Most merchants are familiar with seasonal demands and the unique set of obstacles faced throughout the supply chain, with many companies having their own ‘Busy Season’ where there is a huge spike in customer demand.

Difficulties Managing Seasonal Inventory

Without a flexible warehousing and fulfilment strategy, companies often fail to meet customer expectations due to lack of resources in place to cope with a sudden spike in required storage space and incoming fulfilment requirements. This ultimately results in companies failing to capitalise on the spike in demand, losing out on significant sales opportunities.

These periods are often during Christmas Holidays, Black Friday, and other public holidays.

However, here at Meteor Space, we understand that spikes can occur throughout the calendar year, and whether they are expected or unexpected, we have the resources available to help fulfil orders and exceed your customer expectations throughout.

This service has been highlighted over the past 16 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many of our clients have scaled up their warehouse space to store higher levels of inventory with a quicker turnaround to fulfil the huge spike in online orders.

How we can Help at Meteor Space

Our Pallet Storage Solution boasts high tech automation, keeping products safe and easily accessible to meet spikes in customer demand with highly competitive rates for storing. The team here at Meteor Space are hard working and highly skilled with the expertise to handle the high-volume periods to ensure goods are stored safely and distributed quickly during seasonal spikes.

Other Benefits Include:

• Storage Space Flexibility

Your requirements for warehouse space can be scaled up or down when need, flexibility is key during seasonal demands. We will adjust and adapt to meet your unique requirements and help with your overall growth in sales.

• Same Day Dispatch

We take great pride in our accuracy and speed. Our hard-working team take orders as late as 8pm allowing orders to be delivered dispatched the same day, offering an efficient next day delivery service throughout the island of Ireland and UK.

• Friendly and Knowledgeable Experts

Our highly trained and knowledgeable team are always available to offer advice on all aspects of logistics and on your business requirements. Our warehousing experts take away the stress from managing your supply chain and are accessible 24/7. You will always be safe in the knowledge that we will deliver to your customers on time!

• Real Time Inventory

Our inhouse Warehouse Management System offers real time insights into your inventory, providing the relevant people with quality information to ensure your inventory levels never drop below a certain threshold.

Meteor Space is your Warehousing & Inventory Management Solution:

Now is the time to consider your warehouse and fulfilment options ahead of your seasonal demands and as online sales continue to rise.

For more information about Meteor Space and our pallet storage solutions, please contact us today.

 

 

What is Integration?

In simple terms, integration is a system that connects to multiple platforms to create one unified system. The integration process allows us to connect to your software to our platform which allows us to receive all the information. Integration helps boosts the functionality of the current system and allows us to automate and complete a wide range of tasks while enhancing your business!

Integration with Meteor Space:

At Meteor Space, we aim to make the whole process simple for you and your business. Integrating with Meteor Space will make managing inventory and tracking orders in real time easier! We offer a wide range of ready-made integration with lead brands including Shopify, eBay, Amazon, Magento and many other platforms to ensure highly efficient distribution for your customers!

The Integration Process:

1. Easy Integration:

In just a few clicks, you can connect your chosen channel to our software for seamless, multi-channel fulfilment. It is can from any shopping cart and is simple to install. We will receive your goods and store them securely in our warehouse and fulfilment centre.

2. Automated Order Fulfilment

Our team will retrieve the orders from your customers automatically from your chosen platform. We offer bespoken services for your businesses unique needs and we will pick, pack and ship the orders. Meteor Space have you covered, our dedicated team take pride to ensure the products integrity is maintained through the distribution process for your customers. Our aim to have satisfied customers!

3. Fast Shipping

We work with various couriers including DPD and Royal Mail to provide the most cost-effective and fastest delivery for your customers. At Meteor Space, we have our own delivery van which allows us to offer next day delivery in the island of Ireland for your valued Irish customers.

Integration for Your Business will:

Improve the Efficiency of Your Business:

Integrating with Meteor Space will improve the efficiency of your business as we are able to provide real-time stock information. This information will provide your business with better stock control and inventory tracking. Our team work hard to ensure the orders are picked, packed and shipped for customers to retrieve goods more quickly. Additionally, when you outsourcing your warehousing and fulfilment, you are choosing warehouse experts to control the functionality of your warehouse which will grow your core business.

Customise the Service for Your Customers

At Meteor Space, your customers are also our customers. By outsourcing your warehousing and fulfilment you can substantially improve your service to your customers as well as substantially improving the processes involved with all your picking, packing and shipping needs. Choosing  Meteor Space means your orders will be in great care to ensuring and fast and reliable services for your customers.

Reduce the Overall Costs for Your Organisation.

Outsourcing with an integrated warehouse will result greater efficiency, better services and less errors in the warehousing operations which will reduce the overall costs for your business.

Contact us Today:

If you would like to find out more information about Meteor Space and how our team can help with your integration and warehousing needs, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.

At Meteor Space, we operate from a 200,000 sq. ft state of art facility in Cookstown, Mid Ulster.  We offer a HMRC customer bonded facility as well as a BRC accredited storage space. We currently have a lot of capacity and whether it is short term or long term pallet storage, Meteor Space are able to accommodate a wide range of pallet storage requirements and have the capacity to suit your businesses requirements.

Outsource with Meteor Space:

Outsourcing with Meteor Space will provide your business with many benefits including saving time and energy. At Meteor Space, we work extremely hard to ensure we are offering the best storage and logistic solutions for your business. We take pride to ensure your product is OUR business. Our well experience and knowledgeable team are experts within the warehousing and logistic industry therefore, are able to ensure that your product is stored safely and distributed quickly. We work hard to ensure we provide the highest level of service for your customers.

Next Day Delivery Available

Let us take care of your product with a total peace of mind, we will do the work for you! We will store your products safely, pick & pack the orders and ship the products out to your customers. We work with various of delivery partners and speedy courier services such as DPD and Royal Mail throughout the UK, Ireland, across Europe and beyond.

We work very closely with our couriers to ensure your customers receive the best delivery service in the most cost-effective way possible. We also have our own delivery van which allows us to provide next day delivery in the island of Ireland! Our aim is to ensure your customers are fully satisfied.

Key Benefits

Same-day fulfilment

Accuracy and speed are our top priority! Our hard working team take orders as late as 8pm to ensure that your products are shipped next day for your customers. We take pride to ensure that the orders are accurately sorted and packed correctly.

Automatic Order Fulfilment

We offer a wide range of integration with leading brands to ensure seamless and highly distribution for your customers! Our integration services allow you to link your website with our service!

Affordable Prices

We provide affordable competitive prices on our warehousing and logistic services!

Friendly Experts

Our highly trained and knowledgeable team are available to offer advice on all aspects of logistics and which services will suit your business needs.

Contact us today for pricing on 028 867 52108 or to find out more about our pallet and warehouse on our website www.meteorspace.com

Advantages of Customs Bonded Warehouse in NI

With Brexit, it means importing goods from EU into the UK face new custom declarations, import VAT charges and major delays. Meteor Space being a custom bonded warehouse in Northern Ireland (NI) is your solution to Brexit! We provide a natural logistic solution by importing your goods directly to NI.

What is a Customs Bonded Warehouse?

A bonded warehouse is a secure space in which goods are liable to import duty and VAT can be stored with the customs duty. VAT payments on these items are deferred until the goods are sold or removed from the bonded warehouse. Therefore, Meteor Space is a duty-free zone. Our bonded warehouse allows your business to store your goods and have unfettered access to the European (EU) and Great Britain (GB) market.

There are many benefits to storing your item in custom bonded warehouse for importers and exporters including:

Improved Cashflow for your Business:

Deferred payment means that tax is not paid until the goods are sold or removed from the bonded warehouse. The result of deferred payment is a significant cash flow for your business. Storing your goods in a bonded warehouse will help reduce costs and increase your business’s profit margins.

Unfettered Access:

The goods will have unfettered access to the island of Ireland and GB. The unfettered access means that you will have the option of delivering your goods from Meteor Space directly to your customers next day to GB or Ireland. Meteor Space provides a quality and unique service to your customers to ensure there is no delays or dissatisfied customers.

High Quality Service:

Storing your goods in our bonded warehouse will help improve the quality of service to your customers. Goods can be ordered in advance of anticipated demand and ready to be dispatched without delay to provide a high standard service.  There will be less delays if you store your products with Meteor Space. We offer next day delivery to every town throughout the island of Ireland to ensure quality services to your valued Irish customers!

Quality Preservation

Meteor Space will accommodate with all different types of goods. We maintain a high standard to preserve the quality of your products. We provide appropriate materials and packaging to ensure the products are delivered to customers in the best standard. We work extremely hard between the packaging stage and distribution stage to ensure the product is carefully handled to preserve the quality of your goods. Bonded warehouses have high levels of security to protect your goods.  Your goods will be delivered to your customers in the expected condition leading to satisfied customers.

At Meteor Space, we work with global brands who have also struggled with similar challenges due to Brexit. Our expert knowledge of the new custom declarations and new processes, we are able to provide professional, fast and cost effective solution for companies exporting into Ireland.

We are renowned for our consistency of service delivery, using Canary7 a bespoke warehouse management software, we have improved automation that has significantly reduced costs. We are able to serve clients who wish to utilise our secure bonded warehousing to improve cost efficiency and ensuring faster customs clearance.

Contact Meteor Space Today!

For more information on how our Custom Bonded Warehouse can help your company service customers through Ireland and GB, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Eoin to discuss your requirements – [email protected] or complete the contact form.

As the dust settles following the UK’s exit from the European Union on the 31^st of January 2021, we have all started to adjust and adapt to trading arrangements arising from this major economic and political development.

Undoubtedly the ambiguity surrounding Brexit has caused initial confusion as businesses tried to come to terms with the bureaucracy, rules and new processes imposed on them with limited advice and assistance from local and national Government.  However, businesses are now realising the extraordinary trade opportunities open to them as a result of Northern Ireland’s unique position and relationship with the remaining 27 European Union countries and Great Britain.

What does Brexit mean for businesses operating in Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland has become a very attractive destination for firms seeking access to both the European Union (EU) and Great Britain (GB) markets.  This is particularly true for those businesses currently operating in the Republic of Ireland and who’s survival and success rely on trade with Great Britain. The rewards of setting up in a region operating under single market rules but with tariff free access to the UK market are there for all to see.

The Northern Ireland protocol as set out in the UK’s withdrawal agreement with the EU means that Northern Ireland is now widely considered to be a gateway for the sale of goods between two of the world’s largest markets, namely the EU and GB.  The special arrangements for Northern Ireland as laid out in the withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU has resulted in there being no ‘hard border’ for businesses in Northern Ireland trading with the EU.  This agreement has also ensured that the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland remains unhindered.

How Can Meteor Space help your business avoid customer notices like, “Due to Brexit, we have temporarily closed our store to UK-based customers”?

Speaking in 2019 Simon Coveney said that if companies in the Republic of Ireland were faced with any trade barriers into the UK market post-Brexit they would likely look north, “I think there will be a huge incentive for a lot of Irish companies to locate north of the border and to effectively operate the rules of the single market but at the same time have unfettered access to the UK,” he said.

Mr Coveney’s words have now turned into reality.  We at Meteor Space are in a unique position to offer our expert advice and services to those companies wishing to avail of Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements with Great Britain and the European Union.

For more information on how Meteor Space can help with your order fulfilment to Great Britain, please complete the contact form.

Getting traffic to your ecommerce store isn’t easy. It takes time, effort and focus to keep driving potential customers to your site. So, what happens when you’ve put in all the hard work, only for your customer to arrive on an item that’s sold out?

Firstly – don’t panic! There are many reasons why you might not have a particular product in stock, from logistical issues to seasonal pressures or deepening your knowledge of your businesses supply and demand.

No matter how well you plan, at some stage you will find that a product you normally offer isn’t in stock when your customer wants it, and you need ways to make sure you can still convert those customers and keep their interest in your services.

Sold out Doesn’t Have to Mean Losing the Customer

Customers are going to feel disappointed when they land on a product and it is sold out. However with the right message you can still nurture those customers and get them to buy.

It can take as little as 6 seconds for a customer to form an impression of your service, so you want to ensure it’s a good one, even if they land on a sold out product page. You can achieve this by creating a sold out page that’s still attractive. This means letting the customer know the item isn’t in and offering them something to mitigate the disappointment / irritation they might be feeling to find their product they wanted is unavailable.

There are a few steps you can take to keep your customer interested when they land on a ‘sold out’ section of your online shop:

1. Be Upfront

It’s irritating to land on a product page and see the item you want isn’t there. It’s far more irritating if the online store isn’t honest about the situation. Be upfront and make it clear the item is out of stock, offering an apology if needed. If you have positive information to share about when the item is going to be back in then make sure to make that available.

2. Provide a Customer Friendly way to Pre-order

If you know that you will be getting stock in quickly for your sold out item then it can be worth offering your customers the chance to pre-order the item. This option typically works better when you can give customers a time-frame for when the item will be available.

For products that have a longer lead time (weeks not days) a good alternative to letting them pre-order is to offer to email the customer the moment the item is back in stock. You can also offer them a monthly newsletter and ask them to enter their email address to receive a notification.

This can be helpful for email list building so you can continue to nurture the client.

3. Suggest alternative products

Some customers could still be tempted to buy if you offer them a great alternative to the sold out product. This is where you knowledge of your products really comes into its own, as well as your ability to present different products in a great light. Match products that have similar benefits and features and are in the same price brackets, and offer an alternative.

Clear and bright product visuals with interesting and informative descriptions can work wonders here by enticing your customer to investigate something a little different. In some cases they might decide to buy an alternative product.

4. Make an Offer

If you want to keep your customer’s interest and make sure you convert them, then one option can be to offer a discount code or coupon that offers them money off the product when it comes back into stock, or allows them to apply a discount to another purchase made on your site.

This can help to create loyalty and build trust, and help your customer to feel as though they are being cared for and valued. You could offer to email a money-off voucher to a customer, to be used on the item when it comes back into stock.  This could also be an advantage to you as you add them to your email list.

Online shopping has never been more popular. In the UK a massive 82% of people are internet users, and at least 77% made online purchases during 2017. Ecommerce sales accounted for £533 Billion during 2015 and it’s estimated that at least 70% of UK customers owns a smartphone.

With these figures, which are only likely to rise during 2018 and beyond, you have a huge range of potential customers out there.

Unfortunately, the explosion in internet use over the last couple of decades has meant that the online world has become incredibly busy. While on the one hand you have many more potential customers out there waiting to be reached, it’s also true that you have to compete for the attention of those potential customers; who are becoming more discerning than ever.

That’s why it’s no longer enough to create an online store; you have to actively entice high quality traffic. While some people believe this means you have to spend a huge amount of money on pricey advertising campaigns, the great news is that the internet is a great leveller when it comes to online marketing. There are many opportunities to build your online presence, even on a start-up budget.

These ways require patience and time, but if you’re willing to put in the energy to using them, it will pay off as your online store gets the right customers visiting.

Below I’ll share Five Key Steps you can take to entice more traffic to your ecommerce store.

Step #1: Use SEO Techniques to Improve Visibility

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the way that you get traffic to your site via ‘organic’ search results that potential customers type into search engines like Google or Bing. Although you can pay to have results shown in searches, SEO is the way that you bring visitors to your site for free. Search engines have to be able to find your website otherwise few people will know it’s there. The goal is to have your product appear in the red box.

Getting your site ranking on search engines so that your results appear high up on the page (ideally first), rather than getting lost in hundreds of result pages will take time and effort from you. But because search engines are the primary way that people find information online – whether that’s looking for advice, information or searching for specific products, it’s vital to getting more traffic.

Having product descriptions that are accurate and easy to understand is key to SEO, but it’s not the only way to build your ranking. Writing great content that’s informative and relates to your product/service will help to keep your website fresh and help build authority in your niche for users who find your site.

While SEO can be a complex topic, so start with free resources like Google AdWords and other keyword planners to help you research what terms people enter into search engines that relate to your service, and how to write content and product descriptions that match these searches.

Step #2: Embrace Social Media

You might not be a Facebook or Twitter fan –but research shows that a massive proportion of internet users are! In 2017 2.64 billion people worldwide were using social media. A huge number of businesses use social media as one of their main forms of promotion, especially in their early days, which means you need to get on board.

When using social media to generate traffic to your online store, remember these key steps to making social media work for you:

• Be active – once you have your social media platform set up, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest or Instagram you need to be posting regularly.

 

• It’s not just about you – Yes, your social media should reflect your product or service, but your social media activities should be about more than simply promoting them. Building a social media presence that people want to engage with means interacting with other brands and users and offering interesting and engaging material to help people get to know you and what you’re offering.  Make sure you communicate regularly with your customers and answer any queries they have. Share and like other people’s posts.

 

• Call to action – When you do post about your product make sure you invite people to engage more deeply by linking to your online store. This will encourage your customers to visit and see what you have to offer.

Step #3: Build Authority in Your Niche

By building authority in your niche via offering relevant and useful advice and information, you can help build trust in your products and services – which encourages people to keep visiting your site and ultimately buy from you.

Adding a blog to your online store can help drive up traffic by helping your SEO and positioning you as an expert in your field. Although many sites use their blog simply as a way to keep customers up to date with news and events, offering free advice and information will make your efforts far more effective. Many ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Woocommerce offer easy ways to add a blog to your site. Share great content you create to your social media, and build brand awareness.

Step #4: Engage Influencers by Offering Freebies

Influencer marketing is where you get your product or service seen by people who are influential – especially on social media.  With today’s blogging world and huge social media audience, many people have built massive platforms with large amounts of followers. Vloggers, youtubers and instagramers can even sometimes make (very lucrative) careers from using social media in their niche. For example the popular game Minecraft has inspired several gaming ‘vloggers’ to make profitable youtube and other channels about the game.

One of the best known UK Youtubers in this niche is Dan Middleton, aka ‘Dan TDM’ who made a whopping £12.3 Million in 2017! His Youtube channel has over 18.3 Million subscribers. With this sort of reach, it’s no wonder many companies reach out to these online influencers to help them promote their service.

You can engage with influencers on social media by telling them about your product or offering a freebie to encourage them to use and review what you have to offer. Choose who you approach carefully – make sure they are relevant to your niche and likely to enjoy what you have to offer.

Ask for a review in exchange for this free gift. If an influencer with a large following enjoys your product and posts about it on their channel it could explode your traffic.

Step #5: Run an Online Competition

Running an online competition is a great way to get traffic to your site and increase your social media following. Facebook is the largest social media platform and a great place to use when you want to run a competition.

While you can run straightforward competitions, you can also get creative with your product promotion. For example, offer customers a chance to win if they take a picture of themselves using your product and tag you in it with a specific hashtag. This can allow some great interaction with your followers – and increase product visibility.

 

Offer a time-limited giveaway of a new product or service if customers like or share your post. This helps to get your product out to more people.

In today’s competitive Ecommerce world, small businesses in particular can sometimes feel tempted to cut corners when it comes to fulfilment. One of the key ways many company leaders try to do this is on delivery, and especially choosing carriers who offer services that aren’t trackable.

This is a mistake though and here’s why:

Customers who order online expect to be able to have a fully online service and get frustrated when they don’t receive it. After all, if you’ve browsed for the product you want via a website, chosen it online and then paid for it online – why should you then have to sit around wondering when your item will arrive?

While a few customers might be happy to accept second-guessing when their delivery will arrive, the vast majority are unhappy with that solution. This unhappiness will be compounded if the customer has actually forked out more money for faster delivery by choosing services such as Next Day.

If you’ve ever taken a morning off work to wait for a parcel that doesn’t arrive or been given an estimated delivery time, only for the parcel to be missing in action, you’ll appreciate how important it is for the internet-savvy customers of today to be able to track their package online.

Online Tracking is key to Excellent Customer Service

Offering delivery options to your customers that allow them to track their package online is a core way to offer excellent customer service – and the great news is it doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Many couriers now offer tracked options as standard, whether the customer has paid to have the item delivered more quickly or not. These tracking systems can provide a range of details from delivery day, all the way through to detailed information about what stage the package is in the fulfilment process.

Customers can check if their parcel has left the depot, is in transit, and for some couriers are even sent a text message giving them a delivery slot. This can be invaluable to help give you the edge over competitors – after all, it’s much easier to be home to take a delivery during a one hour delivery slot than ‘anytime up till 8pm.’

Offering a trackable delivery service will offer extra value and improve customer loyalty by creating a more streamlined, modern service that customers feel they can trust. This is vital to gaining those all-important repeat customers who keep coming back to your business for the excellent service they receive. It can also cut down on the time you spend on dealing with queries, complaints and customer service because your customers can use their reference number to track their parcel for themselves.

At Meteor Space we’ve spent years building great relationships with partner couriers, so we know who offers the best service – at the best price. We can give you advice on the most cost-effective tracked options, and our IT solutions mean you can also fully integrate your website with ordering and delivery so you can keep tabs on the status of all your orders.

Get in touch with our friendly team today to find out more about how we can help you offer this vital part of your core service needs.