Nothing matters much if you cannot deliver your product to your customers safely and on time, even if it is the best in the world. As a result, deciding on a fulfilment centre or 3PL eCommerce fulfilment provider is critical for your online store.
Choosing your logistics partner wisely can have a significant impact on your brand’s performance. However, choosing the incorrect fulfilment partner might lead to a poor customer experience that prevents you from receiving future income from repeat customers. Thus, how can you pick the appropriate fulfilment company when there are so many to select from?
Factors to Consider while Selecting a 3PL eCommerce Fulfilment Partner
It is critical to do your homework and select a suitable fulfilment partner rather than a random fulfilment partner. You should consider the following factors when selecting an order fulfilment provider for your online business.
1. Timeliness of Delivery
Because of Amazon Prime’s two-day delivery policy, most customers are used to receiving their orders faster than in the past. So, what can you do to stay on top of these logistics standards? Use a 3PL eCommerce fulfilment firm that can deliver on its promises.
Customers who leave an online purchase due to long delivery periods may cost you money if you do not take action. Efficient and effective fulfilment methods enable the logistics firms to deliver your items swiftly. With many strategically situated facilities and streamlined order fulfilment software, it becomes feasible for your business.
2. Warehouses Where Orders Are Fulfilled
Customers demand lightning-fast shipment, and the fulfilment warehouse’s closeness to the customer is crucial in this process. If your order fulfilment centre is close to your customers, your items will travel less distance, resulting in faster shipping times and lower shipping costs. Therefore, the location of a fulfilment warehouse is essential information to know before selecting a fulfilment business. You should also ensure that the 3pl eCommerce fulfilment centre you are considering working with offers global shipping before deciding to deal with them if you sell internationally. After all, your online business will not last long if you cannot send your items to where your customers are.
3. Order Fulfilment Software Characteristics
If you operate an eCommerce firm, you have got your hands full. The last thing you want is to deploy another sluggish, unorganised program, and virtually difficult to figure out in your day-to-day operations employing multiple digital tools, apps, and platforms. Thus, you should investigate the fulfilment business and the order fulfilment software they use before deciding to work together.
Nonetheless, the order fulfilment software should be simple to deploy and effective in daily operations. It should be able to work with other platforms and business tools that you already use.
4. The Virtues of Openness and Recognition
Customers face an uphill battle when sorting through the plethora of firms offering comparable goods and choosing which are worth their money. Because of this, once they find a brand they enjoy purchasing from, they are more inclined to remain with it. The question is, how do you go about establishing trust? Transparency!
Most users will stay with a firm for the rest of their lives if it is completely transparent with them. This openness relies heavily on your fulfilment procedure.
5. Possibilities for Branding
How can your brand stand out in a sea of eCommerce firms vying for customers’ attention? A disengaging and impersonal user experience will be created if your items are sent in generic, plain brown packaging. On the contrary, working with a 3PL eCommerce fulfilment company that offers branding choices may assist you in establishing your company’s identity and creating buzz about it.
What is so special about this? Personalised brands have a higher chance of engaging modern customers. If your user experience is personalised, engaging, and exciting, your customers will be delighted and want to buy from you again and again.
6. Options for Packaging
The fulfilment centre should have several packing alternatives based on the product being shipped. Because not all boxes are made equal, you must make an informed decision when it comes to packing. Having a variety of packing choices available can help keep your goods in better condition.
In addition to the packaging, what is on the inside might be just as important. As a result, make careful to stock up on various insulation options, including Styrofoam peanuts, corrugated and foam rolls, shredded and air pillows, and bubble wrap.
7. Management of Refunds
After all, around 30% of all online ordered items are returned, so you don’t want a fulfilment centre to be completely hands-off once the product has been sent. When it comes to returns, some are beyond your control, but working with a reputable 3PL eCommerce fulfilment provider may help minimise controllable returns, which are those that can be decreased or even avoided with superior advance logistics.
Customers that make purchases regularly but then return them are known as returners. So, you should be able to detect “serial returners” using the fulfilment company’s software.
8. Costs
As predicted, there will be some upfront expenses associated with outsourcing fulfilment to a third-party logistics provider. However, in the long run, you will save money on things like labour, overhead, and packaging supplies, to name a few. As an added precaution, be certain the fulfilment facility you pick provides you with the best available prices.
The fulfilment centre should not charge you for long-term storage since your items are continuously moving. A warehouse is for long-term storage, not a fulfilment centre.
Because of the volume of products they ship, 3pl eCommerce fulfilment centres can also negotiate better rates with carriers than any eCommerce shop could. As a result, you want to ensure that these savings are passed on to you. Ecommerce merchants may compete with retail giants by offering free or discounted delivery due to these lower expenses.
Get the Finest Fulfilment Services Available
Fulfilment firms are many, but to compete in today’s online market, they must move as rapidly as your eCommerce enterprises. NimbusPost’s cutting-edge and proprietary order fulfilment software is changing how fulfilment is handled and meets the needs of modern online businesses through reliable shipping and strategically located fulfilment warehouses. Its proprietary order fulfilment software offers 3600 visibility into every stage of the fulfilment process, dynamic integration, and unmatched flexibility.