Selling online is a highly competitive game. You need accurate pick and pack and fast shipping. To respond to orders efficiently without any backorders you may find your house overwhelmed with stock while spending more and more of your spare time filling orders.
You’ve reached a fork in the road. Do you:
A) Lease your own warehouse, hire, train and pay your own staff?
B) Find a reliable 3PL?
Let’s talk about the benefits of choosing the right 3PL order fulfillment partner.
1.TIME
One of the fastest ways to free up your time is to pass on the day-to-day logistics of order fulfillment. You know from all those extra late nights that order filling is taking over your life.
Business is flourishing, but if you pull your attention from sales and marketing, your growth is bound to suffer. Hiring a third-party co-packer liberates your precious time.
2. MONEY
Money is concern number one, especially when you are experiencing growing pains and working hard to stay on budget.
One of the best ways to stay lean is to outsource order fulfillment and inventory. You immediately save money on overhead. There is no need to spend your resources on hiring the right team and then training them to perform the warehouse tasks. You can also save on shipping costs by leveraging courier deals the 3PL are already enjoying. At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself: “Can I afford NOT to hire an order fulfillment partner?”
3. SCALABILITY
As your business grows, so will your storage requirements and work force. A 3PL has the flexibility of staff to draw from for your growth and seasonal fluctuations. Their warehouse and inventory tracking are already in place for your benefit.
4.STORAGE & INVENTORY
Speaking of inventory tracking, as your SKUs and volumes increase, it can be easy to slip up on counts, and even locations of product. A 3PL is specialized in storing, tracking, picking and packing. Identifying locations and keeping accurate counts is imperative to their success and reputation so they keep on top of stock and all goods in and out.
5. TECHNOLOGY
Don’t invest in expensive inventory software. A professional 3PL will have Warehouse Management Software in place, not only to help find inventory and track levels but also provide you with visibility when you need to check in on any your SKUs. Their WMS software should integrate with your eCommerce platform, too, meaning your incoming orders get pushed to them for immediate fulfillment.
6. SECURITY
Security from pests: When comparing 3PLs, ask about the kind of security and pest control the facility has in place. If you are storing a food or beverage, you’ll definitely want proof of the cleanliness and organization of the physical space so do ask about their Standard Operating Procedures for pest control.
Security & privacy: Your product is precious to you, especially your high value items. Does the 3PL have working security cameras in place? Are they monitored around the clock? What are their receiving protocols for when carriers pick up or drop off? A mutual NDA is also a reassurance of privacy.
7. EXPERTISE
Where do you want to focus your efforts? Would you rather figure out the most efficient way to keep on top of orders, inventory counts, receiving, shipping, kitting, and all of the minutiae of running a warehouse? OR would you rather focus on marketing, selling, investing time on innovations and brand awareness? Leave the logistics to an expert so you can centre your attention on business growth.
8. SUPPLY CHAIN RELATIONSHIPS
A seasoned co-packer builds relationships in the supply chain. Take advantage of this new network. A good relationship with your fulfillment partner should help you garner insights into finding best shipping cartons or the handiest source of promotional gifts, etc.
The benefits stack up quickly. These eight solid benefits to outsourcing your eCommerce, B2B order fulfillment are worthy of your consideration. The same applies to outsourcing your Amazon FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) preparation and FBM (Fulfillment By Merchant) programs.
Get your orders and your business under control by finding a fulfillment partner that cares about all of the details with supportive customer care.
Bullseye Packaging Services is located less than four minutes away from the Calgary airport. We can integrate your selling platform with our WMS (Warehouse Management System) software for quick and accurate order processing and inventory transparency.
Contact Eira today for your custom order fulfillment solution. sales@bullseyepackaging.ca