Monday, May 19, 2014

Why Outsource?



One of the biggest challenges an internet retailer faces is understanding their own costs when managing order fulfillment in-house. Those costs go far beyond labor expenses and facility leasing or purchase, and involve such major elements as insurance, order management and warehouse management technology, equipment, training, government regulations and compliance, data security, and business expertise. Consider these points for cost analysis:
  •  The e-commerce environment is competitive and fast changing, and acquiring the best technology will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and could be near a million dollars depending on the company’s needs. Order management and warehouse management systems can be proprietary or purchased from a qualified vendor, but either way they represent a massive investment that could be passed on to a fulfillment partner who has already established modern systems.
  •  Human resources are not simply the wages of the employees, but involve other costs such as benefits, which many companies fail to consider. The cost of hiring a staff of administrators, production operators and warehouse labor is measured in both time and dollars, and is ongoing. The daily management of human resources for training, scheduling, disciplining, and eventually replacing is costly.
  •  The facility itself presents its own costs once acquired. Equipment such as forklifts, racking, and conveyer systems are tremendous costs that your fulfillment partner can absorb into their established operations and save their clients money when outsourcing. The insurance alone on maintaining a proper facility is a cost that is underestimated, not to mention the security system that the facility will require.
  •  In this age of cyber theft and the need for strong security, your outsourced fulfillment partner can offer the expertise and daily safeguard its clients need. The cost for remaining compliant with modern data security standards is significant and the IT staffing, training, and daily compliance for remaining secure can be managed more efficiently with a fulfillment company with multiple clients.
  •  In addition, the expertise of a fulfillment partner can benefit their clients by taking the collective experience and applying it to all their clients. At the right moment these experiences can save time and money for an internet retailer and provide a bigger background for finding efficiencies and cost savings. By plugging in your business with an experienced fulfillment provider the necessary costs can be managed on their end, allowing you to see the savings.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

How to choose a fulfillment company

There are many fulfillment houses out there to choose from, with many different specialties.
How do you choose the best one for you?  Is there a comprehensive list available so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel?
Yes! 

Many fulfillment houses specialize in various industries.  For example, they may specialize in mail, distribution, freight forwarding, retail shipping or direct response.  Then they could further specialize in certain product lines or a variety of industries. 

Additionally, you’ll want to know how your account is serviced.  Will you have a dedicated account manager to help you with product launch?  How will your fulfillment house engage with other suppliers you’re working with to coordinate the specifics of your program? 

To get a good picture of the fulfillment companies you’re considering, find out:
  • What is their specialization?
  • How will your account be serviced?
  • How do they price their services?
  • How will they work with your other suppliers?
Next, consider your offer and what services you will need, and be sure to ask any potential fulfillment partners their experience with each item as well as well as how their pricing works for each service.
  • Pack & ship
  • Kitting
  • Assembly
  • Multi-pay
  • Continuity or auto-ship program management
  • Merchant Processing
  • After-sale customer service
  • Returns processing
  • Drop ship
  • Virtual orders
  • EDI order processing

PACK & SHIP
 This is a standard service offered by most, if not all fulfillment houses.  You will likely find a range of pricing and will want to find out specifically what is included.  Be sure to ask about receiving fees for your product when it’s received at the fulfillment warehouse and don’t forget about storage costs.  Regardless of how much product you’re planning to maintain at the fulfillment house, there is usually a charge for storage. 

KITTING
Most fulfillment companies will put kits together for a fee.  Compare pricing for this and what find out what happens when you make changes to kits or add more products to your line.

ASSEMBLY
Will the fulfillment house provide assembly for your product, if needed?  At what cost?

MERCHANT PROCESSING
Can the fulfillment house do your merchant processing?  Chargebacks?  What is the cost for these services?

CONTINUITY/AUTO-SHIP
A successful auto-ship element can make or break a lot of campaigns.  Check to see that your fulfillment house has the flexibility to offer different products in the different cycles and can make changes on short notice.  Also see if they can answer calls and emails with the details of your program.  Extending your customers’ “stick-rate” is key to maximizing profits after you’ve made the sale.


CUSTOMER SERVICE
Can the fulfillment house handle phone calls from your customers about your product(s)?  Answer emails?  Accept checks as payment and make bank deposits, if needed?  Can they issue customer credits?  What are the fees for the services you will need?

RETURNS
How are returns handled?  Can they inspect returned products and return them to inventory?  What are the fees for each component of returns processing you will need?

EDI
If you’re planning retail distribution now or in the future, can your fulfillment partner handle EDI processing?

RESOURCES
Depending on where you are in launching your DR program, you may need some help selecting other vendors such as Merchant Processors, Printers, Call Centers, Web designers, Marketers, etc.  Will your fulfillment company be able to help you with supplier selection?  Coordinate with multiple suppliers and handle file exchanges when necessary?

As you can see there are many things to consider when selecting your fulfillment partner.  Hopefully, this list has helped you to see that with all the information at your fingertips, the selection process can be straightforward and you can easily select the best partner for your DR program.