Fulfillment services perform a variety of functions including integrating their software with your e-commerce store to streamline order fulfillment, warehousing your goods, fulfilling orders on your behalf, and coordinating with shipment carriers.
Here are some of the ways that a fulfillment service can help your e-commerce business:
Have better technology for fulfillment and inventory management
It’s necessary to invest in great logistics tech that’ll optimize tasks and make your business run better. However, order fulfillment tools that seamlessly integrate with your sales and management channels can cost a lot of money.
Instead of putting in a sizable investment on software and equipment on top of the costs of regular updates and upgrades, you can opt to hire a fulfillment service.
Reliable and experienced fulfillment services, such as this company, use state-of-the-art technology for a wide range of capabilities, including the following:
- Carrier selection
- Inventory monitoring and optimization
- Shipment tracking
- Accounting and bookkeeping
- Receiving and returns processes
Get you closer to your customers
Cheap and fast shipping options are important to customers. Your warehouse’s location will determine whether or not you can meet your customers’ expectations on delivery speed and costs.
However, even if you do decide to set up your own warehouse, it’s unlikely that a single warehouse will get you physically closer to your customers. Furthermore, even the best carriers are limited in how fast they can deliver.
Storing inventory in a warehouse that’s close to your customers will ensure speedy delivery. When you work with a fulfillment service, you can optimize order fulfillment since you’ll be able to reach more people quickly and cost-effectively.
Fulfillment services have a network of warehouses, which allow you to distribute your stocks and ensure close proximity to your customers.
Reduce operating expenses
Here are some of the ways that an order fulfillment service can help you reduce operating expenses:
- You’ll skip the complexity and cost of finding and renting warehouse spaces or storage units.
- You’ll cut shipping costs because of volume and warehouse location. Furthermore, the company can negotiate lower shipping costs because of its large-scale contracts with regional, national, and international shipping companies.
- You spend less on packing materials since fulfillment services may offer better prices.
- You don’t have to spend on labor costs, including payroll, taxes, and benefits for the employees who’ll man your warehouses
- You won’t need to purchase warehouse equipment or budget for maintenance costs.
By outsourcing order fulfillment, you’ll be able to keep your costs predictable and improve cost control. You only need to budget for the monthly fee for their services and the amount of space that your inventory will occupy.
Scale-up easily
As your e-commerce business grows, it can become increasingly difficult for you to manage your sales and order fulfillment in-house. Remember that there are numerous steps between receiving an order and getting it delivered to your customer’s door. You’ll most likely reach a point when it’s more costly and time-consuming to let your team handle everything.
With an order fulfillment service helping you out, you won’t have to worry about growing too quickly and adversely affecting your customers’ experience. The fulfillment service you hire will deal with managing orders, packing and distribution, inventory management, finding low-cost warehouse space, and even hiring more fulfillment staff.
Get reliable customer service
As hard as your team works, it’s impossible to ask them to work 24/7. However, for customers who want to be updated immediately on the status of their orders, a responsive customer service team can significantly affect your brand and company image.
The customer service team of the order fulfillment service you hire offers the following benefits:
- Customer service agents receive extensive training on the technology used by the company as well as on the proper protocol for problem resolution and up-selling techniques
- Their system can automatically send shipping confirmation, including a tracking number and custom sales message, to your customer
- They’ll handle returns and minimize their occurrence by ensuring that orders arrive intact to their intended destination
- Depending on your return policy, return reason, and the item’s quality, the returned product may either be restocked in the warehouse or disposed of.
- They can ensure that any complaints or concerns about your customers’ orders are handled respectfully and promptly.
Conclusion
Above all, a fulfillment service allows you to do what you do best. By outsourcing this aspect of your e-commerce business to professionals who can handle it best, you won’t end up taking on too much work.
You can focus on core business activities, such as planning and growing your business.
