Order fulfilment is extremely vital for every e-commerce business. In order to retain customers, gain their trust and loyalty and run a successful business, a strong fulfilment strategy needs to be in place.
Order or e-commerce fulfilment consists of everything right from the time an order is received to the time it is successfully delivered to its customer.
If your business uses e-commerce channels to sell products then you need to know that its success greatly depends upon your fulfilment and shipping services.
Many companies handle their own fulfilment services in-house while others outsource them to a logistics company. And while handling your own fulfilment can have many advantages, it can often get difficult to manage everything on your own.
Fulfilling an order is a lot more than just filling up boxes with customers’ products and getting them ready to be picked up. And as a business owner, it might get challenging for you to give shipping and fulfilment services the time, and thought that they need.
And that is where outsourcing comes in. Outsourcing your fulfilment requirements to a third-party logistics system is sometimes the best idea and here we will tell you why.
What Will The Order Fulfilment Service Provider Do For You?
If you decide to outsource fulfilment services to a third party then they will warehouse your goods and fulfil your orders on your behalf.
A fulfilment service company will integrate their software with your e-commerce store in order to streamline the entire process. And once an order is received, the company will pick it up, pack it, prepare it for shipping, and then schedule a shipment with a carrier service provider. They will basically take care of everything until your order reaches your customer and will also take care of the order returns if any.
Top 5 Benefits of Outsourcing Order Fulfilment to a Logistics Company
If you have been thinking about whether or not you should outsource fulfilment and shipping services, keep reading on.
1. Lower Shipping Costs
When you outsource, your shipping or fulfilment cost is lowered to a great extent. Since fulfilment providers have facilities all across the country as well as overseas, it is feasible for them to provide lower shipping costs.
While this also depends on the provider that you choose but on average, you can save 15% to 35% on shipping rates. The added benefit here is that these fulfilment providers also have access to software that enables them to browse shipping rates from different carriers and then select the most affordable or convenient ones.
On the other hand, if you try to handle order fulfilment in-house, you will need to incur several costs such as purchasing all necessary equipment, licensing warehouse management software, hiring and training staff, getting shipping supplies, and much more.
When these costs add up, the total fulfilment cost is a lot more than what outsourcing will cost you.
2. It Gives You Time To Focus on The Other Things
Outsourcing fulfilment and shipping services won’t just save you time but also money. When your order fulfilment is taken care of by someone, you will have more time on your hands to focus on the other aspects of your business.
As a business owner, you already have a lot on your plate. And in such cases, it is difficult to give everything your undivided attention.
The process of fulfilling orders takes up a lot more time than you might think. So, by eliminating this time-consuming task, you can focus on the other to-dos on your list.
Instead, you can dedicate your time to product development, marketing, growing your business further, etc.
Your time won’t just be saved but this saved time will also give you some peace of mind.
3. Better Customer Service and Experience
Ultimately, it is the customer who rules any eCommerce business. Hence, it is of utmost importance that you do things that keep your customers happy.
Outsourcing order fulfilment will also contribute to an enhanced customer experience. A customer today expects fast as well as affordable shipping every time he/she shops online.
Outsourcing will help create a great experience for your customers, making them keep coming back to you for more purchases.
Since the ultimate goal of shipping companies is to get products safely and quickly delivered to customers, keeping the customer happy is their focus.
Moreover, many fulfilment companies also provide 24/7 support either through mail or phone. Whether it is to provide easy returns, exchanges, or refunds, these companies are always available to provide customer support.
What’s more is that some fulfilment companies also provide shipping options such as one-day delivery, making it even more lucrative for the customer.
4. No Need To Store Inventory Yourself
Whether you have your own warehouse or use your garage or basement as a warehouse, you know that handling inventory can often be a nightmare.
Especially when the sale of a product depends on the season, the sales may fluctuate when it is off-season. In such cases, your inventory might fill up leading to a shortage of space.
And taking care of your inventory can be extremely daunting at times. A fulfilment and shipping services company won’t just handle the ‘shipping’ part for you but also take care of your inventory.
The company will track your inventory levels and handle everything without you having to worry about a thing. This is one of the best benefits of outsourcing an order fulfilment company.
5. Use The Best Technology To Streamline And Analyze Order Fulfilment
If you handle fulfilment in-house, it means that you need to do every process manually. On the other hand, when you outsource it, you also get access to a number of tools, software, etc. that help your track and analyze your order fulfilment better.
This will help you take better control of your business and will also help it grow.
Here, we talked about the top 5 benefits of outsourcing order fulfilment. Hope this gives you an idea and helps you decide what’s best for your business.
