Scalability. Be sure your system and procedures are equipped to accept sudden spikes in sales. Can your computer system handle a higher volume? Will you be able to get more products from vendors on short notice? Do you have extra warehouse space set aside for stock and packing materials before the holiday rush? Have you made arrangements with a fulfillment house or with a temporary employment agency to handle any additional workload?

Standard order procedure. The fulfillment industry has specific conventions, including terminology, process sequence, and accountability. By following these standards, your system will not only benefit from time-tested methods, but will be scalable (ready for growth) and easily integrated into an outsourced system. This can be very important if you're suddenly overwhelmed with orders and need to outsource tasks. If your system already follows standard inventory management and order procedures, the move to outsource will be easier and faster, saving you time, money, and sales.

Order tracking. Online companies' departments are often geographically separated, creating a unique set of challenges for fulfillment. You might operate your Web site from your home office in the suburbs and hire a downtown design firm to build and host your site, while your inventory is stored in a warehouse a few miles away on the waterfront. These departments are linked only electronically, compounding the need for integrated, foolproof front-end and back-end systems.

By implementing a tracking system, you can be sure your orders won't get lost in transit. Many carriers can facilitate this through their Web sites, so you need only the order reference number and the URL to check delivery status. Many carriers, including UPS and FedEx offer real-time delivery tracking via a reference number. This way, both you and your customer can follow the order from the warehouse to the customer's door.

Inventory management. Be sure your fulfillment system debits items from stock as orders are processed. Ideally, customers should be able to tell from your Web site whether items are currently available, and if not, how much time should be added to the expected delivery date.

At the very least, you should to be able to manage inventorya to predict accurately how much stock is needed at any given time to fulfill future orders.

Shipping options. Before signing up with UPS, FedEx, or other carriers, find out what value-added services they offer beyond shipping. Some carriers provide small businesses with an array of online fulfillment services. These include the ability to track orders not only by the carrier-assigned tracking number, but by your company's internal order number. This way your customers can track their shipments, while you use the internal order number to facilitate your accounting.

Other value-added services might be the availability of telephone help lines. And some carriers, such as the U.S. Postal Service, deliver to post office boxes while others will not. Other carriers deliver to residential addresses at no extra charge, and some, such as UPS, charge extra for this service.

Special orders. These might be in the form of shipping preferences (next-day, second-day, or insured), delaying delivery (such as not until Valentine's Day), or other special requests. Have a system in place to handle special orders so you can close the sale without disrupting operations. This can be as simple as having a special notes field in the shopping cart section of your site or a designated e-mail address to accept special order requests. Make it easy for customers to get what they want.

Strong customer service. Make sure your customers receive e-mail order confirmation and a shipping confirmation. Customers like to be informed about the status of their orders. This lets them know you're dealing with them on a personal level and you value their patronage. You should also notify them any time there might be a delay in processing an order, such as for out-of-stock products or payment processing problems. Not only is this good customer service; the Federal Trade Commission requires it.

Problem solving. Regardless of how much planning you do, unexpected situations will arise. Appoint a specific person or a department to handle problems. You don't want your packing staff wasting time trying to figure out how to accommodate a customer's special packing request. Have them forward such problems to the designated person or area so that they can continue picking and packing.

Be sure employees in each department know where to forward questions. If possible, have the point person or department keep detailed records of how problems were solved. These records can be used as a reference in upgrading procedures.

Merchandise returns. Facilitate returns by providing a preprinted return shipping label or clear instructions about where and how to ship returns. You'll also need a system that allows you to track customers' reasons for returns. Be sure your system allows prompt refunds to customers' credit cards. Customer-friendly design. Make your fulfillment functions visible to customers on your site. Returns and back-order policies, shipping options, and applicable taxes should be spelled out. The clearer the process is to the customer, the more cost-effective it will be to your business; man-hour customer service costs will fall considerably. And the more comfortable and confident customers feel with your online information, the more likely they are to buy.

workz.com Editorial Assistant Jim Hearsey contributed to this article.