As an e-store owner, you know the deal does not end with the customer paying for the item. You have to take care of the shipping, packaging, inventory management, handling returns, and such. That’s just the beginning of the entire process.
You have to make sure product delivery is handled perfectly, so you get good reviews, then repeat business, improving your bottom line. It’s a pretty complicated process that involves managing and coordinating shipment and transportation of the items to the end consumer.
Here is an outline of the benefits you get when you outsource eCommerce order fulfillment.
Helps you avoid long-term lease agreements
If you choose to keep your order fulfillment in-house, it means you enter some long-term lease agreements and other commitments so that you get space for your inventory. As the business grows, you’ll have no option except to lease more space or probably build new structures for your goods. All that will push your costs through the roof and derail your ROI.
You can avoid such costs by engaging an ecommerce order fulfillment company. The company charges you a flat storage fee, and you only pay for the space your products occupy. Your expenses will remain the same unless you increase your stock.
Keeps your business structure lean
Keeping your order fulfillment services in-house and lead to complications in your business structure. That means you’ve to keep renting more space every time your business expands. It means you’ve to get extra space for your employees, hire, train, and pay them and you can imagine the baggage that comes with managing human resources- it’s quite a hectic job.
When you outsource, the task of hiring, training, paying, and all that falls on the service provider. . That means your business structure remains lean and, therefore, no heartaches that come with employees like increases in salaries, unions. Most importantly, you reduce staff costs which sometimes can take a significant share of your revenues.
Helps you focus on growing your business
Order fulfillment is such a complicated task that it takes a lot of your time and energy. Imagine someone ordered for good, and there’s a delay; you have to keep calling and following up while at the same time managing crisis.
When your business is small, the cost of leasing and maintaining space and staff may not be as high. But when you begin to expand, items are flying off the shelves faster, with orders coming from all sales channels; online, sales events, in-store and such.
Order fulfillment, therefore, becomes so overwhelming to your staff and also eats into your working hours. Your attention is divided between pushing sales and order fulfillment, and striking a balance can be tricky.
Reduces shopping costs
If your goods are not stored close to your customers, shipping costs can derail your profits. Many third-party fulfillment service companies have warehouses scattered within the country and overseas. That gives them an upper hand to offer storage facilities.
You don’t have to invest in storage facilities when you can outsource to eCommerce fulfillment companies. It reduces your work, the cost of leasing space, and other logistics involved in managing staff. Outsource and concentrate on your business growth.
