Fulfilment is a big part of an e-commerce business. This refers to a comprehensive service that includes receiving orders, picking the orders and packing them appropriately and shipping the orders to the customers. But these are only the basics of fulfilment and there are other services that are considered such as handling returns, exchanges and customer complaints.

You are generally dealing with a logistics operator or a 3PL/4PL company when you are using order fulfilment services. Some additional services provided under this are storing products that need special requirements when it comes to temperature or humidity or shipping products that need specific conditions. When your company expands, it can be difficult to maintain logistics on your own so outsourcing this allows you to focus on marketing, product or service development while being confident that logistics are handled by a reliable company. With a fulfilment service, your company will be able to grow without any obstructions. A fulfilment service will not stand in the way of developing your business. They will be able to grow with you and with your growth, they will be able to offer more services that will allow you to provide a better service for your customers.

You will also be able to manage costs when you outsource your logistics. If you are managing a warehouse on your own, the monthly costs will be fixed as the rent for the warehouse will be a fixed amount. But you have so many options when it comes to a logistics provider and many of these costs can become variable. So you will only be paying for the services and the space you use. So you can downsize and reduce costs if that is your intention. Many logistics providers will be able to help you expand across borders so that your online store is not just limited to your country. They will be able to integrate with foreign e-commerce platforms so that you can access a broader group of customers.

In addition to lowering your expenses, you will experience a significant improvement in customer service. A logistics provider has a lot of experience and skilled professionals working with them which greatly minimises order mix-ups or errors. Your customers will receive what they order without errors. And they will also receive their orders on time as there are many advanced shipping solutions available for these providers. Your customers will be able to take advantage of services such as same day delivery or next day delivery because of this. You will be able to scale up or down as required. It is generally recommended to select a logistics provider that has more warehousing capacity than what you require at the current time so that you can deal with large volume sales when needed. And this comes in useful when it comes to events such as Black Friday sales or Christmas promotions. You will be able to adjust the inventory volume during certain times like these to ensure items are in stock in your online store and that customers are able to receive products without a delay.

 

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