The Benefits Handling And Fulfilment Services Offer To E-commerce Businesses
There are a number of benefits that handling and fulfilment services offer to e-commerce businesses. In this blog, we will outline what those services are and how outsourcing handling and fulfilment responsibilities can help grow e-commerce businesses.
What Are Handling And Fulfilment Services?
Handling and fulfilment services are a third-party warehouse that prepares and ships your orders on your behalf. Fulfilment companies enable your business to outsource order fulfilment, including goods in, warehousing, pick and pack, shipping and returns.
Outsourcing fulfilment processes allows businesses to focus more on growth and internal operations, as opposed to in-house warehousing, shipping, returns and inventory management.
There are a number of reasons why a business would choose to employ a handling and fulfilment company-
Improve Inventory Management
Handling and fulfilment services can manage inventory accurately and effectively. They also tend to use advanced software allowing businesses to access high-quality data, including real-time stock visibility, batch tracking, custom reporting and more.
Despite inventory being out of house, businesses are still able to access and manage stock, allowing more time to optimise other areas of the business as well.
Enhance Customer Experience
A handling and fulfilment company can enhance customer’s experiences, by facilitating a range of shipping options, branded packaging and smoother tracking and returns processes.
With improved tracking, customers can receive real-time updates and enjoy a simplified, straightforward returns process without any of the hassle.
Enable Rapid Growth
By outsourcing order fulfilment responsibilities, businesses can ship to new markets with ease and improve customer satisfaction. In doing so, they can spend more time focusing on operations and prioritise their growth, without fear of being incapacitated due to a larger demand.
Handling and fulfilment services offer worldwide shipping, allowing businesses to increase their scope.
Why E-Commerce Businesses Need Handling And Fulfilment Services
When somebody orders via an e-commerce website, that order needs to be fulfilled, meaning packed and sent to the customer.
The demand for e-commerce business can be hard to predict, as traffic can pick up instantaneously or grow over time. All it could take is one viral social media post, and then a demand for a product can skyrocket. Should an e-commerce business not have the capacity to manage unprecedented demand it could be ruinous.
On the other hand, larger businesses that are accustomed to their order frequency may be focused on continued growth and expansion. This is more achievable by passing over handling and fulfilment responsibilities to a third-party contractor.
Larger e-commerce platforms will also have an established reputation, which is important to uphold. Failure to deliver on customer satisfaction could be damaging.
So, whether you are a larger business that is used to a high volume of orders, or a small business gaining lots of traction, the best option is to outsource handling and fulfilment services.
What Benefits Do Handling And Fulfilment Services Offer To E-commerce Businesses?
Efficiency And Speed
Handling and fulfilment services offer improved efficiency to e-commerce businesses, by streamlining operations and optimising inventory management. This enables online businesses to meet their customers’ needs in a timely-manner and with ease.
Cost Savings
While outsourcing handling and fulfilment services is initially an investment for e-commerce businesses, it can allow businesses to optimise their costs by supporting sustainable growth. Businesses can invest more time into other operations while still assured that the bottom-line procedures are meticulously managed.
Scalability
With the business landscape of the e-commerce world constantly adapting, it is important for online businesses to stay flexible. Handling and fulfilment services can scale operations smoothly and adjust to the ever-changing demand patterns. This protects e-commerce businesses against unpredictability.
Focus On Core Business Activities
Typically, businesses that handle and fulfil orders in-house struggle to expand, as their current duties already take up so much of their time. And if they were to find the time, they would struggle to then cope with the increased demand.
Those who seek out handling and fulfilment services are in a significantly better position. They have a distinct competitive advantage through expedited delivery, precise order fulfilment and attentive customer support.
Enhanced Customer Experience
When ordering from e-commerce businesses customers expect ease, efficiency, reliability and speed. Though businesses may never meet or personally interact with their customers, the experience they have is just as valuable.
Handling and fulfilment services offer prompt and precise packing, timely and safe delivery and simple return policies. All this enhances the customer experience, which results in better retention and loyalty.
Integration Of Technological Systems
Technological systems provide valuable insight so that e-commerce businesses can stay ahead of the curve. Data-driven decisions can be made based on advanced analytical technologies, such as inventory patterns, customer behaviour and operational inefficiencies.
What Handling And Fulfilment Services Does Granby Offer To E-commerce Businesses?
We hope this blog has answered ‘What benefits do handling and fulfilment services offer to e-commerce businesses?’.
Here at Granby, we are the trusted fulfilment partner to a broad range of household brands and public sector organisations.
With a reputation for going above and beyond, we can handle every aspect of your project from start to finish. If you want to know more about what we do, take a look at our case studies.
If you are an e-commerce business looking to work with a trusted, reliable handling and fulfilment company, then you’ve come to the right place. Feel free to contact us via our website or give us a call at 01254 682702.