Are you an e-commerce start-up? Perhaps you’re thinking about launching your first e-commerce store. If so, you’ll need to know all about e-commerce fulfilment.
What is e-commerce fulfilment?
The term e-commerce fulfilment literally refers to the process of fulfilling e-commerce orders. If someone orders one of your products online, you need to send it to them within a set time frame and at the price point you specified. This is e-commerce fulfilment.
Whether you’re packing boxes in your living room or working out of an office / warehousing space, nailing this element of your business is essential for building a successful e-commerce business.
How does an outsourced fulfilment process work?
If you’ve reached the stage in your e-commerce business where you want to grow and scale, you might be worrying about how you can fulfil the increase in orders. After all, packing and sending hundreds (or thousands) of products every month is both time-consuming and costly.
It could be that you need to outsource your fulfilment to a third-party - but how does this process actually work?
The exact way the fulfilment centre you choose works will be different from company to company, but generally speaking they will follow this process:
- You place an order for your products from the manufacturer.
- These products are transported to the fulfilment warehouse, where they are received and checked into your inventory.
- Your products are stored in the fulfilment warehouse until orders are received from your sales channels (e.g. your website, Amazon, eBay).
- The new orders are picked and packed at the fulfilment centre into the packaging you’ve specified.
- The orders are shipped to your customers.
Sound simple? That’s because outsourcing your e-commerce fulfilment is simple, especially when you work with a mailing house that has decades of experience.
3 benefits of outsourcing your e-commerce fulfilment
For businesses large enough to require it, there are a number of benefits to outsourcing e-commerce fulfilment.
Save on shipping costs
One of the biggest expenses for online retailers (particularly as there is no physical store to pay for) is shipping costs.
However, when you outsource this element of the process to a third-party fulfilment centre, you benefit from the discounted rates that are open to them. Shipping rates are dictated by order volumes, which is why large fulfilment centres benefit from lower costs, and you’ll typically be able to take advantage of these when you work with them.
Fast delivery from a convenient location
Companies that handle their fulfilment in-house, understandably, rely on a fulfilment centre that is in a location convenient for them. However, when you outsource this is no longer an issue, allowing you to choose a centre that is conveniently located for your customers.
For example, at Asendia we have a fulfilment centre in Bedford, providing fast delivery to the whole of the UK, reducing costs and delivery times.
Take advantage of superior technology
As a leading fulfilment centre, our warehouses boast the very best inventory management and tech. This enables seamless integration with your sales channels, as well as making the whole order process much more efficient.
Don’t take our word for it. Hear from some of the many e-commerce businesses we’ve helped grow, both nationally and internationally.
If you’d like to find out more about e-commerce fulfilment, including how Asendia can help with scaling your business without the headache of managing the process in-house, get in touch with our friendly and experienced team today.
