Top Supplement, Vitamin & Nutraceutical Fulfillment Services

Speaking of returns for your supplements business, the ability to provide reverse logistics (which is the inspection of the product for damage and/or expiration and determining whether it can be returned back to inventory after it has been returned to the fulfillment center), is another crucial and important aspect of supplement fulfillment. The reason why reverse logistics is so important, especially for supplement fulfillment, is because if a supplement is returned, it must be inspected to see if it can be returned to inventory. It could be possible that the vitamins and supplements were expired, tampered with, damaged, or otherwise compromised. If the vitamins and supplements were not inspected and simply returned to the inventory, it could cause problems for your business but re-shipping product that should have been destroyed. So, when the fulfillment company inspects it and determines it needs to be destroyed, it should provide a certificate of destruction for the product, or else, if it is in good shape, return some of the product back to inventory and make sure that expiration dates are checked, lot numbers are verified, and the product is inspected for any tampering that may have occurred before the product was returned.

Subscription Services for Supplements and Fulfillment

Fulfillment providers should also have a deep level of experience in continuity management, since many supplement programs offer continuity/subscription based models. Does the fulfillment company have the ability to manage multiple continuity orders under a single account? Can they provide variable shipping frequency/quantity at the customer level? Do they offer a fully-trained customer service team that has experience with loyalty and continuity programs? Can they execute your brand standards? Can they deliver a cost model and solution that achieves your financial business goals? These are just a few of the questions to ask your fulfillment provider.

Keep in mind that rules for retail and consumer may be different, so fulfillment companies should retain detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each channel.

On Demand and Private Label Supplements and Vitamins Fulfillment Services

Some fulfillment centers only focus on warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping, whereas others also produce products. In this case, you would be looking at fulfillment centers that also produce vitamins and supplements on demand as ordered. This can be very helpful if you are not manufacturing your own vitamins and supplements and you need somewhere to source the vitamins and supplements from. Many of these highly specialized fulfillment centers with these manufacturing capabilities can not only produce but also private label the vitamins and supplements being sold.

With this in mind, an important consideration to have when looking for a supplement fulfillment company is whether you are looking for on-demand supplement fulfillment or if you are looking for a standard supplement fulfillment arrangement. On-demand supplement fulfillment is when the fulfillment and manufacturing capabilities are under one name, so the fulfillment company would manufacture the vitamins and supplements and then would ship them out as well. Your business would act as a drop shipping business that sells vitamins and supplements to customers and the fulfillment company takes care of the rest.

If your business is already sourcing the supplements from somewhere else, then an on-demand fulfillment center is not necessary for your business and you can opt for a standard supplement fulfillment center.

Full Scale Systems Help Pull the Whole Program Together

Supplement manufacturers should seek out a fulfillment company that has a dynamic warehouse management system that ties directly to its shipping analysis process. Having the ability to co-mingle packages and develop powerful relationship with LTL carriers will offer tremendous costs savings for fulfillment companies, which can be passed along to their valued customers.

To get the best value for your fulfillment dollars, consider an integrated, full-service fulfillment solution that provides order processing, call center support, reverse logistics, warehousing, electronic inventory management, pick and pack fulfillment, automated reporting and dynamic small parcel shipping. Finding a provider who offers all these services could mean a reduction of 30 percent or more in your overall fulfillment costs. And that’s an easy pill to swallow.