We live in a time where people want things instantly. It is rare that someone will sit around and wait weeks for a product to be delivered, and if this were to occur, the customer is likely to be put off from ordering from that company again. Unfortunately, while you might have the best product in the world, without a sleek shipping plan you are less likely to succeed as well as you might hope. While at the beginning you need to pack and ship your own orders, as you grow it is important that you learn to delegate and realise just how important outsourcing your ecommerce fulfillment can be. There are many benefits to partnering with a fulfilment company and you are sure to reap in the benefits in no time.
What is order ecommerce fulfillment? Put simply, Ecommerce fulfillment is the process of getting your order delivered to a customer once they have placed their order on the internet. It involves all the steps from receiving the order to processing it, packing it and transporting the item to the final destination.
Leaves you free to focus on other areas of your company
One of the first benefits of outsourcing your ecommerce fulfillment is that it leaves you to focus on the more important elements of your business such as growing it. Sorting stock and packing boxes is vital for your business to run, but if you are to do it yourself, it can take you away from what you should be doing and that is growing your company and bringing more new business in. As a business owner your skills are much better put to use in different areas and as your business grows, you will be more important to this than ever. The time you will save on doing these mundane tasks will leave you free to sort out your marketing strategies, source your products, find new customers and focus on selling.
It can save your money
You may think that it is cheaper to organise, pack and sort your orders on your own, but the opposite is actually more likely true. Even if you are taking the time to pack your own order, you will still need to spend a lot on leasing warehouse space, something you will pay a flat fee on no matter how busy or quiet you might be. A fulfillment company will only charge you depending on the amount of space you use. You also don’t need to worry about hiring new staff to sort your packing and shipping needs and can benefit from the expertise of those who work for the fulfillment company. They will already be trained and highly skilled in the area, as well as having better rates with couriers.
Your customer experience will improve
One of the most important aspects to a customer is a good customer service team to contact in case something goes wrong. A lot of ecommerce fulfillment companies out there have a 24/7 support line which is more than you might be able to offer if it is just you running the business. They will also sort out returns, exchanges and refunds which saves you the hassle. Research has shown that companies who offer same-day delivery can gain up to an 85% advantage over their competitors. When put into numbers, that can ensure you a lot more orders a month than if you don’t offer this option.
You can extend your business reach
While you might feel like a small fish in a big pond, the best way to grow is to offer your services all around the world. This gives you the chance to grow, to bring in more money and to gain more traction no matter where in the world your customers are based. Ecommerce Fulfillment companies have everything in place to ship and deliver your orders to any country (within reason) and you can utilize their global reach to grow and expand your business easily and effortlessly, without having to worry about the extra work, costs and hassle it might involve if you were to do it yourself.
You don’t need your own storage
Storage can be a logistical nightmare as a business owner, you could find it impossible to predict how much space you will need for your products. After all, you never know when you are going to have a busy month or a really quiet one. An ecommerce fulfillment company can store your items for you and sort all this out, meaning it is one less thing for you to worry about. They can let you know when your inventory levels get to a certain amount and prompt you to send over more products to them, as well as let you know if certain items are being left sitting around for months on end and just aren’t selling, so you can decide what to do with them.