Has your company ever debated outsourcing your fulfilment?
Outsourcing your fulfilment involves partnering with a third-party to manage your order fulfilment. 3PL (third-party logistics) companies, will offer services such as warehousing, picking, packing and shipping. This can be extremely useful, as you will not need to use your own warehouse (which saves huge costs) as well as being able to scale your business faster.
Outsourcing your fulfilment can seem daunting, and it is a huge step putting your trust into another company (especially if you have never done it before), but sometimes your fulfilment can become unmanageable, and it may be crucial that you put your trust into 3PL.
Lets look into some of signs that you may need to start outsourcing your fulfilment…
If you are constantly dealing with picking and shipping errors, it may be because the fulfilment is becoming too much/ there isn’t the right technologies being used. Human error will always occur, but it is crucial that you’re picking and shipping processes are as accurate as possible to ensure that your customers have a positive experience. If orders are constantly going out wrong, it can effect your brands reputation as well as result in you losing customers.
3PL can save the day here, as by choosing the right 3PL (with a track record of accurate picking), they will pick, pack and ship your orders to your customers, fast and efficiently. A 3PL warehouse will have the best technologies, systems and trained staff to ensure that your orders are handled with care. Accurate picking can help build relationships with customers, build brand loyalty and save returns costs.
Sometimes, we cannot predict when our business is going to grow and scale at such a rapid rate, and as much as it is a positive and exciting time for a business, it can also become extremely difficult to manage. The workload, orders and complications begin to grow with the business too, and it can be too much to quickly train new staff, find a bigger warehouse and invest in all new infrastructure or equipment. This is where outsourcing your fulfilment can come in so handy, as this is all left to a 3PL. Their staff will be fully trained, as well as having the infrastructure to deal with the growth. Having an experienced partner to guide you through your growth can be extremely helpful too, as they can give you expertise and advise to help you.
Similarly to the last point, with growth comes lack of space in your current warehouse or office. Space is never infinite, and by having to move to a new and bigger warehouse can effect all operational costs. As you bring out new product lines, the company grows in staff or demand for stock increases, you must consider upsizing in your warehouse space. This doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive for you, as 3PL providers will have one waiting for you. Your chosen 3PL will have a HUGE warehouse, built for growing business’ like yourself (like here at GNOC, our 350,000+ square foot warehouse has space for your business to grow and scale).
During your peak periods, demand may begin to feel too much for your business. Things such as summer or easter sales, Black Friday or Christmas and Boxing Day, businesses expect their demand to spike, but sometimes this demand may become unmanageable. As orders come flying in, it can be hard to keep on top of everything and this may be where mistakes are being made, and customers begin to feel unhappy.
3PL providers are trained to prepare for all peak periods and will ensure orders are sent out to customers correctly and on time to customers to avoid any complaints. The highly trained warehouse staff are ready for all spikes in demand and will ensure that orders are not impacted because of this.
Shipping can be extremely expensive, and now customers expect their items fast (and free or extremely cheap shipping), which can then eat into your profits. As orders begin to increase, your shipping will increase with it and therefore profit margins can begin to get thinner and thinner.
3PL providers usually have extremely competitive rates, as well as strong relationships with couriers, and therefore can offer discounted prices to you and your customers. The shipping is always fast and can even allow you to offer free shipping to customers, to ensure they pick you over competitors.
If logistics is getting too much for your business, you may begin to neglect other key areas that help your business grow. Things such as product development, marketing and sales, customer service and research may be left behind if you’re putting your all into logistics. This may become very apparent if sales being to drop, as these are all KEY areas that you must focus on (as well as logistics). By outsourcing your fulfilment, it gives you full flexibility to focus on all of these key areas of your business and leaves all logistical problems to the experts!
Do you feel like you relate to one or maybe even all of these issues?
Well, it may be time to start outsourcing your fulfilment and partner with a 3PL today. We know it can be scary choosing a company to put all of your trust into, and that is why here at GNOC, we will talk you through the whole process of 3PL and exactly what we do to help businesses.
Over 300 brands put their trust into us to fulfil their orders, and we ensure to get your items to your customers fast and safely. With over 10+ years’ experience, we know how logistics and fulfilment go. We are experts in eCommerce and can offer the best advise and help guide your business to grow and scale as much as possible.
You can get in touch here or fill out our form and one of our helpful team will be in touch. If you’re wanting to supercharge your growth, it’s time to partner with GNOC.