If you’re running an online business and wondering whether it’s time to outsource your logistics, this guide is for you.
Introduction
Growing an e-commerce company should be wonderful, however eventually your kitchen table will turn into a storage area for all of your products!
At first, managing orders yourself feels manageable. You pack products after work, schedule courier pickups, and answer customer queries. You keep a close eye on inventory. But as your business grows, so do the challenges.
More orders mean more time spent packing boxes, tracking shipments, handling returns, and worrying about whether you’ll meet delivery deadlines.
This is when most new business owners ask “Do I need to hire a fulfillment center?” The answer is “Yes” for most successful brands who are trying to grow.
Fulfillment centers handle all aspects of daily operations such as inventory storage, packing, shipping, and managing return shipments. This way, you can manage growing your company rather than running a warehouse.
In this article we will discuss how fulfillment centers function and why so many e-commerce businesses are making the switch.
What Exactly is a Fulfillment Center?
A fulfilment centre is an extension of your company. Rather than keeping all of your inventory at your home office, garage or rented space, the fulfillment centre manages all of your inventory at a professionally-run place.
Each time a customer places an order, the fulfilment centre will receive the order from you and perform all of the necessary steps to complete the order.
In other words, once your customer presses the “Buy Now” button, the fulfillment centre will manage everything involved in providing the product to the customer.
A typical warehouse is primarily used to store items whereas a fulfilment centre is designed specifically for movement. This means items are delivered to a fulfilment centre, then processed and shipped to the customer, all while continuously updating the inventory in real time.
The method in which fulfilment centres process orders has been designed around the concept of speed and accuracy, which makes fulfilment centres a vital part of modern e-commerce companies.
How Does a Fulfillment Center Work?
The process is actually much simpler than most people imagine.
Step 1: You Send Your Inventory
You send your products in bulk to the warehouse facility. The warehouse team checks and verifies your inventory, counts the quantities, and logs all of this information into the Warehouse Management System (WMS).
Step 2: Your Products Are Stored Safely
Your products will be stored in a dedicated rack, shelf or pallet location in the warehouse, depending on how large or small your product is and what category of product you are using. Each product will be assigned a barcode label so we can easily identify and locate your product, which also reduces the chances of making a mistake.
Step 3: Orders Arrive Automatically
As soon as you receive an order from any website (i.e. Shopify, Amazon, Flipkart, WooCommerce, etc.), the order will automatically be sent to the warehouse for fulfillment. You will not have to send or coordinate with us an order sheet anymore.
Step 4: Picking and Packing
When we receive an order from you, the warehouse staff will find your product, scan it to make sure it is correct, pack it securely and prepare it for shipment. Good fulfillment centers will also provide customized packaging, branded inserts and gift packaging if needed.
Step 5: Shipping
Once the package has been prepared for shipment, the package will be delivered to the courier service for delivery. You will receive tracking information for all of your packages and your customers will also receive tracking information for their respective packages.
Step 6: Returns
If a customer returns a product, the fulfillment center receives it, inspects its condition. Depending upon the condition, either restocks or isolates the item based on your return policy. This saves businesses a significant amount of operational effort.
Why More E-Commerce Businesses Are Outsourcing Fulfillment
Moving to a fulfillment center is not something that most companies do because they want to. Instead, it has become necessary for them at some point when their internal handling of logistics has reached the point where it has begun to slow the company’s growth.
When a founder no longer has to spend all of their evenings packing orders, they can spend their time launching new products, improving marketing strategies, building customer connections, and increasing revenue.
In addition, a fulfillment partner will help you with:
• reducing shipping costs
• improving delivery times
• increasing accuracy of inventory, and
• managing peak seasonal volume (e.g., Diwali or holiday sales)
For many brands, this is the difference between running their business and actually growing their business.
Why Choose a Fulfillment Center in Delhi NCR?
Having a fulfillment center located in the Delhi NCR region will greatly benefit brands as it’s one of the largest logistics hubs in India, it has great access to all of the major courier networks, has very good road access, and is located near the airport. Due to this, when shipping items to customers located near the Delhi NCR region, you will be able to get your products shipped to your customers faster than if they were shipped from other areas of the country.
Another benefit of using a warehouse in the Delhi NCR region to fulfill your orders is cost. If you were to set up your own warehouse and staff it with employees, you would be responsible for paying the full cost of building the warehouse and funding the employees. By outsourcing your fulfillment in the Delhi NCR region, you can take advantage of professional infrastructure and trained staff; barcode systems, and domestic shipping at an economical cost without the need for any major upfront investment.
Therefore, if you are looking to grow your e-commerce business, utilizing a warehouse in the Delhi NCR region may be one of the most effective ways to grow your company and achieve a larger customer base.
Choosing the Right Fulfillment Partner
Fulfillment companies are all unique and it’s important to find the right partner for your business.
In addition to pricing, consider asking these questions related to their technology, order accuracy, customer service, return processing ability and expansion capabilities.
1. Do they connect with your eCommerce platform?
2. Do they have real time visibility of your inventory?
3. Can they handle peak season orders?
4. How fast do they ship orders?
5. Will I have a dedicated account manager?
When looking for a fulfillment partner the answers to the above questions will often be much more important than just picking the lowest cost option. A great fulfillment partner should feel like part of your operations team instead of just another warehouse.
Closing Thoughts
To successfully operate an online business in the present day involves more than simply offering high-quality items for sale. Consumers today require immediate shipment, accuracy in E-commerce Order Fulfillment and an easy return process each time they place an order.
A fulfillment center can help you provide these desired customer experiences and ease some of the operational burden from your organization. By outsourcing your fulfillment process, you can place more of your attention on growing your brand while experts execute all aspects of your fulfillment.
So when you are looking for a fulfillment center in the Delhi NCR area, ensure that the company you partner with combines technology, operational expertise, competitive and transparent pricing and responsive customer support.
Your ultimate goal with your fulfillment partner is to not only have your orders shipped but also to develop a scalable business.
FAQs
1: What’s the difference between a warehouse and a fulfillment centre?
A warehouse is primarily for long-term inventory storage, while a fulfillment centre stores products and processes orders, picks, packs, ships, tracks inventory, and returns. Fulfillment centres are specifically designed to help e-commerce businesses efficiently fulfil their customers’ orders.
2: When is it time for an e-commerce business to use a fulfilment centre?
If you find that you are spending considerable time managing your inventory, packing orders, processing returns and keeping up with increasing order volume, it may be a good idea for you to consider utilizing a fulfillment center. By utilizing a fulfillment center, you will be able to focus on expanding your business instead of managing the logistics of daily operations.
3: Can a fulfillment center integrate with my e-commerce platform?
Yes. Most current fulfillment centers are able to integrate with popular platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, Flipkart and other e-commerce platforms. Integration allows for the automatic processing of all incoming orders without the need for any manual intervention.
4: What is the average cost incurred by using a fulfillment center?
The cost varies based upon the following; space required to store products, number of orders shipped, type of packaging required, shipping location, value-added services needed. Most fulfillment centers offer flexible pricing structures so that you only pay for the services you actually use.
