Fulfilling orders poses a huge challenge for entrepreneurs seeking to set up online stores. In the beginning, managing a few orders is easy; you can turn your garage or spare room into a warehouse and run everything from order picking to dispatching.
However, once orders start streaming in by the hundreds, packing products, processing orders, and arranging deliveries can become complicated.
Here is where you need to seek assistance from a company offering fulfillment services. In this guide, we explain the factors to consider when comparing marketplace fulfillment service providers.
Table of Contents
E-Commerce Platform Integrations
The first thing to consider is whether the fulfillment service integrates with the e-commerce platforms you use. With proper integration, the system can automatically transfer orders to the fulfillment center and send shipping and tracking information back to your sales channels.
Before choosing a marketplace fulfillment partner such as Packageman, make a list of every platform you currently use and ask whether each one is supported. Also, don’t forget to ask whether integrations are native, supported through an API, or dependent on third-party software.
Fulfillment Costs and Pricing Structure
The cost of using the marketplace fulfillment service also matters. However, this shouldn’t be watered down into a comparison between the cheapest and the most expensive option.
First, don’t evaluate fulfillment partners based on the blanket price. Instead, ask for a complete and detailed price breakdown. This will give you a clear understanding of how much you will pay for storage, order processing, shipping, and returns handling.
Shipping Speed and Delivery Coverage
How long it takes for orders to leave the warehouse and arrive at a customer’s doorstep can make or break your business.
The last thing you want is to receive numerous negative reviews and customer complaints due to late or wrong deliveries. As a result, when comparing marketplace fulfillment companies, ask about their standard delivery times.
Moreover, if you have customers across the country, find out whether the marketplace fulfillment company has the resources to deliver products to them. Lastly, confirm whether the firm can offer express shipping, especially if you promise next-day delivery on your store.
Scalability with a Marketplace Fulfillment Service
Your business can grow overnight or in a couple of months. What happens if the number of orders doubles within the next month? Will the fulfillment firm be able to satisfy your business’s needs?
Scalability is one of the biggest reasons businesses outsource fulfillment in the first place. There is little value in choosing a provider that works well now but becomes unreliable when your business grows.
Customer Support from a Marketplace Fulfillment Service
Technology, the warehouse network, and fast delivery are important, but customer support also carries equal importance.
Fulfillment problems can directly affect your customers, so you need to know how quickly issues will be addressed. Does the marketplace fulfillment partner offer customer support? What about their response times? Are they available 24/7?
These are some of the questions to ask potential fulfillment partners during the evaluation process. Before signing the contract, it is best to have a clear idea of what happens when an urgent order problem occurs outside normal business hours.
Wrapping Up
Choosing the right marketplace fulfillment service is an important operational decision for an e-commerce business. The best option should tick all the right boxes, from providing affordable pricing to reliable customer support.
