Order Management and Fulfillment for Social and Live Commerce: Processes, Models, and Fulfillment Network Design

Abstract

This article aims to synthesize the body of knowledge on order management and fulfillment for social commerce and live commerce businesses in Thailand. It encompasses a comparative analysis of traditional warehouses and fulfillment centers, a classification of fulfillment types, a five-stage fulfillment management process, and a case study of a leading social commerce operator in Thailand whose order volume clearly reflects fulfillment challenges. The synthesis draws on a review of research published between 2012 and 2025 in major academic databases, focusing on works related to logistics and fulfillment in the e-commerce context. The analysis reveals that traditional warehouses cannot support the logistics operations distinctive to social commerce, which is characterized by sudden order surges and high volatility. Effective fulfillment management therefore requires real-time data integration spanning order aggregation across all social commerce platforms, financial and inventory verification, picking and packing, last-mile delivery, and reverse logistics. The article also presents a Hybrid Fulfillment Network framework that integrates large distribution centers, micro-fulfillment centers, and crowdsourced fulfillment centers to accommodate the volatile demand in the social commerce ecosystem. The case study of a leading operator in Thailand demonstrates that investment in semi-automated systems and the systematic redesign of data architecture can effectively transform logistics processes into a proactive instrument for reducing product rejection rates.