Outsourcing E-commerce Order Fulfillment

When your e-commerce business grows to the point where you can no longer package and ship the orders yourself, it’s time to consider outsourcing your order fulfillment. Let’s take a look at the benefits of fulfillment warehouses for small business owners:

Inventory Storage and Management

Inventory is stored off-site, enabling the small business owner to store a larger variety and quantity of inventory. The fulfillment center will receive and organize your inventory. Most have a web-based application where you can log in and view your current inventory, as well as, the history of each item.

Automatic Order Fulfillment

Fulfillment warehouses usually accept shipping requests via a web-based application, by emailing your invoices or an order spreadsheet e-mailed directly to the warehouse. When the shipping requests are received, the items are automatically packaged and shipped to the customer. Most fulfillment warehouses have a web-based application where you can log in to view the status of an order. Some warehouses even notify your customers of their order tracking numbers.

Return & Exchange Processing

In the world of e-commerce, where consumers aren’t able to examine products before they are purchased, returns and exchanges are commonplace. Fulfillment centers manage returns and exchanges by examining the returned items. Then the items are placed back into inventory or into the damaged item bin.

Free You Up To Grow Your Business

The time that you normally spend packaging orders, tracking inventory, and dealing with returns, can now be focused on growing your business. Use this time to expand your product line, enhance your website, promote your business or expand into new markets.