Business owners often learn new concepts and mechanisms along the way during their entrepreneurial journey. This is especially common among people who start and operate their e-commerce business as new entrepreneurs in their respective industries. A typical misconception about order fulfilment among most business owners is that it’s solely associated with the delivery of customer orders from the supplier to the consumer.
While this is true, it’s essential to know that outsourced order fulfilment involves much more than delivering products from one location to another. Understanding the e-commerce fulfilment process is critical, especially if you’re trying to break down what you’re actually paying for when hiring a third-party logistics partner.
In fact, it can be daunting to not know where your money is going as soon as you receive a detailed quote from your order fulfilment company. Read on to learn about some of the essential things you pay for when you hire an e-commerce fulfilment company.
Storage and Warehousing
The first and often the most important step of optimal order fulfilment is the storage of customer orders in a safe warehouse. When small and medium-sized businesses can’t afford to lease a warehouse or storage location, they rely on their logistics partner to manage their inventory in their warehouse.
Therefore, a significant portion of your order fulfilment costs is associated with the safe and efficient warehousing of all your products, where customer orders are picked up, packaged, labelled, prepared, and shipped accordingly.
Custom Product Packaging
Another essential step that you pay for when working with an order fulfilment company is custom product packaging. This involves the use of various packaging materials such as cardboard boxes, fabric, paper bags, tapes, bubble wrap, and other similar items to ensure all the products remain safe and undamaged during transit.
Custom product packaging is critical to the pick and pack services offered by order fulfilment companies. They ensure their professionals work with the right packing essentials to wrap and prepare customer orders, especially when preparing fragile items for shipment.
Product Shipping and Delivery
Lastly, the most crucial service that you pay your order fulfilment company for is the efficient and timely shipping of products from the warehouse to the customers’ doorstep. The charges for this step essentially depend on the location you’re shipping products to. They’re usually more affordable when you’re shipping products locally and a bit on the pricier side when delivering them to international customers.
Your order fulfilment company will ensure every customer receives their order in the best possible condition in an extremely timely manner, offering substantial value for your money.
If you’re looking for a third-party logistics partner that meets your expectations, feel free to connect with us at 3PLWOW. As one of the best order fulfilment companies in the UK, we aim to help you stand out with top-notch customer service by choosing our pick and pack services. Contact us to learn more!
