillment Hub in Shah Alam, the writer was then taken to visit the ZALORA production studio in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Here the writer can see the studio used for video recording sessions and product photo shoots conducted by some of the studio crew involved. Among them are models, photographers, makeup artists and editors. All the crew work together so that fast work movements with quality results can be produced.
The design of the studio is also emphasized where the concept of apparel studios, which is two parts of the studio with the same layout, is used so that the studio space for filming sessions can be utilized to the maximum.