Each year, insightQuote conducts a warehousing cost and pricing survey, and we now have our results in from our survey concluded for 2021. Some incredible insights came out of this venture that we would like to share with the world. Before we get to that, we need to be clear about some of the assumptions that this survey makes so that people will understand how we tabulated the results that we received and what they mean in context.

Our Methodology for the 2021 Survey

The data that we collected was not connected back to the specific warehouse that answered the question. In other words, the answers were anonymous so that all participants felt that they could give their most truthful and honest answers. We were also careful to note any extreme answers that were far outside the bounds of the averages. This helps weed out the wildly high or low answers from the survey that might otherwise skew the data. Our goal in doing this was to try to find the most accurate averages in order to provide useful data to our readers.

There was no attempt made on our part to separate out the data based on geographic location for these summary results. Obviously, labor costs and warehouse lease rates will differ based upon location. However, we wanted to find the natural averages as they presented themselves through different areas, and thus we left in all data and did not attempt to segregate it based on geographic region.

Finally, we attempted to standardize answers as best as possible across the different questions. This means that if a survey taker gave more than one answer to a question, we attempted to figure out which answer fit in best with the standard answers given across the board for other questions.

Summary of the 2021 Results

We are so exciting to share some of the results that we obtained from our survey and would like to break it down into a few parts to make it more digestible and useful to everyone. The areas covered include:

• Performance Metrics of Warehouses
• Agreement Terms of Warehouses
• Warehousing Costs for the 3PL Warehouse
• Pricing And Discounts to Customers

Each of these pieces is important to the overall operation of a warehouse, and this is why it was so important to look at these criteria individually and see how various warehouse operators or owners were doing with their operations.

The last few years have seen consistent growth in the Fulfillment Industry, as more and more retailers move to online sales channels and away from traditional brick-and-mortar operations. But the Coronavirus pandemic seems to have accelerated the growth in online and e-commerce sales, in what seems to be additional movement in consumer behavior. As consumers transition to even more online ordering, the fulfillment industry has been the beneficiary of growth, providing businesses with the means to store and ship online orders.

This shift over the last year, as a result of Covid-19, has put fulfillment and warehouse operators in the driver’s seat in terms of commanding higher prices for their services, which is reflected in our survey results. But the growth of the industry is also continuing to put pressure on warehouse operators’ cost structures – particularly labor rates and warehouse lease costs. As warehousing and fulfillment providers expand and utilize more warehouse space, leasing costs are rising due to limited supply. Furthermore, finding and keeping full-time staff is increasingly difficult, putting an upward pressure on overall warehouse wages.

Below is a summary of the results of our 2021 survey, followed by a compete breakdown of all of the results.

Performance Metrics of Warehouses

How many warehouse owners/operators are actively measuring the performance of their warehouse? This and other performance related metrics were surveyed in our annual poll. Below are the specific questions we posed related to performance metrics:

1. If you own multiple warehouses, do you charge the same for each location?
2. What percentage of customers do you retain each year?
3. Do you measure performance?
4. What is your picking accuracy?
5. What is your inventory shrinkage rate?

Our survey showed that a very high percentage are actively measuring various metrics. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed answered in the affirmative when asked if they were measuring performance. We also found that order picking accuracy came in at 99.21% and inventory shrinkage measured at 1.85%. The order picking accuracy number is both high and not entirely surprising. Warehouses must maintain these incredibly high levels of accuracy if they are to remain competitive in the current landscape.

These accuracy figures and other high efficiency standards have made it possible for warehouses to retain 95.67% of their customers year-over-year on average according to our surveys. Lastly, 46% of companies surveyed that had multiple locations indicated that they charged the same rates to clients across all locations, whereas 54% of multiple-location warehousing companies varied their rate structures depending upon the location.

Agreement Terms of Warehouses

Agreements are an important part of outsourced warehousing – they dictate the terms and arrangements between the warehousing company and the user of the outsourced service. Fulfillment centers use varying strategies related to agreement terms, including the time horizon of the agreement, the amount and timing of price increases, and even who covers errors and inventory losses. Below are the questions that we asked in our annual survey related to agreement terms:

1. What terms do you offer on your agreements (e.g., month-to-month, annually, multi-year, no-term, etc.)?
2. Do you increase your pricing on a regular basis?
3. If you do increase your pricing, what percentage do you increase pricing?

This year, our warehouses indicated that the annual agreement was the most popular. 57% of respondents indicated that they offer annual terms. This was followed by multi-year terms at 48%, and month-to-month terms at 46%. Only 9% indicated that they offer no term as an option, which was a significant drop from the previous survey (16%). This goes to show that there are still plenty of different ways to do business in this industry.

The percentage of warehouses that increase pricing dropped to 61% this year (down from 69% last year). Furthermore, the average yearly increase jumped to 5.59% per year (up from 3.3% last year). The jump represented a 70% increase.

Warehousing Costs for 3PL Warehouses

Warehousing costs are on the rise, with demand for warehouse space and warehouse labor continuing to increase. On the other hand, due to the popularity of outsourced fulfillment services, corporate profits rose from last year. The following are the questions we asked our warehouses in our survey related to their internal cost structures:

1. What is your yearly cost per square foot of your warehouse space?
2. What is your starting hourly rate of your warehouse staff?
3. What is your annual pay for a warehouse management employee?
4. What is your corporate profit?

The average wage for a standard warehouse employee in our survey was about $14 per hour. Yearly management salaries came in at an average of $55,854.92 in our survey. Both of these were increases from our 2020 survey ($13.47 per hour for warehouse staff and $52,675 for warehouse management).

Despite these impressive wage offerings, the warehouses have been able to maintain steady profits. The average respondent stated that they had an 11% corporate profit percentage in the last year (a whopping 12% increase over last year’s average of 9.77%). Some are doing better than that number, and this is all true while offering consistently impressive wages to the rank and file and to management.

Pricing And Discounts to Customers

Some of the most fascinating and most useful data to come from our survey had to be in the realm of the warehousing and fulfillment pricing and discounts offered to customers. These are the rates that fulfillment centers offer customers.

For Order Fulfillment Pricing, We Asked:

1. What is your average pick and pack price for a single item direct to consumer order?
2. What is your average pick and pack price for a business to business order?
3. Do you offer discounted pick and pack rates?
4. How much do you charge for cartons, inserts, and promotional materials?
5. If you do offer discounted pick and pack rates, what is the break with which you provide the discount and how much of a discount do you offer?
6. How much do you charge for Amazon FBA orders?
7. How much do you charge for subscription box orders?

The average B2C pick and pack fee for single item orders was $3.13 (up from $2.96 a year ago) while the average B2B pick and pack fee for single item orders was $4.27 (unchanged from a year ago). This year, 72% of warehouses offered discounted pick and pack rates for high-volume shippers, which is up only slightly from last year. Discounts required monthly order volume ranges from 500-10,000, with an average of 2,500 order per month. The average discount was 6.94% and ranged from 2-10%, depending upon the specific warehouse.

Amazon has only continued to grow, and support of FBA and FBM orders is being offered by more and more fulfillment houses. 40% of the warehouses in our survey charged the same pricing for Amazon orders. For those that didn’t charge the same, the main difference was that some warehouses charged label fees of an average of $.35 per label for Amazon compliance, additional fees for compliance of $1-5 per order and per pallet fees of up to $15 per pallet. We also asked about subscription boxes. 88% charge the same as for normal orders. Those that charged something differently used labor time studies for the most part to determine bulk order processing synergies and any applicable rates.

The warehouses we surveyed continued the trend of last year and applied, on average, a cost plus a 10 – 15% add-on fee for cartons. Only 38% of fulfillment warehouses surveyed roll the carton fees into their pick and pack charges – the remaining 62% charge a separate carton fee per order. Average cost per carton was $1.17 and ranged from $.1-$.5 per carton to $1-2 depending upon the size of the carton. When it comes to adding inserts or other promotional materials, 18% of warehouses didn’t charge any additional fees (up slightly from 17% last year), while the majority of warehouses charged an average of $0.15 per insert (unchanged from last year).

For Storage Pricing, We Asked:

1. How do you charge your customers for storage?
2. What is your average price for storage?
3. How much do you charge for climate controlled, cold storage, or frozen storage?
4. Do you offer discounted storage fees?
5. If you offer discounted storage fees, at what breaks do you offer discounts and what discount is offered?

Not surprisingly, storage fees per ‘pallet’ was the most common way to charge customers for warehousing space, just as it was during last year’s survey. A full 93% of respondents charge per pallet (95% in 2020). This was followed by 30% who charge per bin, 27% who charge per cubic foot, 15% who charge per square foot, and 5% that offer other warehousing storage charge methodologies.

Both per pallet storage fees and per bin storage fees increased year-over-year in our survey. In 2021, respondents indicated that they charged an average of $14.79 per pallet (up from $14.58 per pallet), and $4.07 per bin (up from $3.30 per bin).  Both square footage and cubic footage pricing remained flat at $.75 per square foot, and $.45 per cubic foot. Some warehouses indicated that they are beginning to use storage fees per shelf to accommodate their customer’s needs. The average fee per shelf in 2021 was $5.11. As is usually the case, climate-controlled or cold storage fees are higher, and came in at $17.99 per pallet on average for those who did offer it. It was an average of $0.64 per cubic foot for climate controls.

Warehouses seemed to pull back a bit on their warehouse discounts offered to clients. Almost exactly half (49%) of respondents said that they offered discounted storage rates for customers who had over a certain number of pallets to put into long-term storage, which was down significantly from 62% in 2020. The most common discount was a pallet discount and it was offered out at between 50-100 pallets, on average. The average discount was between 5-10% and as little as 2.5% discount. You can see from these numbers that not every warehouse agrees on how or if to offer discounts to certain customers.

For Shipping Pricing and Discounts, We Asked:

1. How do you charge for shipping?
2. If you offer shipping discounts? If so, what discount do you give for ground, express, international, and LTL shipping?
3. Do you let customers use their own freight accounts?
4. Do you have Commercial Plus Pricing with the USPS?

Warehouses continue to use a variety of ways to charge for shipping services. 37% of our survey respondents indicated that they offer a discount off of published rates, and 64% offer a cost plus model – by far the most popular method. Surprisingly, 39% allow customers to use their own rates. This is a bit of a shock, considering that many warehouses earn a margin on freight that helps pays the bills – and when customers use their own rate structures that is lost revenue. However, some warehouses may be opting for less headaches managing the freight billing process, which usually happens more frequently due to the carriers requiring payment more quickly. Only 9% of warehouses in our survey offered no discount, which was up slightly from 7% last year. Lastly, 7% indicated that they offer another structure altogether.

For warehouses that do use shipping discounts, the average ground shipping service discount was 19.28% off published rates (with 15.5% markup over cost). For express shipping services, the average discount was 25.06% (with 15.62% markup over cost). For international shipping services, the average discount was 24.18% (with 16.25% markup over cost). For LTL shipping services, the average discount was 56.40% (with 15.62% markup over cost). These discounts offer warehousing customers a tangible cost savings by outsourcing in most cases.

We also asked warehouses whether they allowed customers to use their own freight account. Only 75% of warehouses surveyed allow customers to use their own accounts, down from 91% last year. For those that allow customer freight accounts, the average fee was an additional $1.54 for those that did charge additional, and it ranged from $.50 to $5.00 additional per order, or $10-$25 per pallet for LTL shipments. Also, we found that the majority (71%) of warehouses have Commercial Plus Pricing with USPS, which helps outsourced warehousing customers achieve better USPS rates.

For Set Up, Account Management, Receiving, and Returns Fees, We Asked:

While these ancillary fees won’t make up a large part of an outsourced fulfillment services monthly invoice, they are important to note. The following were the questions we asked related to set up fees, account management fees, receiving fees, and returns fees:

• Do you charge a routine account management fee, and if so, how much and how frequently?
• If you charge a set up fee for a new client, how much do you charge on average?
• How much do you charge for call center services?
• Do you charge receiving fees, and if so, how much?
• Do you charge returns fees, and if so, how much?
• How much do you charge for kitting services?
• How much do you charge for shopping cart integrations?

A slight majority of all respondents answered that they do, in fact, charge set up fees (53%). Of those that charged setup fees, the average price was $548.52 and responses ranged from $120 to $1500, depending upon the complexity. A large part of the setup fee is apportioned for integrating with any shopping carts or other online systems with clients. Of the nearly $550 average set up fee, a full $447.14, on average, was devoted to shopping cart of online system integration. Exactly half of our survey respondents charge a routine account management fee, for customer service related to managing the account. The average monthly rate was $160.10, and the ranges were from $75 to $500 per month, depending upon the service level promised.

Returns fees are charged by nearly all of our warehouses in the survey – a full 95%, with the average return fee per order of $5.28. This represents a sharp increase from 2020’s survey result of $4.05. Exactly the same percentage of warehouses (95%) charge a receiving fee. This comes as no surprise, as receiving is one of the most critical parts of the warehouse process. In fact, even those that don’t charge a receiving fee are likely to bake the cost into another aspect of their fee schedule. The average receiving fee charge varied by type. The average hourly charge was $36.09, almost identical to last year’s result. The average charge for a 40-foot container was $441. The receiving fee was charged at $2.58 per SKU on average (range of $2.5 to $10), and the average charge for receiving cartons was up sharply to $2.91, which was up from $1.50 last year (range of $0.5 to $5). In addition, the average per pallet receiving charge was $10.10.

The last fees that we surveyed were kitting services and inbound call center services. For kitting services, most companies use an hourly rate, since each project is unique in the amount of time it takes to perform. The average hourly rate for kitting came in at $35.47; and the average kitting cost per unit was $.30-$.63 for simple projects. Finally, our survey found that call center fees have dropped slightly. This year, they came in at an average of $.85 per minute, down from $1.05 a year ago.

As you can see, there is a lot of variety in how warehouse operations work, but the averages tell the general story of these warehouses. We would love to hear from you and see what additional data may be of interest to you. If you have an interest in warehouse processes and procedures, please contact us for more information.

To view the results of the previous surveys from the last couple of years, please see below:

2020:

Sizeable Increases in Warehousing and Fulfillment Costs According to insightQuote’s 2020 Poll

2018-2019:

Warehousing and Fulfillment Fees Rise According to Latest insightQuote Survey

2017:

Warehousing and Fulfillment 2017 Warehouse Costs and Pricing Survey

Everyone is shopping online these days. Even before the pandemic of 2020, business buyers were making the move to buying more and more online. Statista puts global B2B eCommerce over $12 trillion in 2019. That’s over four times the size of the B2C eCommerce market, which was a little over $3 trillion. While everyone may be doing it; they don’t all do it the same. There are clear differences between B2B and B2C buyers. Both sets of buyers may have some of the same expectations, but their shopping habits and behavior are quite different. That’s why their customer experience needs to be different and tailored to their wants and needs. 

What Both B2C and B2B Buyers Want

Before we delve into differences, let’s look at what both B2B and B2C buyers want in their eCommerce experience. Because they do have some commonality. 

Mobile Ready. Both B2C and B2B buyers are not tethered to desktops. So, they want a great experience whether they are on their smartphone or laptop. Your website should perform flawlessly on any device with any browser. Mobile searches exceed desktop ones and 51% of people 16-64 purchased a product using their mobile phone in April 2020.

Rich Content. B2C and B2B buyers are looking for solutions and searching for answers to their problems. They want in-depth product information. A pretty picture and 50-word product description just won’t cut it anymore. Both types of shoppers want access to user and product manuals, how-to videos, live or AI-enabled chat, use and case studies, FAQs, user forums, and as much information as you can provide about your product or service. 

Self-Serve Model. It’s important to provide all of this rich content because what buyers of both stripes really want is a completely self-serve model. They don’t want to pick up the phone or send an email. Customers demand speed and they want answers now! And 70% of customers expect your website to include a self-service application. So, provide order tracking, order history, return authorization, and other common customer service tasks directly from your website.

Frictionless Experience. What do the items above have in common? They all work together to create a frictionless experience. Now that’s what customers really want. So, give them one-page checkout, multiple payment options, easy reordering, and chatbots for inquiries. Consider your menu structure and make sure your design allows someone to purchase in as few clicks as possible. Every form they must fill out and every click they must make creates friction. If you provide site search (and you should) be sure to include an autofill function.

The Different Shopping Habits of B2C and B2B

So, while B2C and B2B may have some expectations for customer experience in common, they have quite different shopping habits.

Shopping Habits of B2C Buyers

B2C buyers may not even set out to make a purchase. They may see an ad on social media, receive an email offer, or just be simply surfing the net.

They tend to make purchases based on emotion. That makes them more receptive to advertising and marketing efforts. They might see a new product and think “that’s something that I might enjoy”.

B2C buyers tend to make more one-off purchases than B2B buyers. They aren’t looking to establish a relationship; they just want a product that they might not even know existed an hour ago. And they don’t usually buy in large quantities.

When it comes to cost, the B2C buyer doesn’t negotiate cost but price may be a major factor in their purchase decision.  And when it comes to making the purchase decision, this shopper generally isn’t obtaining the approval of others to make the purchase. They simply pull out their credit card or enter their PayPal information and complete the purchase.  

Shopping Habits of B2B Buyers

B2B buyers usually start their purchase journey with a search for product information. They take their time gathering information because they usually have defined product specifications in mind. Potential products must be measured against these specifications. They may be looking for items that must be customized to their needs

There’s little to no emotion in a B2B purchase. Advertising and marketing efforts revolve around resolving pain points. This buyer is making a well-researched rational buying decision and from start to finish, the sales cycle is long.

That’s because B2B buyers tend to purchase the same product again and again. They are evaluating the vendor as much as the product. The relationship is important and they are generally looking at post-purchase support as well. To this buyer, the purchase experience is even more important than the price.

And, when it comes to price, the B2B buyer is accustomed to negotiating a price based on volume and frequency of purchase. This buyer expects their prices as well as freight and payment options to be customized to their needs. They generally evaluate multiple suppliers at one time. Then when it comes time to make the purchase, a B2B buyer usually must obtain approval from others. 

How eCommerce Meets the Needs of B2C and B2B Buyers and Sellers

eCommerce must adapt to meet the different needs of B2C and B2B buyers and one size doesn’t fit all situations. 

eCommerce for B2C

B2C buyers are just as happy shopping on a marketplace like Amazon as they are on a company’s website. B2C sellers need to offer multiple channels for eCommerce. If you have brick and mortar stores, your eCommerce strategy should align. Options like buying online and pick-up in-store and location services that can send push notifications when shoppers come inside provide the type of personalized attention retail shoppers love.

Eye-catching graphics and design are a must to catch and hold the attention of B2C shoppers. Remember these are impulse buyers and eCommerce allows you to convert interest to a sale right away. 

If they don’t convert, the eCommerce solution should provide ways to capture abandoned carts and turn them into completed sales. 

For consumable items, a subscription model combined with eCommerce keeps repeat orders coming in and makes cash flow even more predictable. 

Don’t underestimate the power of social media to fuel B2C eCommerce. Whether you operate separate storefronts on Facebook or Pinterest or use social to keep the sales funnel full, your eCommerce strategy must include a social component. 

A B2B eCommerce platform must integrate well with your social channels, have a robust CMS, offer multiple payment options (credit/debit and PayPal) with a secure checkout, be easy to get up and running quickly. Some software as a service (SaaS) options like BigCommerce or Shopify are easy to implement but lack the ability to customize workflows.

eCommerce for B2B

B2B buyers are looking for a different type of personalization. They want custom catalogs and price lists that are tailored for their account so be sure to show this buyer their pre-negotiated prices when they log-in. You may need to create different storefronts for different verticals. 

For visitors that aren’t yet customers, an automated RFQ workflow will allow shoppers to get accurate quotes quickly.

Because most business purchases involve more than one buyer, it’s important to allow your users to define the roles and permissions that align with their internal practices. 

Because most purchases are repeat sales, by providing quick order forms, accepting CSV file uploads, and order from sales history functions, buyers can place their orders quickly and accurately without the need to speak to a sales rep. 

The secure checkout for B2B eCommerce should support multiple workflows. Most business purchases aren’t paid for with a credit card at the time of purchase. So, options for establishing a line of credit and paying on terms must be provided. Your eCommerce solution will need to integrate with partners that factor your receivables, check credit, or perform other financing services.

Speaking of integration, in B2B eCommerce, the ability to work and play well with other solutions is essential. B2B buyers may want to use EDI or punchout catalogs and you’ll need to integrate. Your eCommerce solution should seamlessly slide into action with your ERP, WMS, PIM, CMS, and other business software. 

B2C and B2B eCommerce are Different – So Are Their Solutions

As you can see, while B2C and B2B buyers have some common expectations, their actual transactional needs are very different. B2B is much more complex than B2C.

B2B eCommerce solutions need to be built from the ground up for how companies do business with each other. B2C platforms repurposed for B2B just aren’t up to the job. So, when you look for a B2B eCommerce solution be sure to look for:

• Support for multiple business models – B2B, B2B2B, B2G, and B2C – as your business strategy changes, your eCommerce solution should change with you.
• Ability to handle unlimited SKUs is imperative – with multiple warehouses or stock locations, so don’t be limited by the number of SKUs your solution can process.
• CRM integration or inclusion – your solution must either include or integrate with a CRM to increase the productivity of your sales and marketing assets.
• User-defined roles and permissions – make like Amazon Business and let your users set limits on their authority to purchase.
• Robust workflow engine – your solution should conform to your business, not the other way around. Make sure you can define workflows.

There are many eCommerce solutions on the market today. If your digital strategy includes B2B eCommerce, make sure your solution is B2B ready and not repurposed B2C.

Warehousing and fulfillment – two words that bring up mental images of huge structures, palletized goods, and complex shipping rules. Some large brands have the resources to tackle these processes on their own. Many small businesses, however, tend to struggle to find the warehousing and fulfillment solutions that work best for them.

Recent shifts are altering that landscape further, as e-commerce selling and marketplaces grow in popularity. What was once a drab, uninteresting industry has transformed into something much “sexier.” Budding interest in the sector has brought a lot of changes – some for the better and some that remain to be seen.

In fact, the industry is changing so rapidly that it is becoming somewhat unrecognizable in many ways. In this article we will explore some of these more seismic shifts and look towards some of the changes that are forever altering the landscape of warehousing and fulfillment forever.

The Astonishing Shifts Within the Warehousing and Fulfillment Industry

Brands Morphing into Fulfillment Services Companies

As has always been the case, many brands and companies that sell products choose to pursue their own fulfillment operations – in many cases because they can’t find an outsourced fulfillment service that meets all of their needs. But what is happening more frequently is that more and more of these brands are leveraging their own in-house fulfillment divisions into the creation of a full-service outsourced fulfillment operation. One of our own customers, Next Level Resource Partners, successfully achieved this metamorphosis. NLRP began as a sporting goods business and has evolved into an organization that also offers highly customized fulfillment services.

“We have always managed our back of house operations for our brand Harrow Sports, so the formation of NLRP was very organic,” noted Keith Krasney, V.P. of sales of Next Level Resource Partners. “Our sporting goods business is extremely custom & specialized and it would be difficult to turn that over to a 3^rd party. To us it was clear, there are thousands of brands who need specialized, white glove services and we had decades of experience via our own brand. The ability to think like a brand owner allows us to provide a very consultative approach to our clients. Some of the biggest pain points our apparel customers experience when attempting to outsource with other providers are their extremely high SKU counts, the dynamic storage space requirements needed, the strict process controls necessary to pick similar and “like” items, and the specialized services needed the would require customization. We’ve done it well for years, so it was only natural to help others. This has streamlined our supply chain, increased our capabilities, and has allowed the company to help numerous other brands that need specialized fulfillment services as well.”

Easy Access to Technology and Airbnb Style Fulfillment Networks

Technology, in part, has fueled some of this shift. Currently, it is easier than ever to procure highly sophisticated warehouse management systems to “become” a third party logistics warehousing company (3PL). These systems, in many cases, integrate with shopping carts, marketplaces, and shipping platforms – making third party fulfillment more attainable for newbie 3PLs.

Other brands– that aren’t even fulfillment providers– are also starting to plug-in to Airbnb-style fulfillment networks. These provide an easy opportunity to amass additional revenue streams. Simply put, these networks allow anyone with a warehouse to plug into their warehouse management system and use their technology to process warehousing (and in some cases, fulfilment) for other businesses that need additional help. In the case of these Airbnb-style options, there are some significant potential downfalls (read here for more details), but they are gaining in popularity nonetheless.

Fulfillment Companies are Incubating Small Businesses

Fulfillment companies are changing the way they do business, too. Some of them have even begun to “incubate” small businesses. This partnership helps small businesses grow thanks to fulfillment companies’ support. Fulfillment companies may take any number of steps to help incubate a small business, including:

• Assisting with marketing (especially online marketing services such as paid search marketing and search engine optimization)
• Providing fulfillment spaces for collaboration
• Connecting small businesses with investors
• Placing small businesses in flex spaces at fulfillment centers so that they can “grow into” more advanced fulfillment services

Even the Big Online Selling Platforms are Shifting Towards Fulfilment

If you try to think of the biggest corporate name in the fulfillment world today, your mind probably flies to Amazon. We don’t blame you! Amazon is still a giant in the realm of fulfillment, but other big players are beginning to recognize opportunities in the industry, too.

Shopify, Walmart, eBay, and other commerce leaders are inching further into the fulfillment world to compete with Amazon. Nobody can predict how these shifts will play out – for Amazon or for The Other Guys. But they’re changing the landscape of fulfillment as experts know it.

Fulfillment Centers and Businesses Working Together for Expansion

Fulfillment centers have even started to partner strategically with other businesses that have idle warehouse space. More and more we’re hearing stories of companies in our vast network of warehouses where, instead of procuring and leasing warehouse space in a new market, they are hunting down a company with idle warehouse space in their target new market and partnering up with them to expand into that new market.

Here’s how it works – rather than starting a new operation in a new market from the ground up, they simply train the partner company’s staff on systems and processes used, spend some time with them for a short period of time overseeing the training process, and then remotely monitor their performance alongside occasional visits. Then, once the operation grows enough, they lease or purchase space in the area and branch out on their own.

The entire process mitigates risk and ramps up the time to market in new locations. Procuring warehousing is expensive, difficult, and comes with a plethora of red tape. In some cases, it’s easier to work together with other businesses to create a solution somewhere in the middle.

Co-Warehousing with Other Merchants

You’ve heard about co-working, but how about co-warehousing?

Co-warehouse space is beginning to pop up across the country. In these spaces, self-fulfillers have the freedom to rent and share flex space as desired (or necessary). This allows small brands to handle shipping services without committing to the lease of a full warehouse on their own. Places like Saltbox in Atlanta are pioneering this new option. Usually, the co-warehouse space will provide warehouse space for storage, forklifts or pallet jacks, shipping stations, pick areas, and other aspects needed to perform the entire spectrum of do-it-yourself fulfillment.

Change is the New Constant for the Warehousing and Fulfillment Industry

These new changes are helping sellers and distributors of products find creative solutions to their problems and challenges. In the coming years, we expect to see more and more “outside of the box” thinking in this otherwise very predictable and historically undisrupted industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic is sending shockwaves throughout global supply chains, so it’s no surprise to learn that US and Canadian warehousing and fulfillment industry is experiencing significant impact as well. In order to gauge the short-term ramifications of this deadly virus on fulfillment providers throughout the US and Canada, we conducted a poll of the 600+ warehouses in our network. In the poll, we asked these five questions:

1. Are you currently open and shipping orders for customers?
2. Has your overall order volume for all of your customers remained the same, decreased, or increased as a result of the COVID-19 situation?
3. What is your estimated percentage change in overall order shipping volume for all of your customers?
4. If any of your customers’ order volumes have increased, what types of items do they sell?
5. In what other ways is your business being impacted as a result of this crisis?

We thought that it would be helpful to not only provide timely data on the virus’ impact on businesses from the perspective of the fulfillment industry, but also to let fulfillment business owners in this vertical understand how other companies are being impacted during these unprecedented times.

Warehousing and Fulfillment is an Essential Service

One small blessing for the fulfillment industry is that the services these companies perform are considered an essential service in the event of a catastrophe such as COVID-19. Global organizations and even cities such as New York have deemed mailing and shipping and warehouse/distribution and fulfillment as essential. Especially since the world has already adopted online ordering habits over the past decade, it’s not a stretch for consumers to utilize e-commerce channels for purchases during a crisis. During times like these, 3PL warehouses can continue to deliver products to customers who order online, assisting in the social distancing efforts and helping to flatten the curve and contain the spread of the virus.

From shipping basic supplies like food and household products to medical necessities like thermometers and medicine, fulfillment companies are critical in keeping people at home rather than risking infection by venturing out into public areas. Furthermore, population groups that are at extremely high risk due to previous conditions or age or increased susceptibility to catching the coronavirus rely upon products being delivered to their doorstep.

How Many Fulfillment Companies Are Still Shipping Orders Amidst COVID-19

All of the fulfillment companies that responded to our survey indicated that they are still operational and shipping orders – a full 100%. None of our fulfillment centers indicated that they were fully closed. Only 7.7% of respondents indicated that they were operating on a limited basis.

Despite Being an Essential Service, Many Products Aren’t Essential

When asked if the COVID-19 outbreak has increased or decreased overall order shipping volume, only 13% of all respondents indicated that order volume has increased. These companies, perhaps highly leveraged towards customers that ship essential or medical related items, are reaping the benefits of such a strategic mix of clients during a global outbreak of this nature.

But these fulfillment centers that are shipping more orders than normal are definitely a minority. 32% of fulfillment respondents to our survey are shipping the same number of orders as they were before the outbreak struck, and an astonishing 55% of fulfillment companies are shipping fewer orders than normal. Many of the fulfillment warehouses we polled are experiencing significant declines in orders and revenue that are leaving them with very real and lingering questions about the overall impact that this crisis will have on their businesses, despite the fact that they are an “essential service.”

Overall Fulfillment Volumes are Down by 18% on Average

The short-term devastation of the coronavirus is already being seen in the warehousing industry. Of all the fulfillment centers that responded on our survey, the average change (plus or minus) in order shipping volume was a whopping decrease of 18%. Fortunately, many companies noted that shipping volumes were still unchanged, and only a small percentage of fulfillment providers have seen their order volumes increase (as much as 10% to 30%). But for over half of the respondents of our survey, significant decreases in shipping are being seen. For example, the average decline in order volumes for those that reported decreases was about 25%, and the highest decreases reported were up to an astonishing 70-80%.

What Products are in High Demand During the COVID-19 Crisis

When we asked the fulfillment houses in our network about the products that were still shipping in high demand during the last few weeks, many of the answers were expected, with food and medical items showing up most frequently in the survey answers. Some of the most commonly shipped items during this crisis so far include:

• Foods and groceries, especially dry goods like pasta
• Medical and pharmaceutical products (one company even noted ‘medical beds’)
• Personal care and beauty items
• Nutritional supplements
• Emergency deliveries
• Hand sanitizers and disinfectants and cleaners

However, some of the items on the list of products that are flying off the shelves are somewhat surprising, including:

• Exercise equipment
• Packages being sent to attendees of events that have been cancelled
• Samples being sent to customers to cope with the crisis
• Board games and puzzles
• Books and crafts
• Footwear and apparel
• Supplies related to precautionary spacing of workplaces
• Computer components
• Pet supplies and products (one company even noted ‘back yard chicken supplies’)

Due to in-home isolations, consumers are increasingly turning to solutions that will help them exercise at home, including exercise equipment. And with kids at home and many schools opting to try to utilize homeschooling methodologies, we expect that homeschool supplies, books, arts and crafts will continue to be popular during this time. In order to ensure proper use of computers and printers, many consumers could be forced to order computer related supplies for their in-home systems. Of course, pets need to be maintained during this time as well, so pet supplies and products are in high demand as well. Another area that was somewhat surprising was that businesses are sending out samples to help consumers cope with the crisis and perhaps perform some light marketing, and packages are being sent to would-be attendees of events, in hopes that things will pick up swiftly after this crisis is contained.

Impact of COVID-19 on Fulfillment Companies is Far Greater than Sales and Revenue

Perhaps one of the most intimate and impactful ways that this crisis is altering the fulfillment landscape relates to all of the changes that companies are having to make ‘on the fly’ in order to cope with the practical implications of maintaining a healthy workplace – both physically and mentally.

According to one warehouse representative, SOP’s (standard operating procedures) are changing rapidly to cope with COVID-19 and to mitigate risk. Some of the ways that warehousing companies are changing includes:

• Being vigilant about working 6 feet apart and limiting all contact (even going so far as to set up workstations that didn’t otherwise exist before the crisis)
• Diligently enforcing sanitation policies of hand washing and covering mouths when coughing, and erring on the side of caution in terms of sending employees home at the first sign of sickness
• Instituting much stricter policies around interactions with outsiders, including truck drivers and customers
• Allowing some administrative staff to work remotely from home
• Updating policies to be more relaxed and flexible for PTO and employee time off, not only to deal with potential health issues for the employee but also for their families and children
• Alternating shifts and schedules to keep employees fresh and less apt to illness and burnout
• Helping employees get to work, including paying for delivery services to bring employees to work if they’re unable to drive or in cases where they rely upon public transportation

On top of all of the changes, it’s becoming very challenging even finding temporary workers to help fill the gaps where needed, as was noted by a number of our warehouse respondents.

The Mental Aspects of Dealing with COVID-19 in the Fulfillment Industry

Of course, the coronavirus is causing a great deal of anxiety for fulfillment workers and management. Maintaining a positive corporate morale is an extremely important task in a situation where there are so many unknowns. Our survey uncovered in some cases that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep employees coming to work due to the anxiety and fear that some workers have about potentially catching the coronavirus in the work setting. In other cases, especially part-time employees, workers are flat out not showing up for work or are notifying warehouses that they will not be coming in.

Lots of questions are being asked by clients and staff alike, wondering if shutdowns are on the horizon, if there will be layoffs, or generally how the company will be impacted financially by the outbreak of the virus. Some companies have had to reduce hours already, which makes maintaining a positive company morale even more challenging. And in scenarios where warehouses are continuing at a normal pace or even growing in shipping volume, concerns still loom regarding whether or not their customers will be able to pay their bills. The fear of a cash flow crunch in the near-term is significant among respondents. One common theme among most warehouses in our survey was that the bulk of the growth strategies for the upcoming year will likely have to be significantly adjusted.

Preparing For a Rebound Still Presents Challenges for Fulfillment Centers

Lastly, although there is optimism among the industry about achieving normal operations at some point in the future, there are also some additional hurdles to clear as the economy rebounds. Incoming shipments currently are light or non-existent, and some warehouses aren’t expecting inbound replenishments for a few months. Once new products start to be sent, particularly from overseas manufacturers and suppliers, it could take some time to flush out these receipts and truly replenish stock to meet upcoming demands. While this is a significant challenge to overcome, it’s no doubt a welcomed challenge that the industry is anxiously anticipating.

Warehousing and fulfillment providers most certainly keep our global economy moving. They will continue to work through the challenges of this virus, and will help us not only get through the kinks of replenishing stock once the outbreak curtails, but will continue to fuel the world in the distant future.

In January 2020, we conducted our annual warehouse costs and pricing survey. This year, our participation numbers continued to grow, and we would like to sincerely thank every warehouse who participated in this year-long survey.

Before we jump into the results, let’s talk about some of the assumptions we made during the process of the survey. For starters, we didn’t record which answers were associated with which warehouse. This allowed our vendors to remain confidential and gave them the ability to answer in-depth questions without fearing accidentally providing critical information about their competitive practices.

We also excluded any survey answers that were too far outside of the bell curve. For example, if a warehouse indicated that they paid $100 per-square-foot for warehouse space, we would exclude that answer if the bell curve average was $20 per-square-foot. In these cases, we assumed that exceedingly high or low answers to survey questions were due to misunderstandings — not massive price fluctuations. That being said, we still included abnormal figures, as long as those abnormal figures didn’t make a significant change to the bell curve alone.

Third, we didn’t segregate any of the results by geography. The primary reason for this was to simplify the overall architecture of the survey results. However, we do fully acknowledge that removing geography from the equation can skew the results of the survey — since we have vendors operating in the United States, Canada, and across Europe.

Fourth, we computed the averages to questions with multiple-format answers to provide simplification. So, if we asked warehouse owners what they pay their management, we may receive answers that include both salary and hourly wages. Instead of supplying both forms and increasing the complexity (and digestibility) of the answers, we simply calculated hourly into salary and presented salary as the only answer.

Finally, if there were any responses that warranted some further explanation, we elaborate on those responses below. This allows readers of the results to better understand the context and circumstances surrounding the response.

Summary of 2020 Survey Results

Overall, the growth in e-commerce fulfillment, the complexity of same-day returns, and rising warehouse market costs resulted in warehousing costs rising this year. For the first time, we also measured add-on services (e.g., inbound calls, kitting, shopping cart integration, etc.) — which are being utilized by many warehouses to help offset the growing costs of fulfillment. This year’s survey showed an increase in costs across the entire warehouse ecosystem (e.g., leasing costs, employee rates, salaries, etc.), yet the total profitability of warehouses rose significantly. After last year’s decline, warehouses have found their momentum and are gaining significant profit growth — partially fueled by increased customer fees and technology integration.

You can view some of the high level summary results on our infographic:

Performance Data

For questions relating to performance data, our primary objective was to discover how many fulfillment providers leverage performance data to measure and improve their quality-of-work. We asked fulfillment providers the following questions:

1. If you own multiple warehouses, do you charge the same for each location?
2. What percentage of customers do you retain each year?
3. Do you measure performance?
4. What is your picking accuracy?
5. What is your inventory shrinkage rate?

We found that 53% of respondents with multiple warehouses have a unique pricing structure for each location, while 47% operate on identical charging structures between all locations. As we continue the trend of year-over-year tech adoption, we saw a rise in the number of fulfillment providers who measure performance (93% vs. last year’s 82.9%).

The overall picking accuracy has also jumped from 99.19% to 99.31% — likely as a result of wider performance measurement adoption. Surprisingly, inventory shrinkage rates jumped from 1.26% last year to 2.84% this year, possibly indicating frictions in performance measurement adoptions. Finally, customer retention rates dropped this year. In 2018, we saw fulfillment providers keeping 99.52% of their customers. This year, that number has dropped to 94.5%. This is likely due to an increase in competition fueled by fulfillment demand.

Agreement Terms

We often get questions surrounding the standard terms of agreement that fulfillment centers utilize from companies and warehouses looking to outsource their fulfillment needs. To help shed light on these questions, we asked participants:

1. What terms do you offer on your agreements (e.g., month-to-month, annually, multi-year, no-term, etc.)?
2. Do you increase your pricing on a regular basis?
3. If you do increase your pricing, what percentage do you increase pricing?

In our survey, we found that 55% of fulfillment providers offer month-to-month agreements, 54% offer annual agreements, 45% offer multi-year agreements, 16% offer no term agreements, and 46% offer multiple types of agreements depending upon needs. Overall, we saw a 21% increase in multi-year agreements and a whopping 33% increase in no term agreements. There was also a slight decrease in both month-to-month agreements (1.8%) and annual agreements (12%).

The number of warehouses that increase pricing on a regular basis also jumped to 69%. That’s a 5% increase from 2018 and a 27% increase from 2017. For those that increase pricing, they do so by an average of 3.3%. Again, that’s a slight decrease from last year’s 3.7%. 92% of warehouses who increase pricing do so annually, while 8% do it every 2 (or more) years.

Warehousing Costs

Warehouses looking to remain competitive need to understand how much other warehouses are paying to operate and maintain their warehouses. Here are some questions we asked:

1. Yearly cost per square foot of your warehouse space?
2. Starting hourly rate of your warehouse staff?
3. Annual pay for a warehouse management employee?
4. Corporate profit?

The average yearly cost per square foot of warehouses was $7.81, increasing $0.03 from last year. Additionally, the average starting hourly rate of basic warehouse staff was $13.47. For warehouse managers, the average salary was $52,765 (or $25.37 per hour). Last year’s results stood at $13.32 and $50,524, respectively. Corporate profit rose on average from 7.25% to 9.77%, largely as a result of the the increases in pricing, which are detailed below.

Pricing and Discounts

In addition to fundamental questions about warehouse pricing, we polled warehouses to get deeper insights into their pricing structures, discounts, and additional services. These questions will help warehouses, businesses, and fulfillment providers better understand some of the pricing complexities in the market — including the average fulfillment pricing, costs, and fees.

For Order Fulfillment Pricing, We Asked:

1. What is your average pick and pack price for a single item direct to consumer order?
2. What is your average pick and pack price for a business to business order?
3. Do you offer discounted pick and pack rates?
4. How much do you charge for cartons, inserts, and promotional materials?
5. If you do offer discounted pick and pack rates, what is the break with which you provide the discount and how much of a discount do you offer?
6. How much do you charge for Amazon FBA orders?
7. How much do you charge for subscription box orders?

The average B2C pick and pack fee for single item orders was $2.96 (up from $2.86 a year ago) while the average B2B pick and pack fee for single item orders was $4.27 (up from $4.17 a year ago). This year, 69% of warehouses offered discounted pick and pack rates for high-volume shippers, which is down 6% from last year. Discounts range from 2 – 10% (with an average of 6.8%), and the average break is at 2,400, with a range of 500 to 20,000.

This year, we also asked warehouses about how they handle Amazon FBA orders. The vast majority of warehouses do not discount for Amazon, and their pricing structure is generally the same (plus $0.2 – $0.5 per SKU label and $.50 per carton label). We also asked about subscription boxes. Usually, the price is the same for subscription boxes, but some warehouses do a mass kitting project at a better rate before charging pick and pack for single item orders.

When it came to cartons, warehouses we surveyed applied cost plus a 10 – 15% add-on fee (overall average was a cost plus 14.5%). A whopping 77% of all warehouses The average cost for materials  was $0.99 on average with a  range of $.25 – $1.50. When it comes to adding inserts or other promotional materials, 17% of warehouses didn’t charge any additional fees, while the majority of warehouses charged an average of $0.17. The methodology behind inserts ranged drastically from warehouse-to-warehouse, with many offering free initial inserts with charges for each additional insert.

For Storage Pricing, We Asked:

1. How do you charge your customers for storage?
2. What is your average price for storage?
3. Do you offer discounted storage fees?
4. If you offer discounted storage fees, at what breaks do you offer discounts and what discount is offered?

By far, the most common was of charging for storage was via pallet storage (95% — which is a 5% increase from last year). This was followed by cubic foot (31%), square foot (27%), per bin (25%), and other (4%). 53% of surveyed warehouses used multiple storage charging methods.

The price for each storage method (besides per bin) also increased this year. Pallet storage is up to $14.58 (up from $13.20 last year) per pallet. Per bin storage is up to $3.3 (up from $2.85 last year) per bin. Square foot storage is up to $0.77 (up from $0.66 last year) per square foot, and cubic foot storage remained unchanged at $0.495. We also asked warehouses what they charge for climate-controlled storage, with the average premium at 173% over the base storage fee (anywhere from $16 – $23 per pallet).

The number of warehouses offering storage discounts is up to 62% this year, a remarkable 29% increase from last year. This discount was applied at an average of 420 pallets, with the majority of warehouses offering the discount at breaks of 100 to 500 pallets. The average discount range was 2 – 15%, and the average discount was 7%. Some provide discounts for double stacking pallets, and some discount storage if order volumes increase.

We Surveyed the Warehouses About Their Shipping Pricing and Discounts. Questions Included:

1. How do you charge for shipping?
2. If you offer shipping discounts? If so, what discount do you give for ground, express, international, and LTL shipping?
3. Do you let customers use their own freight accounts?
4. Do you have Commercial Plus Pricing with the USPS?

With regards to shipping and pricing, we found that warehouses offer a variety of approaches (and 23% offer more than one approach).  32% of warehouses offer discounts off of the published rates, 45% offer cost-plus, 7% offer no discounts, 36% allow customers to use their own rates, and 9% exist in the “other” category.

For warehouses that do use shipping discounts, the average ground shipping service discount was 13% off published rates (with 12.5% markup over cost). For express shipping services, the average discount was 20% (with 12% markup over cost). For international shipping services, the average discount was 11% (with 12% markup over cost). For LTL shipping services, the average discount was 57% (with 15% markup over cost).

We also asked warehouses whether they allowed customers to use their own freight account. A massive 91% of warehouses allow customers to use their own accounts, while 9% do not. For those that allow customer freight accounts, the majority don’t charge additional shipping processing fees (68%), but the average charge for those who do is $1.59 (range of $0.5 to $2 on average). Also, we found that the majority (64%) of warehouses have Commercial Plus Pricing with USPS.

Set Up, Account Management, Receiving, and Returns Fees

Like in our 2018/2019 survey, we asked questions about some of the other ancillary fees fulfillment companies charge. In addition, we asked about some new services such as shopping cart integrations, kitting services for subscription boxes, and call center services. As these additional profit streams continue to grow, we’ll continue to add new questions to our surveys in the future to ensure that fulfillment centers, warehouses, and businesses understand the global optics of fulfillment profits.

We asked questions like:

• Do you charge a routine account management fee, and if so, how much and how frequently?
• If you charge a set up fee for a new client, how much do you charge on average?
• How much do you charge for call center services?
• Do you charge receiving fees, and if so, how much?
• Do you charge returns fees, and if so, how much?
• How much do you charge for kitting services?
• How much do you charge for shopping cart integrations?

The majority (56%) charge for setup fees. The fees vary from client-to-client, but the average was $520 (with a wide range of 0 to $5,000). This is up from last year’s $336 average setup fee. This year, we also asked about online shopping cart integration. The average charge for a one-time shopping cart integration was $156 (or a $75 average monthly fee).

Conclusion

This year, only a small majority (51%) of companies are charging routine account management fees (down 9% from last year). For those that do charge return fees, the average was $130. A whopping 91% of all fulfillment respondents charge for returns, which is a 7% increase over last year. The average return charge was $4.05, and 11% charged the same amount as their regular pick and pack fee. The majority of warehouses (84%) charged receiving fees, though this is down 11% from last year. The average receiving fee charge varied by type. The average hourly charge was $35.30. The average charge for a 20-foot container was $330. The average charge for a 40-foot container was $465. The receiving fee was charged at $6.3 per SKU on average (range of $2.5 to $10), and the average charge for cartons was $1.50 (range of $0.5 to $5). In addition, the average per pallet charge was $7.65 with a range of $4 – $12.

This year, we dove deeper into some of the additional revenue streams like kitting and inbound call services. The average cost for kitting was $35.75 per hour ($0.20 per unit for simple projects). For inbound call services, the average was $1.05 per minute with a range of $0.75 to $1.25.

To view the results of the previous surveys from the last couple of years, please see below:

2018-2019:

Warehousing and Fulfillment Fees Rise According to Latest insightQuote Survey

2017:

Warehousing and Fulfillment 2017 Warehouse Costs and Pricing Survey

It takes a village to raise an e-commerce business. The good news is that when e-commerce successes happen, they come with significant gains for the people who help make products and those who get them to customers on time. 

Red Stag Fulfillment is one such logistics and order fulfillment company that is turning valuable work supporting e-commerce businesses into an expansion. The company broke ground on a 313,000-square-foot extension that will increase its warehousing and fulfillment capabilities. The $16 million project is scheduled to complete by the end of August (2020) and will generate an additional 150 to 200 new jobs.

Expanding with the Market

Companies like Knoxville-based Red Stag Fulfillment are the hidden force behind most of today’s e-commerce businesses. These third-party logistics providers (3PLs) help ensure that ecommerce customers receive the right order at the right time while keeping costs low. By focusing on core warehouse and shipping activities for others, 3PLs reach high shipment volumes that allow them to grab discounted rates from carriers, while also implementing industry best practices for order and inventory management.

When the process is done right, the customer never knows that someone like Red Stag Fulfillment was involved.

That level of service and invisibility is becoming more critical as ecommerce sales expand. Ecommerce sales hit a record in the 2019 holiday season, growing 18.8% compared to 2018. And, having the right 3PL fulfillment partner can play an even more significant role: limiting the number of returns you have to process thanks to increased accuracy of last-minute orders that scramble out of a warehouse.

Every beat of growth in ecommerce increases complexity that companies must understand to respond to, whether that’s choosing an outsourced 3rd Party warehouse or adopting their own warehouse and inventory management solution.

A Global Presence at Home

Red Stag Fulfillment’s expansion is happening at its existing Knoxville, Tennessee location. The increase will allow it to serve existing clients best as well as extend offers for new businesses around the world. Any brand with a U.S. customer base can reach them within two days thanks to Red Stag’s footprint.

For 2019, the company shipped 99.998% of orders on time, with 99.997% order-accuracy.

“The new expansion is part of Red Stag Fulfillment’s commitment to calculated, profit-driven growth as well as delivering fulfillment excellence to our customers,” said Red Stag Fulfillment President Eric McCollom. “Strong companies are built brick by brick, and that’s what we’re doing for Red Stag Fulfillment and our customers with this growth.”

By enabling more companies to outsource their warehouse and fulfillment efforts, Red Stag is empowering business owners to focus on mission-critical sales and customer service elements of their operations. Not having to worry about orders getting out the door makes it easier to test new products and markets, offer greater deals, and adapt as the economy changes.

Their advice to anyone considering outsourcing but not knowing where to begin or what to expect: Ask. The best 3PL partner for you is going to be someone who knows your industry segment, understands shipping constraints and customer demands, and takes the time to help you understand those things too.

Find a company that feels like a friendly neighbor (even if they’re hundreds of miles away) because that’s the kind of help we all need to keep things running smoothly.

In December 2018 and through January 2019, we conducted our annual warehouse costs and pricing survey. This year, we polled around 600 warehouses and had even more participation than in 2017, and we’d like to thank everyone that took the time to fill out the confidential survey.

Before we launch into the results, it’s important to point out some of our assumptions. First, we did not record which answer was associated with a particular warehouse. This was done to allow vendors to confidentially answer questions without fear of providing key information about their specific company. Second, if we found any of the survey answers to fall far outside of the extremes, we did not include the results in the averages outlined below. For example, if someone indicated that they paid $75 per square foot per year for warehouse space and the next highest amount was $18, we did not include the result so that we could accommodate for any order entry errors. Unreasonably high or low answers to our survey questions could have been a result of misunderstandings related to the question or an error in entry. Third, we did not segregate the results by geography. We acknowledge that this definitely has a tendency of skewing some of the results, as we do have vendors that operate in the United States and Canada. Fourth, in cases where results were given in various formats for a single question, we made our best attempt to compute averages based upon the most common answer type given. As an example, some respondents answered that they pay a warehouse management employee a salary, while others indicated that they paid an hourly salary. Similarly, some respondents provided answers to how much they charge for pick and pack per order as a flat order fee, while others responded that they charge a per order plus a per item fee. Finally, if there were any responses that warranted further explanation, we elaborated on those responses in our discussion below, so that readers of the results can understand the various responses received.

Summary of 2018/2019 Survey Results

Overall, the hot fulfillment and warehousing market, bolstered by e-commerce fulfillment growth and increased demand for timely processing of internet-driven orders, seems to have caused warehousing costs (mainly warehouse leases and labor related costs) to rise. As a result, the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 has seen an increase in warehousing and fulfillment pricing for outsourced services. The survey showed that costs rose in all areas for warehouses (warehouse lease costs, hourly employees rates, and management salaried staff), and as a result overall profitability decreased slightly. In order to keep up with rising costs, providers of warehouse and fulfillment services increased their pricing offered to customers across the board as well, including storage fees, pick and pack fees. Furthermore, fulfillment companies opted to extend lower shipping discounts to customers as well.

Below are the results of our latest survey. In order to make the results easier to digest, we’ve segmented them into the following categories:

• Performance Data
• Agreement Terms
• Warehousing Costs
• Pricing and Discounts

Performance Data

For performance data, our main objective was to see how many fulfillment providers use performance data to gauge the quality of their work. We asked the following questions:

1. Do you measure performance?
2. What is your picking accuracy?
3. What is your inventory shrinkage rate?
4. What percentage of customers do you retain each year?

In the survey, we found that 82.93% of companies polled measure their performance in some way. The average picking accuracy for order fulfillment companies was 99.19%, and the average inventory shrinkage was 1.26%. Respondents, on average, retained 99.52% of their clients. Performance data results didn’t vary significantly from our 2017 survey.

Agreement Terms

We get a number of questions, both from warehouses as well as companies looking to outsource, about the standard terms of agreement that fulfillment houses employ. In our survey, we asked:

1. What terms do you offer on your agreements? (month to month, annual, multi-year, or no term) This question allowed warehouses to respond with multiple agreement types, since many firms are flexible and offer different terms to different customers.
2. Do you increase your pricing on a regular basis?
3. If you do increase your pricing, what percentage do you increase pricing?

In the survey, we found that 56% offer month-to-month agreements, 61% offer annual agreements, 37% offer multi-year agreements, and 12% don’t require an agreement in all cases. Month-to-month agreements rose slightly in popularity from 10.26% to 12%. More significant, however, were increases in annual and multi-year agreements. The use of annual agreements rose from 38% in 2017 to 61% in 2018/2019, and the use of multi-year agreements rose from 25% to 37% over the same periods. Furthermore, 64.29% of all respondents said they do increase pricing yearly. The rate of price increases nearly doubled – in 2017 the average increase was  2.37% and our latest survey indicated that the average rate increase is now 4%.

Warehousing Costs

It’s helpful for warehousing companies to see what others are paying to maintain their warehouse. In the survey, we asked:

1. What is your yearly cost per square foot of your warehouse space?
2. What is your starting hourly rate of your warehouse staff?
3. What is your annual pay for a warehouse management employee?
4. What is your corporate profit?

The average cost per square foot of warehouse space was $7.79, a marked increased of $6.53 in 2017. The average starting hourly rate of warehouse staff was $13.32, and the average annual pay for a warehouse management staff was $50.524 (2017 results were $11.44 and $47,478 respectively). The average corporate profit came in at 7.25% for 2018.

Pricing and Discounts

In order to get a feel for the going rates of fulfillment companies, we polled warehouses and asked them questions relating to their pricing and discounts that they offer customers. Not only do warehouses need to understand the competitive landscape, but we also get tons of questions from companies looking for outsourced fulfillment services that are looking to uncover the average fulfillment pricing, costs and fees. For pick and pack fees, we asked:

For order fulfillment pricing, we asked:

1. What is your average pick and pack price for a single item direct to consumer order?
2. What is your average pick and pack price for a business to business order?
3. Do you offer discounted pick and pack rates?
4. If you do offer discounted pick and pack rates, what is the break with which you offer the discount and how much of a discount do you offer?

The average pick and pack fee for a single item B2C order was $2.86 (up from $2.64 a year ago), whereas the average fee for a B2B order was $4.17 (up from $3.74 a year ago). An overwhelming 74.29% said that they do offer discounted pick and pack fees based upon volume of orders (which was unchanged from 2017), and the average discount was applied at 1,000 orders per month (with the highest frequency of responses either 500 or 1,000 orders per month). Discounts ranged from 5% up to 10%.

We did introduce an additional question in the 2018/2019 survey – ‘Do you charge differently for Amazon orders, and if so by how much?’. We found that 57.14% do in fact charge different for Amazon orders. On average, fulfillment houses charge $1 more for Amazon orders.

For storage pricing, we asked:

1. How do you charge your customers for storage?
2. What is your average price for storage?
3. Do you offer discounted storage fees?
4. If you offer discounted storage fees, at what breaks do you offer discounts and what discount is offered?

The most common way of charging for storage was pallet storage (90.24% – which was a 10% increase from 2017), followed by storage per bin (26.83%), per square foot (24.39%) and lastly per cubic foot (12.2%). These percentages reflect that companies, in many cases, offer more than just one storage pricing. Warehouses shied away from pricing per cubic foot in 2018 and into 2019.

The average pallet storage fee came increased only slight from $13.02 in 2017 to $13.20 in 2018/2019. The average cubic footage charge was $.5, the average cost per bin was $2.85, and the average cost per square foot was $.66. A full 48.65% of respondents offered discounted storage solutions (mostly at pallet levels), which was largely unchanged from last year’s survey. The average discount was 10% given at roughly 500 pallets.

We surveyed the warehouses about their shipping pricing and discounts. Questions included:

1. How do you charge for shipping?
2. If you offer shipping discounts, what discount do you give for ground, express, and LTL shipping?

With regard to shipping pricing, again we found that many companies offered a number of approaches. The most common approach (43.90%) was to allow customers to use their own rates. This was interesting, as many fulfillment providers rely upon making margin on freight. Not far behind, however, was the option of offering a cost plus model, where they mark up their shipping costs (41.46%). About a third of the respondents (31.71%) offer a percentage discount off of published rates, and 14.63% responded that they don’t apply a discount at all. When discounts were offered, the average shipping discount for ground was 20.02%, for express was 29% (both of which were decreases from 2017. 51.33% was the average discount given for LTL freight.

Set Up, Account Management, Receiving, and Returns Fees

In 2018/2019, we expanded our survey to ask questions about other ancillary fees fulfillment companies sometimes charge. The questions included:

• If you charge a set up fee for a new client, how much do you charge on average?
• Do you charge a routine account management fee, and if so, how much and how frequently?
• Do you charge returns fees, and if so how much?
• Do you charge receiving fees, and if so how much?

The average set up charge was $336, but some companies charge as much as $2,000-$10,000 depending upon the complexity of the integration. 56.41% of companies in our survey indicated that they account management fees, and the average fee was $226.54 per month. 84.62% of those surveyed indicated they charge returns fees and the average charge per single unit return was $3.53 (although some companies charge the same as their standard pick and pack fee OR around $35 per hour). Most companies polled charge a receiving fee (94.87%). Receiving fees varied widely including depending upon the unit of measure: $.25 unit; $7 pallet; $31.95 hour; $373.33 container; $1.21 carton.

To view the results of the previous surveys from the last couple of years, please see below:

Warehousing and Fulfillment 2017 Warehouse Costs and Pricing Survey

It’s no secret that Amazon is the powerhouse when it comes to online commerce. If you’re thinking of selling products through Amazon’s marketplace, you’ll want to make sure you have the preparation process figured out down to a T.

If you’ve ever seen an FBA warehouse (Fulfillment by Amazon) operation in action, it’s pretty impressive. They employ more that 15,000 robots to help retrieve products, have huge conveyor belts to transport product from storage to packing stations, and they ship 35 items every second. In fact, Amazon’s outbound shipping cost is over $1.5 billion a year!

One of the main reasons why Amazon can ship so many items each day is because they’ve streamlined their inbound process. That minimizes the time it takes to receive products and get them ready to be picked, packed and shipped. They’ve been able to streamline their receivings by passing the preparation process on to its vendors.

Failing to comply with FBA product preparation requirements may result in the vendor being charged for non-compliance and/or their products being returned, disposed of, or even blocked from future shipments to the fulfillment center.

Amazon does offer its vendors guidelines such as its Quick Reference Guide on how to prepare inventory for FBA. However, the opportunity cost of vendors preparing products for fulfillment takes away from sales and marketing. A lot of fulfillment centers—like ShipMonk, for instance—saw an opportunity and began offering FBA prep services to help vendors prepare their inventory before it’s sent to an FBA warehouse. Everything from opening containers and repackaging thousands of SKUs to simply labeling products correctly with barcodes—prepping products for FBA is essential if you want to be a successful Amazon vendor.

Here’s a list of various FBA Prep Services:

•      Quality control
•      Repackaging
•      Labeling
•      Fragile item preparation
•      Loose products
•      Sold as a set
•      Boxed units
•      Poly bagged units
•      Case-packed products
•      Expiration dates

Now that you understand the importance of Amazon preparation, you’re probably wondering if you should do it yourself or look to a fulfillment center for help.

The answer isn’t anywhere near cut and dried. Therefore, you’ll need to take into account the following:

Where is your product manufactured?

The best solution would be for your manufacturer to prep the products for FBA for you, but you’d have to calculate how much that affects your shipping rates. If you’re importing from China or another foreign country, you’ll probably want to save as much as you can on shipping to the U.S. To do this you’ll need to put more than 1 SKU on a pallet—which is great for lowering costs but makes the product unfit as an FBA receivable.

How many SKUs do you have?

If you have a lot of different SKUs that require different prep services, it may be too much to keep track of and stay up-to-date. Also, do you have the space and equipment to de-palletize and repack the products on pallets or in boxes for FBA?

What packing materials are needed?

If you need specific packing materials such as poly mailers, fragile item wrapping, or labels, a fulfillment center may be a great option. They have various materials in stock and may even give you a discount since they can purchase in bulk.

What’s your profit margin?

How much are you selling your products for and what are you making? If you have room in your profit margin, it probably makes sense to outsource the FBA prep service. Then you can focus your efforts on expanding your product line and/or selling more product. (Unless, of course, you just love working in the warehouse, then absolutely, you should not outsource!)

Is the risk worth the reward?

Can your business afford to have its products returned or be billed a non-compliance fee for failing to meet FBA standards? A reputable fulfillment center will include in their SLA that if something happens due to not following FBA guidelines, the fulfillment center will assume responsibility.

Are there seasonal spikes throughout the year?

You may want to prepare inventory yourself throughout the year except for the holiday season. During that time, you’ll probably want to focus on customer service and marketing. So consider outsourcing FBA prep during those busy months and then take it back into your own hands if you want to cut back on outside costs during the off season.

What can I be doing with the resources it takes to manage FBA prep?

This is the million-dollar question that only you can answer. Most business owners can manage the FBA prep process, but—will it take away from growing your business?

FLINT, Mich., January18, 2013 — NorthGate announces they have achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification. Perry Johnson Registrar, Inc., (PJR) assessed the Quality Management System of our Corunna Road and Dort Highway facilities in Genesee County Michigan and declared NorthGate to be in conformance with ISO 9001:2008 standards.  PJR issued Certificate # C2012-03268 effective December 27, 2012.

This certification is the culmination of years of consistent top-quality work, and the dedication of our employees, stated Teresa Witt President of NorthGate. She continued saying, “although NorthGate has been operating under the guidelines of ISO 9001:2000 standards for many years, I believe our decision to upgrade to ISO 9001:2008 Certification is a proactive one that not only anticipates the demands of customers, but also demonstrates NorthGate’s commitment to providing quality products and services.”

The scope of the certification for NorthGate’s Corunna Road packaging and order fulfillment processing center entails; design, development, assembly, sub-assembly, sorting, inspection, packaging, warehousing, shipping, supplier monitoring, processing, and distribution for automotive products and other industries.

The scope of the certification for NorthGate’s Dort Highway reverse logistics, packaging and order fulfillment processing center involves; development, sorting, inspection, packaging, warehousing, shipping, supplier monitoring, processing, and distribution for automotive products and other industries.

ISO 9001:2008 is a set of international standards and guidance documents for quality management and quality assurance. The standard represents an international consensus on good management practices, policies and procedures with the aim of ensuring that our organization can consistently deliver the product and services that meet the customer’s quality requirements.

NorthGate, is a third-party, cost effective business solutions provider of Warehousing, Packaging, Fulfillment Processing and Reverse Logistics services. We are an independent, family-owned business dedicated to providing hard work and outstanding customer service. NorthGate offers a strategic location in the heart of North America’s industrial engine, where we have prime access into a vast array of major US and Canadian cities. Our vision is to be your partner… now and in the future, through every challenge, and every success.

Want to learn more on how NorthGate can make a difference in how your business is done? Please visit us at www.go2northgate.com or contact us at [email protected] or by phone 1-810-235-8110.

Amazon Fulfillment Fees Increase Hits Online Retailers Hard

by Will Schneider

Most online retailers using Amazon Fulfillment will be hit hard starting in February of 2013 with a multitude of price increases targeted to combat increasing transportation costs. Most notably, the fee increases include an adjustment to the “weight handling” fee and an addition of a returns processing fee. These fees and increases will apply to anyone that self-fulfills through their system – in an attempt to further entrench customers by giving them incentive to fulfill by Amazon.

Like many of the price adjustments over the last couple of years, these recent increases hit retailers hard – and at a time when many online merchants are struggling to squeeze as much profit out of their company as possible and weather the economic storm of the last couple of years. In particular, smaller businesses may find these particular fee increases a heavy burden to shoulder next year.

“Of anything that we hear most about the Amazon Fulfillment network, the vast majority of comments are related to expensive pricing structures and challenges with unique service requirements and flexibility,” noted Will Schneider, CEO of WarehousingAndFulfillment.com. The well known fulfillment provider is definitely the “800 pound gorilla” in the fulfillment space, offering multiple locations, quality execution and tie in to its Amazon network. But, as Mr. Schneider notes, “for many smaller companies in particular, the large orientation of Amazon makes addressing the challenges of a smaller business difficult – from lack of branding options, difficult to come by personal customer service, and now a series of price increases that make is less competitive with other outsourced fulfillment options.”

Of course, a price increase is never easy to swallow, although oftentimes understandable. But the interesting part will be to see what the Amazon Fulfillment fees increase, which was announced during the holiday season, will bring for Amazon in the New Year.