The Great E-Commerce Fulfillment Dilemma
E-commerce fulfillment is a complex process. It requires a lot of time, money, and effort. And the more successful the business is, the more complicated it gets.
Inventory management is one of the key parts of e-commerce fulfillment. It’s not just about keeping track of products and making sure that they are in stock. It also includes ordering new stocks to keep up with demand and ensuring that orders are fulfilled on time. Your time should be optimized by the 3rd party fulfillment center you are using, not hindered with inventory issues or shipment delays.
3rd party fulfillment services are there to help you with this process by taking care of inventory management and shipping on your behalf. This way you can focus on other aspects of your business such as marketing or product development while still maintaining control over customer service and order fulfillment.
Current Problems with E-Commerce Fulfillment, and How We Can Solve Them?
As previously mentioned, E-commerce fulfillment is the process of fulfilling orders for goods and services purchased via an electronic system or web based storefront. While there are many benefits to using 3rd party fulfillment services, there are also a lot of problems with this process as well. For example, some fulfillment centers have been known to lose up to 20% of their inventory in a single year. This shrink not only hurts the end consumer but also hurts your bottom line. As the holiday peak season approaches this number can grow even more exponentially due to several factors with the foundation being poor inventory management without a system of checks and balances.
We can help solve these e-commerce fulfillment problems by implementing new technologies such as AI and machine learning. These technologies have helped us optimize inventory management, reduce the amount of human error, and improve customer service. We are proud of our 99.998% pick/ship accuracy rate and continually strive for perfection. Although some customers outright refuse to help us help them we still offer this new scan to pick technology at no additional cost. Wouldn't you rather spend your money elsewhere, rather than on replacing "lost" merchandise.
Slow and Expensive Shipping Methods
Shipping is an expensive and time-consuming process that can be quite frustrating. These alone can be a major expense for online businesses and markups will drag your revenue stream down to the bottom of the ocean faster than a lead weight. While e-commerce shipping is necessary , it is imperative that your 3PL partner can offer fast, and accurate shipping services in order to get your shipments delivered quickly and reliably. These services can be expensive, and it may not always be possible for businesses to pay the fees up front, which is why finding a reliable and established 3PL fulfillment center such as Black Mountain Fulfillment is imperative to the health of your overall bottom-line. While we work with all the major carriers we also have established relationships with companies that can not only offer HUGE discounted rates but often are able to deliverer the products as fast as going to the carrier directly.
So while shipping costs can be a major business expense it is important that you find as many ways to reduce that cost without the "negotiated" rates of your current 3PL which are marked up well above their actual paid rate.
Have any questions, comments or concerns on how Black Mountain Fulfillment can help you save time, energy and money. Just click the link below to get in touch with on of our sales team members.