From storage, picking, kitting, packaging, and shipping, order fulfillment services can help take care of the logistics of your business.
If you’re looking for a way to save money on shipping, automate the packaging process, and reduce your own workload, then an order fulfillment service is the perfect partner for you. Never leave your customers waiting around for their packages again; let a fulfillment company like Selery take care of the logistics of your business.
What are order fulfillment services?
Think of order fulfillment services as your partner when it comes to logistics for your business. From moving products, collecting them, packaging them, and shipping them, an order fulfillment service will manage it all. This means that you can continue working on your business stress-free, knowing that your products are going to get where they need to go.
"Order fulfillment" is an umbrella term when it comes to the services that this form of partner can provide. They’ll offer kitting, eCommerce fulfillment, shipping, warehousing, and product storage.
Let’s break these down a little further:
Kitting - The action of collecting products, packaging them into a ‘Kit’, and then sending them off to where they need to go.
E-commerce fulfillment - Many order fulfillment services have an integration tool into eCommerce websites, letting them automatically fulfill any orders that come in.
Shipping - Streamline your logistics process with Selery. With a series of partner firms, order fulfillment providers will be able to arrange and carry out the shipping process. Bring down your shipping cost with our ecommerce order fulfillment process.
Warehousing, Product & Inventory Storage - By shipping your products to a designated fulfillment warehouse, a fulfillment service will store your merchandise and ensure its kept in optimal conditions. In simpler terms, an order fulfillment company will manage every part of the logistics process and fulfillment operations, right from the moment your business receives a new order to the moment it’s shipped out of the door.
What are the benefits of order fulfillment services?
You may be wondering, what is the point of contracting a fulfillment service to package and ship your items if you can do the same thing from the comfort of your home.
While this is true, order fulfillment services are about freeing up your time, allowing you to scale your business without creating additional work for you. Let’s take a look at some of the central advantages of the services that Selery fulfillment offers.
Location-Based Services
One of the most important aspects of running a business is making sure that your products arrive in a timely fashion. With the same-day delivery or next-day delivery policies of companies like Amazon, waiting weeks for a parcel is a practice of the past.
With these set customer expectations, it’s important that you cut down on your shipping times. One of the easiest ways of doing this is to partner with an order fulfillment service located in a part of the country that is different from your own. If you need to ship to the East coast of the U.S.A, it’s going to take you a long time if you’re based in the West.
However, suppose you partner with a fulfillment service that has warehouses in the East. In that case, you’ll be able to dispatch your products directly from that warehouse. Not only does this cut down on your own personal stress, hoping your packages make it all the way across several state lines, but you’ll also be reducing the shipping time drastically.
Instead of a week or more, suddenly, your package will be getting to your customers within days. You’ll be satisfying your customers, leading to them returning again and again. As new customers are 5x more expensive to obtain when compared to retaining an old customer, then you’ll be boosting your customer lifetime value and improving your company revenue. An order fulfillment service will allow you to put your customer’s satisfaction first.
Opportunity to Optimize Your Business
One of the main problems with running a business, especially by yourself, is time. No matter what action you’re doing, from writing copy for your business to designing a new product, everything takes up your precious hours.
This is no different for packaging and shipping. The logistical parts of running a business eat away at your time, leaving you fewer hours in the day to focus on improving your business.
However, when you contract an order fulfillment service, you’re suddenly able to free up a significant portion of your day, delegating one of the most time-consuming tasks there is - packaging and shipping. Once this tedious task is taken care of, you’ll be able to devote more hours to improving your business. From developing new product ideas to creating marketing campaigns, you’ll have more hours in the day to work on gaining more customers. With more new customers comes more orders and more money back into your pocket!
Product Stock Insight
Due to the technology that order fulfillment centers typically employ, you’ll be able to check the current levels of your product with ease. As every single product that enters and exits a Selery facility is logged, you’ll be able to access the online portal and see your stock levels.
You’ll get notifications if certain stock is running low, as well as being able to check in on an order to see where in the process it currently is. By tagging products with unique barcodes, specific product information is always made available.
Same-Day Guarantees
With a devoted team of warehouse experts, an order will never be sat waiting around. Unlike when you’re managing your own shipping and may not have time to get an order ready, our team will be available around the clock.
We’ll be able to pick, package, and ship your order within the very same day. Your package will be on its way within 24-hours of your customer clicking ‘Purchase’. This speed is the difference between a customer that’s satisfied with their delivery time and one that’s contacting your customer support with questions about the location of their package.
Shipping Rate Discounts
At Selery, we partner with the very best shipping networks across the United States of America. Due to this, when working through our services, we’ll be able to organize discounts on shipping. Over time, even a small discount really adds up.
We primarily work with:
FedEx
UPS
USPS
DHL
Every penny saved on shipping is another penny that goes back into your business.
Technology-backed Assurance Policies
There is nothing more stressful than misplaced products or packages arriving in the wrong locations. As humans, we all make mistakes. But when it comes to your business, mistakes are the last thing you want to happen.
That’s why Selery uses an advanced technology-based system for tracking and checking products. Every item that arrives at our warehouses is given a special barcode, being registered directly to our system. This allows us to track exactly where your products are at all times.
Similarly, before shipping a product, we check and recheck that the right items are being packaged. Our quality assurance team is incredibly precise, offering only the best service when it comes to your products.
Even before delivery, products are double-checked, making sure that your products get right where they need to go.
Transparency
Leading on from our tech-based tracking system, we provide complete transparency when it comes to your products. You’ll be able to access our online systems and see the location and status of your products. You’ll also be able to visit our facilities and check up on your products in person. Just give us 24-hours of notice, and we’ll be happy to receive you.
Flexible Pricing Depending on Scale
Business is not a one-size-fits-all pathway, with every company needing different services throughout their journey. The same goes for your business. That’s why we offer flexible packages based on your company objectives.
You’ll be able to select the type of business you run, from E-Commerce, Subscription Box, FBA Prep, or One-Off orders. Similarly, you’ll be able to select one of the following qualities:
0-499 orders a month
500 orders a month
1k orders a month
2.5k orders a month
5k orders a month
10k orders a month
These customization options will let you find a deal that works perfectly for your business. What’s more, as your business grows, you’ll easily be able to scale your company. Instead of floundering as more and more orders come in, all you’ll need to do is move to a higher-order a month band.
We’ll take care of the rest, letting you get back to running the day-to-day operations. Scaling your business couldn’t be easier!
Dedicated Account Manager
At Selery, we know that the status of your business is of vital importance to you. At all times, you may want to drop in and check on your product levels, how the orders are progressing, wherein the process certain packages are, or just make sure everything is running smoothly.
That’s why we offer a dedicated account manager to every single business that we work with. We’ll assign one of our team members with years of experience to manage your products. They’ll be your first point of contact if you have any questions or want to know more about how things are going.
What’s more, you’ll be able to use our online system to seamlessly check on your products. By using our platform to directly message your dedicated account manager, you’ll get an instant response clarifying anything you need. Our account managers make sure they know your business inside-out, helping you on the path towards scaling and improving shipping rates.
What happens at an order fulfillment center?
When your company receives an order, what exactly is the process that occurs inside an order fulfillment center? When linked with an eCommerce store, your order will directly come through to the warehouse’s internal system.
From there, the warehouse staff will begin traveling around the warehouse, picking up the ordered products and moving them to the packaging station.
Once all the products have been doubled checked, they’ll then be packaged by our expert team. From there, we’ll hand them off to our shipping carriers.
In a matter of hours from receiving the order, your products will be well on their way!
This streamlined process allows you to ship products faster than ever before. Instead of waiting around to have a free moment in which you can pick, pack, and ship, our team will be on their way in minutes. Not only does using a fulfillment center speed up your shipping times, but you’ll also be cutting back on shipping costs and ensuring that every parcel sent to your customers is in the best shape possible.
How to choose an order fulfillment center
With a whole host of order fulfillment centers across the United States, how exactly do you find the right one for you? There are several criteria that we at Selery recommend you think about before committing to a warehouse.
Add Inventory with Ease
Without an easy way of getting your product to an order fulfillment service, you’ll be hard-pressed to ship anything at all. That’s why we make it easy for you to ship your product directly to us. Whether you want to store 10 pallets of products or 100,000, we’ll be able to accommodate you.
Communicate with our team to find out even more about the shipping process. We endeavor to make the process as easy as possible for you and will be able to guide you through the whole process.
We’ll handle unloading, unpacking, and will then store the product at its optimum temperature.
Routing Ordering System
Part of the magic of order fulfillment services is that we make your shipping process completely automated. The moment you receive an order, our integrated routing ordering system will deliver us the information of the order.
Due to this, the very minute you get an order, we’ll be on our way to pick the products out. This process means that we can offer same-day order fulfillment on your product shipments. Our systems integrate with: Shopify, Woo-commerce, Big Commerce, Magento, ShipStation, Squarespace, Wix, Amazon, and many more! Your customers will never be waiting around for their packages again.
Dashboard of Data
In the modern world, data is everything. Every action taken online generates a mass of data that can be interacted with to produce actionable insights. At Selery, we make sure that your product data is always up to date. By logging into our online portal, you’ll be able to see a real-time inventory breakdown.
This will let you know what items are low in stock, which are flying off the racks, and which have already run out. Based on this information, you’ll be able to schedule more deliveries of your products. No matter when or where, all your stock information will only be a click away.
Fits with Your Products
Not all order fulfillment services are built equally. In fact, many services focus on distinct parts of the packaging and shipping process. While some facilities offer support for large products, others are based on subscription box business models.
At Selery, we do it all. We’ll be able to accommodate the following practices: E-Commerce, Subscription Boxes, FBA Prep, and more - Contact us for more information about how we can help your business. We even allow you to add promotional inserts, flyers, cards, or general marketing materials to your packages before they ship - entirely for free!
When choosing an order fulfillment center, make sure they can handle your products and what form of fulfillment your business will need.
Handles Returns
No matter how phenomenal your product is, at some point, there will be a customer that wants a return. While some order fulfillment centers don’t have the capabilities to manage returns, at Selery we’ll manage the whole process for you.
Your customer will be able to send their package directly back to our warehouses. From there, we’ll assess the product for potential damages. If it’s still viable, we’ll then replace the product on the shelves, making sure your business doesn’t lose a cent.
High Accuracy and Speed
Without accuracy and speed, a fulfillment center is useless. You want to make sure that the fulfillment center that you partner with has a fantastic track record.
At Selery, we’re proud of our 99.96% accuracy rating, demonstrating the excellence of our service. Considering we manage hundreds of thousands of orders every week, our margin of error is practically non-existent.
Location
Finally, when considering which order fulfillment service you want to use, you should pay attention to where their warehouses are based. You want a shipping service that has an optimal position in relation to where your customers are.
Be sure to select somewhere specific, or somewhere accessible in the country. If you want to target one area, then it would be wise to have a storage facility near that location. However, if you want to scale your business, somewhere accessible to all parts is perfect.
We’ve found Texas to be the sweet spot, allowing us to ship across the whole of America in minimal times, from East to West.
When is it time to switch to outsourced fulfillment?
If you’re thinking about scaling your business by using a fulfillment service, there are a few key markers that tell you it’s time to make the jump to outsourced fulfillment. These primarily break down into: Consistent Sales - If you have infrequent or sporadic sales, you can most likely handle shipment by yourself. However, if you are getting lots of sales a month, or even every single day, then you’ve got a strong signal that you should be working with an order fulfillment service. You Lack Time - If you spend most of your day collecting and packaging orders, then you’ve got no time left to actually work on your business. If you want to free up your time and focus on expansion, then it’s time to outsource your fulfillment.
Shipping Times - If you lack the infrastructure to get a package across the country quickly, then your customers are going to be waiting around. If your orders are coming from all over the country, or even the world, then a shipping service will ensure they arrive on time and efficiently. The Perfect Fulfillment for You - If you stumble across a fulfillment service that matches your business goals, whether that be in terms of the scale you’re hoping to achieve or their capabilities, this may be a great sign that you make the move to using a fulfillment service. At Selery, we’re proud of the fact that we rise to the occasion, providing you with a phenomenal service, no matter the products or quantities. If you can identify with all three of these above markers, then it’s time you contacted an order fulfillment service today.
Final Thoughts
Order fulfillment services are the heroes of eCommerce in our modern world. Not only do they speed up shipping times, but they save your money and free up your workday, letting you focus on expanding your business. If your dream is to scale your business, then an order fulfillment center is the perfect partner for you.
Get in contact with Selery Fulfillment today to get a quote that directly accommodates your business. With same-day collection and shipping of your products, what are you waiting for?