If you are running and operating an online shop and are heavily involved in ecommerce, then you know very well that your responsibility for the fulfilment of orders is an important one. You need to have an effective ecommerce fulfilment strategy in order to satisfy your customers’ orders and satisfy your actual customers in the end as well. It simply wouldn’t do to have your customers place an order and then have them become disappointed with lost or misplaced orders, wrong items, a delayed delivery time, and so on. This is precisely why more businesses involved in ecommerce are turning to ecommerce fulfilment services. So why should you jump on the bandwagon as well? Here’s why.
- Save on your shipping
The costs associated with shipping can be immense, especially for an online shop or retailer like you. Because the rates for shipping are usually determined by the volume of the order, if you work with an ecommerce fulfilment firm, they can give you access to much better shipping rates simply because of their network of connections. Most of these ecommerce fulfilment companies will allow you to ride on their own rates, and this means that you can benefit from a collective volume of shipment with greater discounts. Aside from this, when you partner with an ecommerce fulfilment service, you may take advantage of better rates for shipping and packaging materials as well.
- A much speedier delivery time
Another advantage brought by a good ecommerce fulfilment service is this: a much speedier delivery time. Think about it – if you try to organise and perform your fulfilment needs in-house, you would probably do it from a location which is convenient for you and your staff. But if your facility is not in the proper location – meaning that it is too far from shipment locations and couriers – then this can affect the time of delivery of your goods to your customers. However, if you work with a fulfilment partner with various warehouses spread across the country as well as a network of contacts, then they can easily transport the goods to these warehouses, and your customers will receive their orders in a much faster time.
- A reduction in operating expenses
Every business welcomes any sort of reduction on expenses, but this is especially true in regard to their operational expenses. If you try to run and operate your own warehouse and fulfilment process, you are responsible for every little expense. But when you rely on a third-party fulfilment provider, your expenses are then shared amongst other customers who use the facility and its services, and this would include labour, equipment, rent, utilities, and various overhead expenses. In addition, you don’t have to go through the trouble and difficulty of finding workers, hiring these workers, training them, and managing them as well – all this is taken care of by the fulfilment company.
- More savings since you only pay for the services or facilities you use
One more thing: you can acquire even more savings by partnering with an ecommerce fulfilment company since you are only basically paying for the services or facilities you use. If you manage and operate your own warehouse, you will have a lot of expenses each and every month, and these expenses are often fixed, regardless of the demand. But most third-party fulfilment providers will only charge you based on the activity they perform; basically, you only incur expenses once you have a customer order.