Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Use A Contract Fulfillment Warehouse To Streamline Your Business

By Scott Wagner


It is the dream of many an entrepreneur to design and sell their own products, which lets them be their own boss. But there is far more to today's marketplace than just opening up a store and selling to the locals. Because of increasingly cutthroat competition and the global nature of the internet, you have to sell online, not just locally, in order to truly make money. The packaging and shipping of orders can be complex unless you hire a contract fulfillment warehouse to do it.

These warehouses, also called fulfillment centers, help you buy keep your products on hand and packaging and boxing them once an order is placed. They do this for your regular items, special orders, and even for fulfillment of sweepstakes or contest giveaways. It is basically a one-stop center for keeping your customer orders flowing uninterrupted.

You simply have to get the product to them, and they take care of the rest. You can do this yourself, either delivering directly to them if you are nearby, or shipping the products to the warehouse using a carrier. Some companies will even take care of this part for you, using their own transportation fleet to pickup the boxes from you and delivering them to the fulfillment center themselves.

After an order is received by the workers, they carefully protect the item for the harsh shipping process by wrapping it in the appropriate materials. Depending on how fragile it is, they may use Styrofoam, packing peanuts, bubble wrap or other materials. The order is then placed in a box or envelope along with a receipt and anything else you desire, such as a free sample or a simple thank-you card or note.

Each package is then shipped according to the customer's instructions. If you give them options during the checkout process, then that is the method that is used. If not, then they will ship via whatever carrier you designate. That way, everyone is happy and the packages get to customers as quickly as possible.

As each product is packaged and leaves the center, it is carefully tracked using inventory software. As the client of the warehouse, you can access this software anytime of the day or night. This helps you keep track of your inventory so you know when you are running low.

If you decide to expand and get retailers to sell your items in their stores, you will need to ship them the products. The same center can get the products to the stores so they can begin stocking them on shelves. If you decide to send them overseas for sale, the workers can even put the items in huge freight crates or boxes for cargo planes and ships.

If using the company's workers does not work for you, you can use your own employees instead. Some fulfillment centers are happy to rent you out a space in their building where you can use their software and methods, but with your own employees. In fact, many are willing to go out of their way to create a shipping solution that work for you and your needs.




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