The e-commerce business has made it easier for companies to sell their products directly to consumers, but it also creates unique challenges. How to manage your supply chain and ecommerce logistics services while keeping costs low? And how can we satisfy the growing demand by avoiding delivery delays and keeping order fulfillment consistent?
A 3pl partner can help you meet these standards by offering logistic solutions suitable for flexible and efficient supply chain management. A 3PL ecommerce partner guarantees a specialized logistics service to offer a fulfillment process capable of keeping up with the high rhythms of orders from digital commerce. Providing the space, the staff, a dedicated fulfillment network and the necessary equipment, it ensures that your stock is stored and shipped quickly and efficiently. By reading the article you will discover the advantages of an ecommerce fulfillment center and what the order fulfillment process is.
What is an Ecommerce Fulfillment Service?
An ecommerce fulfillment service is a type of logistics service that manages the flow of goods from supplier to customer. E-commerce fulfillment is often outsourced to a 3PL partner due to the volumes of operations and variety of processes involved. In fact, an online store can experience a constant and sometimes sudden increase in demand, especially in certain periods, such as before the Christmas holidays. This means online retailers must find a way to meet this demand, while keeping inventory under control and avoiding waste. A fulfillment center can help with this.
Does a 3PL partner also include fulfillment management?
A 3PL ecommerce company provides a wide range of logistics and supply chain management services, such as inventory management in dedicated warehouses, so that online sellers do not have to have warehouses to store their products but can rely on those offered by the 3pl partner, as well as benefit from the management and optimization of the whole fulfillment journey. 3PL fulfillment is therefore the ideal logistics partner because it includes the management of all the logistics processes necessary to provide an optimal ecommerce shipping service. For example, a customer places an order for a product on your website and the order will go through to your 3PL ecommerce partner who will take care of product packing and fulfillment operation. This same partner will handle your inventory in its dedicated warehouse.
Benefits of 3PL for your company
The advantages of using a 3PL service for e-commerce operations are many.
Improved Supply Chain Efficiency: A 3PL can help you manage your supply chain more efficiently by optimizing processes, inventory levels, and reducing shipping times and costs.
Greater Accuracy: A 3PL can help you improve the accuracy of your supply chain by offering transparency in every process and the ability to track items in transit in real time.
Improved customer experience: Using a 3PL can help improve the customer experience by providing a consistent service and faster shipping times.
Improved Operational Efficiency: A 3PL can improve operational efficiency by reducing manual tasks.
Improved financial performance: Using a 3PL can improve financial performance by reducing costs and increasing revenues.
How can a 3PL partner contribute to e-commerce?
Let’s say you sell products on your e-commerce platform. Every day you receive orders and your warehouse processes them and ships them to customers. But during the holiday season, you’re receiving more orders than usual, and your supply chain infrastructure may not be robust and flexible enough to handle the sudden increase. A 3PL partner, on the other hand, assists you by handling the sudden increase in order volume in a more controlled way.
Which 3PL should I choose?
Here are some elements to look for in an ecommerce 3PL:
– A solid track record: Make sure the 3PL you choose has a good track record and is able to handle your e-commerce operations without problems. Not all 3pls are able to handle certain order volumes.
– Strong data integration: Make sure the 3PL you choose has extensive data integration with your ecommerce platform. Via the catalog API and Webhooks for example, eLogy integrates seamlessly with all your online sales tools with a dedicated logistics WMS management.
– Customer references: Make sure the 3PL you choose has references from companies in your industry. The best way to decide whether a 3PL is right for your ecommerce business is to evaluate past or current customer reviews of the company.
Conclusion
With the growing trend of digital commerce, the way people shop has changed dramatically, and at the same time companies have adapted the way they sell products and services. New business models have emerged such as dropshipping, which allows the final seller not to have a personal warehouse with product stocks, but to draw directly from the wholesaler’s or manufacturer’s warehouse once the sale has been completed (read more about suppliers dropshipping Italy). In general, the world of online sales and specifically e-commerce has made it easier for companies to sell their products directly to consumers, but it also creates unique challenges. A 3PL partner can help you address these challenges by managing not only the flow of goods from supplier to customer, but also the entire supply chain.
