One of the most difficult aspects of running an ecommerce site is storing and shipping products. With a good shopping cart and database, taking and organizing orders automatically is relatively easy. But shipping individual products is a much more time intensive activity, which typically involves multiple visits to the post office and of course there is the problem of properly storing or warehousing your products prior to shipping.
In addition to selling from your website there is the option of selling through platforms such as Amazon and Ebay which can increase product exposure and overall sales volume. In this article, we will discuss why and when to use multiple fulfillment services in your eCommerce business.
Before signing up for any service an eCommerce product seller must know if he will be selling on additional platforms such as Amazon and Ebay as well as their own website.
When selling products outside of your ecommerce website services such as Fulfillment by Amazon or FBA are a good choice because they can eliminate certain problems by taking care of all the storage and shipping for you. Likewise Allpack Fulfillment can save the ecommerce business owner money by fulfilling orders sold from their own website and from Ebay at a savings, versus letting Amazon FBA handle the ecommerce fulfillment portion.
For products sold on Ebay or your own website, you can ship your products to Allpack’s warehouse yourself, or you can have your supplier ship directly to Allpack. When a customer places an order, Allpack fulfillment services is automatically notified and ships the individual product to your customer.
Amazon Fulfillment Services or FBA has a number of advantages as well some disadvantages that you should be aware of before choosing a service. As well there are advantages of using Allpack Fulfillment to perform certain tasks such as product preparation, labeling and product fulfillment Services.
Advantages For Products Sold through Amazon:
No more shipping, customer care or handling.
Amazon can take care of all of the customer service issues, Amazon provides the fulfillment portion which is the handling and shipping of your product. This can save you time, money and a lot of effort. It also allows you to run your ecommerce store from anywhere that you have access to the internet.
Automated order tracking and insurance
Amazon fulfillments services use the same shipping and order tracking that is used for Amazons own packages. This means that tracking your product is easy for both you and your customer. Your packages are also securely stored and insured against loss or damage during shipping.
Advantages For Products Sold on Ebay or Through Your Ecommerce Website:
Pay less in fees
Allpack offers great rates for fulfillment services. By using Allpack Fulfillment services for product fulfillment, you will not have to pay the Amazon sellers fees.
Allpack offers very competitive shipping rates because of the amount of shipping conducted by Allpack Fulfillment, it is able to offer very low rates on shipping to your customer. This includes the ability to offer one day shipping.
Another important and time saving service Allpack provides is product preparation and proper labeling for FBA. The process is relatively simple. Products are sent to Allpack, prepared and properly labeled then shipped over to Amazon’s distribution centers.
Disadvantages to using Amazon Fulfillment shipping services:
Less control over your shipping processes.
If something goes wrong with a shipment then your customer will blame you not Amazon. Because the shipping process is out of your hands it can be harder for you to control and to fix problems.
It can be expensive
Amazon fulfillment services are good but it isn’t cheap. Storage for your products cost between $.45 to $0.65 per cubic square meter. You will also need to have a Pro Merchant account or an advantage account. These start at a minimum of $29.95 a year.
Unique Product Identifier
Each package that you provide to Amazon must be labeled with a unique product identifier (SKU). This label needs to attached properly to the package and clearly visible. Some wholesalers will perform this step for you, but otherwise you will need to label each package before shipping to Amazons warehouse. This service alone can save time and money if completed by Allpack Fulfillment.
Conclusion
Ecommerce Fulfillment services remove the problems associated with storing and shipping physical products. Amazon Fulfillment Services is one of the most popular choices but it is by no means the only one. There are a number of additional and optional order fulfillment services available like Allpack Fulfillment that may offer better value depending on how and where your products are sold.
By researching carefully you can and should select multiple fulfillment services which will best meet the needs of your ecommerce business.
