What Delivery Options Are Available For eCommerce Fulfilment?
Choosing the right eCommerce fulfilment strategy can have an impact on your brand perception, customer satisfaction, businesses profitability, and overall success. Here, we break down the main options available to you, from fulfilling orders at home to renting warehouse space, and completely outsourcing your fulfilment to a third-party logistics (3PL) company. By understanding the pros and cons of each approach, you'll be better equipped to decide which method is best for your business needs and growth plans.
Store At Home with Self-Order Fulfilment
When starting an eCommerce business, it's not uncommon to begin as a one-person operation, using your garage or spare room for storage. This requires an entrepreneurial mindset, managing all aspects of the business yourself, and tackling new challenges and bottlenecks as you scale and grow. During this phase, much of your time will be spent on marketing tasks such as managing social media channels, building your website, and running advertising campaigns.
Additionally, you'll handle all eCommerce fulfilment tasks, including picking, packing, and labelling your products, and arranging for parcel collection or dropping them off at a local parcel depot. If you're lucky, family members may assist with these tasks as your business expands.
Rented Warehouse Storage and Self eCommerce Fulfilment
Many eCommerce businesses start off as a side hustle and as your eCommerce business gains traction, it will naturally take up more of your time and space. When your spare room becomes overcrowded, and parcels threaten to spill out every time you open the door, you or the family members who help may grow weary of the increasing workload, especially as the number of daily parcels rises.
This is often the point where businesses transition to an alternative eCommerce fulfilment method, like renting a storage unit or warehouse space. It's a big move and can feel like a rewarding milestone, representing the tangible growth of your hard work, but it may not always be the best option as it comes with its own drawbacks.
Firstly, you’ll need to invest in a space that accommodates growth, which often means paying for unused warehouse space, adding substantial overhead costs. Furthermore, although you can arrange for parcel collection from your storage facility, you still need to visit the warehouse, pick, pack, and label the parcels, and then wait during often broad and inconvenient time slots for the carrier's collection.
This means renting warehouse space can take up even more of your time, especially when considering travel time to and from the warehouse. At this stage in your eCommerce journey, you might still rely on another income stream to support yourself while managing your growing business part time, and finding the time to manage these tasks, or affording staff to help, can be particularly challenging.
Using a 3PL eCommerce Fulfilment Service
Alternatively, a better option could be to outsource your warehousing and eCommerce fulfilment operations to a specialised logistics provider. This approach can be far more cost-effective and timesaving. Instead of handling everything yourself, you send your products directly from the manufacturer or supplier to the fulfilment centre. Staff at the fulfilment centre will receive the shipment, unload, organise your goods into their warehouse, and handle all the picking, packing, and shipping of orders on your behalf.
This model allows you to pay only for the space you use, providing the flexibility to scale up as your business grows, and scale back down during seasonally quieter periods, such as after Christmas. The best part is that you no longer have to physically manage or even see your stock, freeing you up to focus on other aspects of your business.
How Does a Fulfilment Service Work?
A fulfilment centre operates by managing your order processing through a combination of technology and logistics expertise. When your inventory arrives at the fulfilment centre, the items are received, inspected, and logged into the centre’s inventory management system, which integrates with the eCommerce platform you use.
This system provides real-time updates, allowing you to monitor stock levels and track orders as they are, live—much more accurately than estimating the number of units left by eyeballing the space they occupy in your garage or spare room! This precise tracking aids in inventory management, forecasting, and stock replenishment.
When a customer places an order, the system automatically triggers the picking process, where a specially trained staff member selects the correct items from the shelves. The items are then packed carefully according to your specifications and labelled for shipping. The fulfilment centre arranges with your chosen parcel carrier to deliver the order, often offering fast options like next day delivery, and can even negotiate better shipping rates on your behalf.
Fulfilment centres also handle returns, inspecting returned products and updating your inventory accordingly. They provide detailed reports, giving you valuable insights into order trends, stock levels, and shipping performance. This allows you to maintain control over your business operations without the hands-on hassle of managing logistics.
Benefits Of Outsourcing Order Fulfilment
Outsourcing your order fulfilment can make a huge difference for your eCommerce business, helping you save time and tackle logistical challenges more effectively. Here, we’ll cover the key reasons why using fulfilment services might be the right move, like the ability to scale as you grow, improve efficiency, gain better control over inventory, access cheaper shipping rates, and handle returns smoothly. If you're looking to free up your time and focus on what you do best, this is worth considering.
Scalability and Flexibility
Fulfilment services allow your business to scale proportionally as you grow. You pay only for the space and services you use, providing the flexibility to adjust to fluctuating demands. Whether you need to ramp up operations during peak seasons or scale back in quieter times, fulfilment services offer a cost-effective way to manage your logistics without committing to fixed overheads like warehouse leases or additional staffing.
Improved Efficiency and Time Savings
By outsourcing your eCommerce fulfilment operations, you can free up valuable time that would otherwise be spent on picking, packing, labelling, and shipping orders. Fulfilment services manage these tasks on your behalf, enabling you to focus on core business activities such as product development, marketing, and business development. This allows you to grow your business without getting bogged down by logistical challenges.
Better Inventory Management
Ecommerce fulfilment services use sophisticated inventory management systems that provide real-time tracking and updates on your stock levels, which you most likely wouldn’t have access to on your own. This precise management helps you avoid the pitfalls of manual inventory checks, such as stockouts or overstocking, and supports better forecasting and replenishment. The result is a more organised, data-driven approach to inventory management that helps your entire supply chain run more smoothly.
Access to Cost-Effective Shipping Options
Fulfilment services often have established relationships with multiple carriers, enabling them to secure discounted shipping rates that would be difficult for individual businesses to obtain, passing the savings on to you. This access to cost-effective shipping options not only lowers your overall shipping expenses but also allows you to offer faster delivery services, such as next-day or even same day shipping, making these options more financially accessible and improving the overall customer experience.
Improved Returns Management and Customer Satisfaction
Returns can be a frustrating and time-consuming aspect of eCommerce, which no one enjoys dealing with. eCommerce fulfilment services handle returns for you completely, managing everything from inspecting returned products to restocking and updating your inventory. Additionally, fulfilment services offer detailed analytics on return patterns, allowing you to refine your products and processes based on customer feedback and trends.
Partnering With Speedy Fulfil for Your eCommerce Fulfilment
Partnering with Speedy Fulfil means teaming up with experts who have been leading the logistics game for years. Our roots lie with Speedy Freight—our parent company, a name trusted in the industry for its speed, reliability and customer-centric approach.
At Speedy Freight, we pride ourselves on being a people-first business, putting customer satisfaction at the heart of everything we do. These company values, of course, translate directly into Speedy Fulfil as well.
Our significant investment in in-house built cutting-edge technology demonstrates our commitment to providing the best service possible. This bespoke technology, developed specifically for eCommerce fulfilment, easily integrates with your chosen eCommerce platform, offering precise order management, real-time inventory tracking, and a smoother overall customer experience. Coupled with our deep understanding of the logistics landscape, our technology positions us as industry leaders, ensuring your business benefits from both our extensive expertise and our technological solutions.
When you choose Speedy Fulfil, you're not just choosing a fulfilment provider—you’re choosing a partner you can trust, who’s always their when you need them, and who's dedicated to helping your business grow and thrive. With our proven track record, people-first ethos, and commitment to technological excellence, Speedy Fulfil is here to support your journey every step of the way.