Once you have a flourishing eCommerce business, a common challenge you will face is fulfilment and shipping. You need to ensure the timely shipping of the products you sell, make this process convenient for everyone involved and keep costs in check. The best way of handling this is using a fulfilment service. But, what is a fulfilment service and how can it benefit your business?
Fulfilment Services: An Overview
When a business provides fulfilment services, they have warehouses and an established logistic network. Once you sign a contract with them, you will send your products to their warehouse. They will then store these products.
Once an order comes in, they retrieve the right product, pack it according to your wishes, and ship it to the customer. This allows you to concentrate on running the business instead of wondering where a product is or handling returns.
Fulfilment services integrate with the many eCommerce platforms on the internet. For example, you can integrate WooCommerce or Shopify fulfilment services with your website to automate this process. These integrations are available from a business that handles the fulfilment once the integration is complete.
Save Money on Space
A major reason to use an eCommerce fulfilment service is to save on space. Many small eCommerce businesses only have an office as they cannot afford a warehouse. They use whatever space they have to store their products and run the risk of these products getting damaged in their attics or basements.
Storage can be incredibly expensive, especially when you are storing thousands of products. A fulfilment service business helps you save on the space you have and minimise storage costs.
You will see even more value for your money when you consider that the fulfilment business will be doing a lot more than just storing the products for you.
Improved Customer Service
In an industry that has become very competitive in recent years, small businesses differentiate themselves through customer service. It is very easy to lose a customer if they do not get a good experience when interacting with your business.
Businesses offering fulfilment services will typically provide customer services too. This can be through email or phone. They do this because they are directly in touch with your customers, as they are the bridge between them and your business.
These businesses also guarantee delivery dates with products shipped in the best conditions. All of these are done to improve customer experience.
Lower Shipping Costs
Shipping single products is much more expensive than shipping in bulk. Fulfilment businesses already have established networks they use to ship products in bulk. Additionally, they can store your products in more than one warehouse.
When a customer places an order, the fulfilment business will check the warehouse closest to them and ship the product from there. This can save both you and the business offering the service a lot of money, especially if you ship lots of products.
Order fulfilment is a must-have service for businesses that ship products to customers. It can save you a lot of time and money while also ensuring your customers have a great experience when they buy from you.
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