Everything starts small, including e-commerce stores. Although your online store is still in its infancy, you may have to take care of most things yourself, including order fulfillment and shipping.
But, as the store grows and the customer base expands, you may need more help to help your business go to the next level when you realize that you can no longer handle everything on your own.
What is order fulfillment service?
Order fulfillment service covers the entire process from sales to delivery to customers. Successful order fulfillment depends on third-party logistics to complete the order fulfillment steps of an e-commerce online store, from receiving, processing, packaging, packing, and shipping products to customers.
A good e-commerce order fulfillment strategy is essential for online companies to maintain competitiveness and build customer loyalty.
And, what is order fulfillment center?
The order fulfillment center provides warehousing (storage) and transportation services so that online companies can conduct business without having their warehouse or storage space.
E-commerce sellers can send their inventory directly to a fulfillment center, and then deliver it to customers from there.
Most order fulfillment centers will be integrated with major online shopping platforms (such as Amazon, Shopify, eBay, etc.) to make it easier for sellers to manage inventory and deliver products.
Why you need order fulfillment center?
One of the most obvious benefits of using a fulfillment center is that you don’t have to do everything yourself. But the benefits go far beyond that. Outsourcing order fulfillment can have a meaningful impact on the growth of your business.
Reduce rental costs
Many third-party logistics service providers offer flexible pricing. This means that as your business develops, they will be able to adjust costs accordingly to your needs. Renting a warehouse yourself involves many potential costs and considerations.
Professional solution
When you use an order fulfillment center, you not only get warehouse space, but you also have the professional services of a team responsible for operating the fulfillment center.
Each 3PL has a team composed of logistics experts and technical support personnel, who will help you all the way. You can easily implement receipt management, inventory management, order processing, and transportation operations.
Optimize customer experience
Although it is basically free for you to do this work yourself, it may actually cost you a lot of money in the long run. Customers want faster shipping time, so in-house fulfillment may cause you to fail to meet these expectations and bring a bad customer experience.