How to Choose the Best Fulfillment Services, Provider?

All business owners start with a small start-up, and gradually they start expanding their business. If your online store is at the beginning stage, then you can easily take care of everything. But, over time, your business will start expanding, and it will become very difficult for you to manage all processes by yourself.   

If you deal with selling physical goods, then order fulfillment and customer satisfaction play a vital role. But, with the growing customer base, in-house order fulfillment will become very difficult. You should hire outsource order fulfillment service providers.

But the trickiest thing is to find the best order fulfillment company. Different fulfillment centers in the market claim to offer the best services. But you must choose the best one who can fulfill your needs and requirements. It is recommended to do thorough research before you hire any order fulfillment, service provider. 

Here, we will discuss six factors that are important to consider before you collaborate with the 3PL service provider:

Capable to Store Your Products

First of all, you should consider that the 3PL service provider you are going to hire is capable of storing your products. Therefore, you should check the basic service provider, the fulfillment center, such as warehousing service, order fulfillment, and shipping. These are some basic requirements in the supply chain of all businesses. 

But as we know that each business is unique and every business has different requirements for order fulfillment. The unique requirements would be based on the type of products you are going to sell. You should choose only that fulfillment partner that can offer the services as per your needs and requirements.

Optimum Pricing

You should also compare the order fulfillment services of different companies. It is imperative to search for affordable order fulfillment service providers. But you should also keep in mind that the quality of services should not be compromised at any cost. 

Always remember that the cheapest option is not the best one. You must check out that order Fulfillment Company does not charge you high for their services. You should also make sure whether they charge annual or monthly recurring fees.

Carefully Study the Offers

Sometimes the deal that appears too good instantly turns out into a nightmare. Therefore, it is recommended to always look out for the hidden cost that can prevent you from big trouble. Also, ask the fulfillment service provider whether they have set a certain minimum storage limit.

Fulfillment Center Location

At present, customers demand to get their orders as soon as possible. Now, it is not unusual to get the order after one day of placing the order. It is possible only if the order fulfillment center is at the nearby location of the marketplace. If the fulfillment center is in the nearby location, then product delivery will take less time than usual.

Shipping Services

The biggest benefit of integrating with the third-party logistics company is low shipping cost as compared to the in-house order fulfillment shipping cost and world fulfillment services. Usually, the large size fulfillment companies have negotiated for the shipping prices. It is so because they carry a huge volume of orders. 

If you hire the outsource order fulfillment services, then you can enjoy the good shipping prices. When you are going to hire the order fulfillment service providers, then you must pay special attention to the carriers and shipping range options.

Customer Service

It is quite obvious that no one wants to face any kind of problem. So, when you are going to hire the order fulfillment service providers, then you must check whether they provide customer support or not. Customer service plays a vital role in the eCommerce sector. 

If anything happens to the order of your customer, then you can call the customer support of the fulfillment center and solve the matter. You should look out for different ways to get in touch with the order fulfillment service providers so that you can easily solve the problems in product shipping.

Branding Options

The most important thing in the entire supply is your product. The product delivery system can help in uplifting your brand values in the market. It is very important to leverage product delivery to spread brand awareness. 

For instance, a special message on the product packaging can help to take your business higher. Usually, the third-party logistic service providers can help in pasting your brand logo on the product packaging. 

It will seem like the product is directly delivered by the company rather than any fulfillment center. Thus, it will help in spreading brand awareness and indirectly help in your product marketing. So, hire the 3PL who offer branding options for your business.