Brands throughout the country are adopting the latest product packaging trends to attract more customers. Using custom packaging is a way to improve your sales, as it makes your products stand out. This guide will discuss custom box benefits and how they add value to your orders. (more…)

Running a business is associated with looking for ways to save money and improve profits. Theoretically, self-fulfilment may seem an effective way to cut costs, but it has several hidden costs.

Hiring an order-fulfilment service and renting a warehousing space, for example, can offer you a 10% increase in profits in the near future. This guide will discuss how self-fulfilment expenses can reduce business profits.

Cost of Packing Materials and Supplies

In-house e-commerce fulfilment requires a variety of packing tools and supplies. Based on how you pack the products and which services and carriers you use, you’ll also need to purchase cushioning products such as bubble wrap, mail bins, paper and labels, packing tape, ink and printer, and envelopes, boxes, and poly mailers.

Transportation Expenses

Once the orders are ready to be delivered to your customers, you need to get them to the shipping location. You may need to drive to the UPS store or the post office to do this.

Despite loading all the boxes in your car and leaving on time, orders may be delayed due to traffic and difficulty finding parking. As these trips add up, you put more miles on the vehicle. This increases the costs of fuel as well as general wear and tear.

Costly Inefficiencies

If your business is not primarily associated with retail fulfilment, you may not know the right practices. When the order fulfilment process comprises manual and redundant steps, you will likely make costly shipping errors. As more orders come in, these inefficiencies may increase.

Efficiency is commonly lost without the following:

• Bulk discounts – if you don’t ship millions of orders each year, you can’t negotiate the rates with carriers.
• System integration – if you don’t have the right tools for order processing, you may lose profits due to a lack of speed.
• Multiple locations – you’re likely to pay higher postage for orders travelling across several shipping zones if you ship out packages from a single location.

Let Us Help You Deal With Self-Fulfilment Expenses

If you’re a start-up wondering where to find the right third-party logistics provider, let us help you at 3PLWOW.

We’re a recognised e-commerce fulfilment provider with extensive knowledge, experience, and tools to provide you and your business with highly accessible, reliable, and top-notch third-party logistics at all times.

By choosing us as your order fulfilment company, you can benefit from a wide range of services, including warehousing, shipping, pick-and-pack solutions, third-party logistics, and more. Check out our services here, or contact us to request a quote today!