Content Table

• What is E-Commerce Fulfillment
• What is a fulfillment centers
• How E-Commerce Fulfillments Works
• Should You Do E-Commerce Fulfillment By Yourself or Hire a Fulfillment Company

When people think about what makes e-commerce businesses successful, they usually credit it to things such as the best marketing strategy, very effective copywriting, a huge social media following or they sell the best products. But do you know what really makes an e-commerce business great? It’s mostly its outstanding eCommerce fulfillment services. So, if you want to make a successful e-commerce business, be sure to take care of your business’ fulfillment and shipping solution side! But first, what is e-commerce fulfillment? What Is A Fulfillment Center?

What Is E-Commerce Fulfillment?

E-commerce fulfillment is simply the process of getting your orders delivered to your customers. E-commerce fulfillment covers every aspect of the delivery process – from storing inventory and receiving and processing orders, all the way to packing items, shipping/transporting the goods, and delivering them to your customer’s shipping address.

You may not think about it, but if you’ve ever done the “old school” way of selling your products – if you’ve stored up items in your garage or spare room for inventory, packed your products, and delivered them to your customer’s house – you’ve already done fulfillment!

What Is A Fulfillment Center

A fulfillment facility is a physical place operated by a third-party logistics supplier (3PL) to satisfy a customer’s order, and deliver them directly to the client’s distribution address.

How E-Commerce Fulfillments Works

Although e-commerce fulfillment seems just one process, it encompasses plenty of processing – from product sourcing to last-mile delivery. Here’s how it works:

1. Product sourcing – this is where you order your product from a manufacturer. Product sourcing goes beyond just ordering your products, though; it involves canvassing the best manufacturer and ensuring the quality of the product before you order them, and so on.
2. Warehousing – Fulfillment companies will deliver to your designated warehouse once you order your products.
3. Storage management – Fulfillment centers will categorize and store your products and will await incoming orders once it is in the warehouse.
4. Order processing -The product will be ready for delivery once you order.
5. Packaging – The fulfillment centers will package your product. This is a great opportunity to boost your branding, so be creative in your packaging!
6. Shipping – The product will be shipped, from the warehouse to your customer’s shipping address once it is packed. (last-mile delivery).

Should You Do E-Commerce Fulfillment By Yourself or Hire a Fulfillment Company?

Generally, if you are just starting out, it’s always a good choice to do fulfillment by yourself. If you are serving, say, 20 orders per week, you can mostly do them by yourself – you can do the inventory, and packaging, and run your products to the post office for the delivery.

But once your business starts growing, it’s best to hire a fulfillment company to do the fulfillment for you. Aside from being able to process a larger volume of orders, fulfillment companies are also equipped to deal with the paperwork necessary for the delivery (i.e. customs clearance for international shipping)

If you are looking for a fulfillment company, you may want to check out Fulfillmen. Fulfillmen is a leading fulfillment company that provides quality fulfillment services to businesses with the mission to help them grow and succeed. We specialize in product sourcing, shipping, customs clearance, and more!