How to Select the Best Fulfillment Partner for Ecommerce Business?

Imagine working on a good quality product with the most competitive cost and yet not being able to deliver it on time. Worse, not able to convert shoppers surfing online into customers due to long delivery periods. And what if the package reaches the customer later than the promised date or is in a damaged condition? In all three scenarios mentioned above, the customer is going to leave bad feedback. So, a good quality product is not going to help without great fulfillment speed and quality. As a matter of fact, customers these days are lured just on the basis of fulfillment speed; hence, slow fulfillment speed also affects the conversion rate. 

For all the given reasons, choosing a fulfillment partner is imperative. Choosing the right one can be a tedious task. Well, this blog is exactly what you must be looking for. The next 7 minutes of reading will help you choose the most appropriate fulfillment partner. Let’s kick off with the basics.

Understanding Fulfillment Partner

A ecommerce fulfillment partner is a third-party logistics service provider (3PL) that works with e-commerce businesses to handle order processing, inventory storage, and product shipping. By handling it for sellers, these fulfillment services can help with online selling in streamlining and improving their post-checkout procedure. While the fulfillment partner will handle the orders, sellers can make use of the time and resources towards better service or marketing to improve reach and sales. So, it gives the dual benefit of better sales and scope for improvement. Further, there is a need to understand why an online seller requires a fulfillment partner. 

What Difference Does Fulfillment Partner Make? 

While drawing a difference between an in-house fulfillment and a third-party fulfillment partner, the third-party fulfillment partner always wins. Here’s a list of the reasons why: 

1. Scalability

Having a trustworthy order fulfillment partner will help your company manage varying order quantities. They can relieve you of some of the operational burden, whether you're dealing with seasonal order spikes or quick growth.

2. Expertise

Any ecommerce fulfillment company is an expert in logistics and inventory control. You may anticipate that they will reduce errors and delays throughout the supply chain because of their exclusive focus on these factors.

3. Worldwide Reach

Delivery times will be shortened, transportation costs will be reduced, and customer satisfaction will increase if your fulfillment centers are close to your target market. When you enter foreign marketplaces, this will provide you with an advantage.

4. Better focus on Real Business 

You may spend more time and money on marketing, expansion planning, and enhancing the general customer experience by outsourcing the strain of logistics management.

Finally, selecting the right partner is the only thing left to do. This is the tricky part since there are hundreds of fulfillment partners out there in the market with their respective USPs. Explore how you can make the right choice for you in the following section. 

Look for these while Choosing the Fulfillment Partner

Ecommerce Fulfillment partners are a great part of online business and choosing the right partner is equally important. Sellers cannot take a chance with a wrong or ill fit partner. Hence, you need to keep the following in mind:  

1. Alignment with Business Needs

Every business is unique and has its own unique order fulfillment requirements. The fulfillment partner must be able to handle all those requirements. A carefully chosen e-commerce fulfillment partner will provide a service that is revised to meet all the operational needs, such as shipping, picking and packing, and warehousing. Sellers should make sure to evaluate their capacity to manage particular product categories, whether they are high-value, fragile, perishable, or simply big. 

2. Geographical Expansion and Market Reach

Delivery prices and speed can be directly impacted by the location of a fulfillment partner. Sellers can guarantee on-time delivery if the network is positioned strategically. This is particularly suitable for global markets, where local fulfillment choices can lower transportation costs and customs issues. When considering a possible partner, assess their level of market knowledge before moving forward. 

3. Integration with the Tech Stack

The seamless integration of your order fulfillment partner with your current inventory management and e-commerce platforms is crucial. One that will improve client experiences, increase order accuracy, and get rid of manual errors. By making connections to a global network of trustworthy fulfillment partners, sellers can streamline this process. 

4. Costs 

Nobody enjoys paying unforeseen fees. Transparent and broken down pricing is, therefore, essential when assessing a possible fulfillment partner. Analyze every cost element, including storage expenses, order processing fees, and any possible extra expenses for things like returns or packaging. Contract clarity is crucial since unreported expenses can quickly reduce your profit margins. 

5. Customer Service and Support

A customer service personnel who is both competent and responsive will be a great help to you should logistical issues arise. Give fulfillment partners who have clear Service Level Agreements (SLAs) priority. These contracts specify a business's dedication to service quality, problem-solving, and response times. To obtain a fair assessment of a support team's responsiveness and knowledge, we advise reading through reviews and testimonials.

6. Order Shipping Time

Order shipping time is the amount of time it takes for an order to leave the warehouse and arrive at its destination. One of the most important fulfillment KPIs to monitor is the speed at which customers receive their orders after leaving the fulfillment center. With good shipping speed and less time taken, the conversion rates also shoot up.

Order Fulfillment Partner Makes Business Seamless

There are numerous fulfillment providers out there in the market who make ecommerce business easy. With all the tips and tricks mentioned above, you can make the right choice of order fulfillment services which can deliver your products, manage inventory etc. Sometimes, integrating these third-party fulfillment partners with multiple seller accounts can feel a little tough. Also, managing all these pages simultaneously becomes a task in itself. You definitely don't want another task for yourself.

MapMyChannel is an easy solution to this problem because it will bring all these different pages in one place with its centralized dashboard. Also, the integration is really easy with MapMyChannel. It provides multiple features like order tracking, fulfillment, inventory management, and product listing. The import of products from different sales channels to unify content across all the websites. With MapMyChannel, sellers can bring together all their different ecommerce platforms together for easier management.