The warehousing, equipment, technology, knowledge, and staff that it takes to fulfill e-Retail orders quickly and efficiently requires a good amount of money, time, and energy. If you’re not up for the challenges associated with self-fulfillment and would prefer to dedicate yourself to managing your business, outsourcing is likely the right call. Here are some reasons to consider outsourcing your retail fulfillment:
- Partnering with a 3PL allows e-Retail businesses to take advantage of advanced inventory management systems, resulting in less backorders.
- Outsourcing allows your e-Retail business to offer more revenue-generating options, such as subscription box fulfillment (also referred to as continuity orders).
- A 3PL services company can handle both forward and reverse logistics.
- Outsourcing can help your business acquire more 5-star reviews from happy customers.
What are the reasons to outsource retail fulfillment?
Still not convinced that outsourcing your retail fulfillment could be the best option? Allow us to dive deeper into the reasons to consider partnering with a 3PL services provider:
Partnering with a 3PL allows e-Retail businesses to take advantage of advanced inventory management systems, resulting in less backorders.
The advanced inventory management systems that the 3PL companies serving large e-Retail businesses use have tools like bar code scanning and techniques designed to ensure that each product is checked in and checked out as it moves through the warehouse. This dramatically decreases the number of backorders, while also keeping your website product listings up to date.
Outsourcing retail fulfillment allows you to offer more revenue-generating options.
Many retailers are getting in on the subscription box trend, but many don’t have the technology, knowledge, and other resources required to make it work. Leading 3PLs like ShipWizard are equipped with innovative technology and experienced employees that ensure that continuity orders always ship out accurately and on time, providing your business with another revenue stream opportunity.
A 3PL also covers your returns management.
Shipping orders to your customers quickly and efficiently is unfortunately only half of the battle. Returns are a headache especially for online retailers, with as much as 25% of all orders getting returned.
When you outsource, every order is fulfilled by 3PL experts that can handle both forward and reverse logistics, freeing up your plate to focus on more important things. That means more time to concentrate on that marketing campaign you’ve been meaning to launch, the website product pages you’ve been wanting to update, or a budget you’ve been needing to create. Although returns are inevitable, having the right e-Retail fulfillment team in place can make dealing with them a lot less painful.
Outsourcing can help your business acquire more 5-star reviews from happy customers.
When orders arrive correct and on-time, and are easy to return if need be, your customers will be more satisfied. Happier customers result in more repeat purchases, referrals, and positive online reviews. With 70% of consumers saying that they need to read at least four reviews before they can trust a business, having as many reviews as possible is a great idea.
