How fulfillment companies could be your key to success

If you already own some type of ecommerce retail business, or even if you are looking to start one, it is time you learned about fulfillment companies. Ecommerce retail sales are a rapidly growing industry. Think back to a time at least ten years ago. When you needed to purchase something--anything--you went to the store, right? Back in those days, it wasn’t as simple as a click of a button to have your much-needed product on its way. And, for those things you did need to order, you used snail mail to place an order through a catalog, called the company directly, or used  some other traditional method of ordering goods.

Now, you wouldn’t consider ripping out the little “pre-paid postage” postcard found between the pages of a magazine. You would just go to the company’s website, click a few buttons, load up your information, and voila! Your product is on its way. Shopping has become incredibly simple on the consumer end of things. However, online shopping present unique challenges to business owners.

Making fulfillment companies work for you

Fulfillment companies are, in essence, in existence to make the lives of business owners and retailers easier. They act as a warehouse to store goods for ecommerce businesses; then, the process, pack, and ship orders to consumers on demand. Fulfillment companies even process returns and will deal directly with many customer complaints. You may wonder why on earth your company would need the services of a fulfillment company when they can just hire people to pack, process, and ship orders themselves.

If you are wondering this, you are not alone. Obviously, this is a service that could be done by almost anyone. However, the question is: could it be done as efficiently? How about in a cost-effective manner? Fulfillment companies are the middleman in the ecommerce industry...they do the grunt work and they are pretty darn good at it. Good fulfillment companies will have a process that works well because they are specialized in their industry. These types of companies also get great  deals on packing products and discounted rates for shipping because of their high volume of sales.

All in all, you could use a fulfillment company to make your life a little easier. Find one that works for your needs, fill out a contract, make a set payment plan, and take yourself out of the packing and shipping equation so that you can get back to managing your business.