Is your mom and pop e-commerce-business suddenly growing so fast that it’s becoming impossible to fulfill orders and ship them out on your own?
The truth is, these are common struggles for business owners who aren’t used to their business booming. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when things pick up.
That’s why the next step is to look for a fulfillment center that can do all of that for you.
What Is a Fulfillment Center?
First of all, it looks like a big warehouse. Contained within are the physical products of many different e-commerce sellers on marketplaces like Shopify, Woo, Squarespace, and more.
All fulfillment centers work as an outsourced warehouse that prepares and ships orders for each seller.
That’s right!
If your business has outgrown its current shipping and fulfillment capabilities, you can save a lot of time and money by partnering with a fulfillment center near you.
What to Look for in a Fulfillment Center
Since almost every outsourced fulfillment service works independently of the sellers, business owners must do their research first before deciding upon which fulfillment center to partner with.
Your objective should be to find a service that aligns with your values, standards, and procedures.
The last thing you want is customers leaving bad reviews for your company because your products were poorly packaged, broken, or even missing.
Here are 5 top-rated fulfillment centers to get you started on your search:
- ShipBob
- Rakuten Super Logistics
- Simpl Fulfillment
- ShipHype
- ShipMonk
Oftentimes, we look at a service for what it does at a basic level. But instead, we should consider other important factors like who it represents and the values it stands for.
These 5 services were specifically chosen because of their forward-thinking mindset.
How to Choose a Fulfillment Center
Now that you know what to look for when it comes to aligning values, the next step is to narrow the choices down to one.
How do you do this?
You’ll want to consider whether the fulfillment company has enough manpower to handle your products.
If your company’s services are skyrocketing, let’s say, you have thousands or millions of people buying your products every day, then a small fulfillment center isn’t going to cut it.
ShipBob’s 300,000 square feet facilities might not cut it for you even if their services are top-notch.
Instead, you’re going to want to work with Amazon’s 800,000 square feet warehouses. Although not featured on the list above, Amazon’s fulfillment facilities are the standard for many big businesses across the globe.
Fulfillment Centers vs. Distribution Centers
Distribution centers ship products from business to business and can also be used as storage for your products.
Fulfillment centers prepare, package, and ship items directly to your customers. They also have their own dedicated customer service team.
The main difference to look out for here is that fulfillment centers will never be able to hold as much of your inventory as a distribution center.
This is because fulfillment services are focused on quick and efficient deliveries and in effect, can only hold so many products at a given time.
Is Your Business Booming?
If the answer is YES, YES, and YES, then it’s time to find a fulfillment near today before things get too hot for you and your business to handle alone!
The next thing you’ll want to learn about fulfillment centers before making your decision to partner up is about pricing, location, and branding options.
The options are endless. Just make sure you choose the right fulfillment center for you and your customers!
