As an entrepreneur managing a growing business, be it selling clothing or electronics or anything in between, you always need to stay one step ahead of the competition. You must provide quality products at the best prices – that much is a given – but your job doesn’t end once the sale is made. You must assure your customers that all orders are packaged correctly and shipped on time. If you run a small company, the fulfillment tasks involved can become overwhelming if you do not know how to handle an onslaught of orders. Outsourcing your fulfillment to a company experienced with logistics can get you back into business.
Why choose a third party to handle your fulfillment, you might ask. Won’t it be expensive? Small business entrepreneurs may get the idea that outsourcing is more trouble than it’s worth cost-wise, but if you find you can’t handle the influx of orders, returns, and customer queries you could cost your company even more money – particularly if customers stop buying altogether because they feel they can’t trust your service!
Here are five reasons to consider hiring a third-party fulfillment service to help conduct your business.
1) Increase your warehouse space. Tired of storing inventory in your garage? Fulfillment companies offer warehouse space to businesses to help them better handle shipping of your products. This allows you, too, to up your stock and cut down on backorders.
2) Manage your inventory better. As you track sales, your fulfillment company can let you know what is moving out faster and which products are duds. This lets you know where to focus your sales and perhaps experiment with new products.
3) Minimize damages. There’s always the risk of a package being damaged in transit, but when you leave your inventory to a professional fulfillment service you get superior packing services that help keep your products safe so that they arrive intact.
4) Keep costs reasonable. Not only can you save your customers money through centralized shipping options, but working with a fulfillment company can help keep your costs down as well. A company’s relationship with various logistics businesses can help negotiate good prices on products and transport. As for a quote from a fulfillment company and compare their services to the cost of doing it on your own.
5) Outsourcing fulfillment lets you concentrate on the business. With your fulfillment handled, you are free to concentrate on development, marketing, and other aspect of your business to make it grow.
Most fulfillment services offer free quotes to let you decide what you need. Consider using a third-party fulfillment service to improve how you do business.
Source by Kathryn Lively