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With so many pick and pack companies out there, how do you know who to choose when it comes to fulfilling orders for your e-commerce business? The one thing you can be certain is that most pick and pack companies are going to tell you that they’re good at all types of fulfillment services, from retail and product fulfillment to e-commerce fulfillment. But there really are a select few that truly specialize in the intricacies of e-commerce fulfillment. So knowing what to look for will help you make the best decision.
E-commerce fulfillment involves shipping orders that come from an online web store (also known as a shopping cart). There are so many web stores and shopping carts to choose from – each with their own programming language and technology. Pick and pack companies that truly focus in on e-commerce fulfillment have the ability to integrate with most shopping carts seamlessly, meaning that they can automatically receive all of your orders from your website as well as send you back any information that you need after the packages are shipped (such as tracking information). There are a lot of details that can cause trouble and confusion when exchanging information between your shopping cart and your pick and pack company – from SKU information to handling charges passed on to customers to what happens if someone requests a change to their order after it has been submitted. This is why it’s important to have a pick and pack firm that knows what they’re doing.
Some of the questions you should ask your pick and pack company before making a decision:
What kinds of shopping carts can you integrate with?
What happens if a customer makes a change after the order has been submitted to you?
Can you update my shopping cart with the shipping costs?
Taking a thorough look at the pick and pack companies before making a selection can mean the difference between tremendous pain and great success.
Many small and medium sized businesses are searching for a fulfillment company to store and ship their goods for them. But determining where the fulfillment company should be located can be a great challenge. Of course, most businesses would prefer for a fulfillment company to be located right down the street. This way, they can easily travel to them to check on stock and in case there are any issues. While this isn’t a bad strategy to employ, looking at the world this way could also lead to missed opportunities.
First and foremost, finding a fulfillment company right down the street doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to be the best fit for your business. There are so many other factors that mean a great deal when considering who to choose to perform your outsourced warehousing and distribution. Other things could have a big impact such as the specialty of the fulfillment company and their pricing. For example, most people wouldn’t know this because most third party fulfillment firms tell you that they can do “any” project, but the reality is that most fulfillment vendors focus on certain types of clients. Some are really good at e-commerce fulfillment, while other are really good at retail fulfillment to retail stores. Furthermore, there are some really good fulfillment companies that offer great service and some of the most competitive pricing, but if you won’t consider anyone outside of your city, you might miss on these potential cost savings.
Second, a huge indicator of costs involved in any fulfillment project is shipping. If you choose a fulfillment company right by your company, it may or may not be the best decision to lower your overall shipping costs. Two factors come into play when making this determination – where your product is manufactured and where your customers are. For example, if your product is produced inChinaand most of your customers are inCalifornia, then it would make sense to located a company in or near a major port inCalifornia. And for many companies that ship to customers all across theUS, finding a fulfillment company that is centrally located may be the best option.
As you can see, this is no easy decision. But taking into account all of the factors, instead of just looking at convenience, will lead to the best decision overall for your company.
Especially in this economy, it’s vitally important to make sure that your company is doing everything that they can to keep costs in line, including making sure that your using the best merchant accounts. Credit card processing fees can add up significantly, especially as your monthly sales increases. For every $10,000 in credit card payments processed, you can expect to pay $300 to $400 per month in credit card processing fee – or more! So saving even a half of a percent, while not seeming like very much, can add another $50 per month into your pocket. This translates into $600 per year! And that’s only at a $10,000 per month level. Think if your business starts accepting significantly more in credit card payments.
So when you’re looking for the best merchant accounts and comparing among many different options, be sure to read all of the fine print. Like many other industries, merchant account companies like to play the shell game. Oftentimes, they’ll lure you in with low rates, only to hammer you with per transaction fees or monthly fees as well. And sometimes the opposite is true – they’ll promise not to charge you extra fees, but will increase the transactional fee percentage charged. Either way, pay close attention to all of the fees when comparing different credit card processing vendors.
And one final thing when making a choice: don’t mistake convenience with the right choice. Many merchants simply use the merchant account option that is provided through their platform, such as eBay or Amazon. While it is easy to use these options, they may not be the lowest priced option. So be extremely careful when looking at the options, and you could end up saving your company a great deal of money over time!
Using call centers to take a load off of your shoulders for your small business is one option that can truly help. All of you small business owners out there know just how valuable your time is – balancing the duties of many different functions within your company. This balancing act can become literally exhausting, not to mention close to impossible. And granted, it’s totally understandable how important answering phone calls from customers can be – this is the face of your company and can include sales, taking orders, handling complaints, etc. But the things that call centers can do to integrate within your business are astounding, making it seem as though they are contacting your own people.
In the beginning stages, these outsourced providers work closely with you in order to script and document all the different types of scenarios that can come about on a phone call. They can document exactly how you wish for them to respond to your customers, so that it closely mimics how you would respond yourself. This is a great fear of many business owners – letting go of the control for fear that they won’t be able to direct the process completely. In addition to scripting, they can also transfer calls to certain individuals in certain circumstances, so that important calls can be taken care of by someone internal to the company. This offers a high degree of flexibility and customization that makes outsourcing more of an option for some.
Add to this flexibility online integration and reporting – and you have a powerful tool to take a load off of your business. call centers can integrate with your shipping and crm systems, and the best companies offer online reporting of all of the call metrics. This helps you to have control and oversight over the process, instead of feeling like you’re on a remote desolate island without any information. It can truly be a powerful tool to help you run your business more efficiently – because then you can use this new found time on a key area of your business. And watch your business grow from there!
If your business imports goods from overseas to sell in the U.S., then you’ve come across freight forwarding. Simply put, freight forwarding is shipping product overseas, whether that’s importing or exporting. However, as easy as this sounds, international shipping can be extremely complicated. In addition to choosing the correct codes to classify your products, you must also clear your goods through customs.
This is why a lot of companies hire shipping companies in order to take care of all of their freight forwarding needs. But be careful, because not all freight forwarders are created equal. In fact, many of them aren’t completely open with their pricing, which makes comparing price quotes extremely difficult. Some things to keep in mind: always ask the freight forwarding companies to provide you with “all inclusive” pricing and to include services to get the product from the factory to your door.
There are quite a few other things that companies will not include in their pricing, in order to make their pricing look more competitive than others. For example, many freight forwarding companies will provide a quote to get your product from port to port. However, what this doesn’t include are the all important costs of getting your product from the factory to port exit, and then the port of entry to your warehouse. As you can imagine, these can be quite expensive – and if you make a decision without these costs factored in, you’ll no doubt be left speechless when you get your final invoice. I’ve seen numerous cases where companies were shocked with the final costs of freight forwarding once they get their invoice.
And remember, custom fees and custom clearances charges can add up as well, so please make sure that you get an adequate estimate of these charges before selecting a freight forwarder. Of course, you’ll have to know the precise product codes that apply for your goods, but this information will be needed regardless.
As you can see, there is a lot involved with bringing product in and out of different countries. Shipping is such an important part of your business. It really does pay to take a little time to learn more about it, so that you can navigate the shipping negotiations with confidence. Far too often, people are taken advantage because of their lack of knowledge. Our hope is that you’ll learn a little about the industry so that you don’t get taken advantage of.
Are you considering outsourcing pick and pack with a fulfillment company? This is a very important question that many product-related companies consider. While the answer may seem obvious to some, there isn’t really a clear cut answer in many instances. Here are some of the reasons it can be difficult for people to outsource, as well as some things to consider when making the decision.
First and foremost, it is extremely difficult for many small business owners to outsource anything, as many times they have been responsible for the core functions of the business. Many small business owners do a great job at the core functions of their business, and rightfully think that they can do them better than anything else. However, the hard truth is that we only have a certain number of hours in each day. Especially if a small business is pursuing growth, sharing responsibility is the only way. Whether this is hiring additional staff or outsourcing the pick and pack, getting it off of the plate of the small business owner can be extremely successful. The catch is this – they have to be willing to accept that whoever they give pick and pack responsibilities to will not necessarily do it as well as they did it. No one ever has as much care for a business as the owner. However, owners must realize that they can only do a certain amount of things each day, and if they can get others to perform even at 80-90% of their capability, then the job will be done well.
The other big thing that we see when considering whether or not to outsource pick and pack services is “where” the fulfillment company must be located. Again, going back to the “control” issue, most small business owners wish to have the pick and pack located close to them. They figure that this way they can have more control over the process. While this may be true, the unfortunate reality is that there aren’t necessarily quality, high performing fulfillment companies in all areas of the country. This means that they could compromise by going with a local firm, taking a great risk that they warehousing company doesn’t perform well. But the really good 3pl companies will do a great job, whether or not you’re located next door to them. And believe me, finding a great pick and pack company is worth its’ weight in gold.
Finally, when looking at whether or not to outsource, keep the costs in mind. However, it’s not all about whether or not it’s cheaper to outsource. This is because most small business owners fail to incorporate “opportunity costs” into the equation. Simply put, there is an opportunity cost of continuing to do the fulfillment in house. If you do, you won’t have time to, for example, locate new customers, grow your business, or uncover earth shattering business opportunities. In order to make the best decision, you must include opportunity costs into the equation.
