August 24, 2011
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Seth Godin writes about shipping and how it is critical for business owners to deliver on promises. He isn’t talking specifically about shipping a tangible product, but about the way we procrastinate or avoid delivering our ideas to a marketplace, on time, every time. It is about banishing fear and making great things happen.
But this post is about real shipping and fulfillment and Seth’s advice may help you make a choice to find the best option for outsourcing. Don’t be afraid to look at alternatives to get the job done. If your business is growing and you need help getting more product out the door, then these four shipping services may help you. These services will manage the entire process of getting the order to the customer's doorstep from the moment they hit the checkout button.
While these services are focused on the online aspect, I believe you could run a physical storefront and still use one of these services to boost your business.
1. Shipwire
Shipwire is one of the hot, young companies in the shipping and fulfillment industry. Two of the biggest aspects that stood out to me were the transparent pricing and the free trial. If you are using an e-commerce shopping cart technology, you can integrate with Shipwire’s application interface and create a seamless experience for your customer.
2. Webgistix
Webgistix offers strategically placed warehouses to allow fast and affordable delivery options. They have their own Web-based SmartFill technology to allow you real-time access to your orders and inventory. Like others on this list, they understand the importance of integration with a business customer’s ecommerce platform and they have most of the major ones on their list.
3. eFulfillmentService
eFulfillment Service is an established provider in the space. Spend any time on their site and you can’t miss that they are focused on you and your customer. The integration between your shopping cart or system and theirs is provided free. They offer a 30-day test period where you send in some products, see how receiving works, submit orders, track packages, interact with their team and use their fulfillment control system. They back up the 30 day test with an aggressive refund guarantee: All costs/fees you’ve incurred up to $250–even shipping costs.
4. FulfillmentbyAmazon (FBA)
Amazon is the master of shipping. They have a service product line for almost every size and stage of company. If you have just a few products, new or used, you can try out FBA. An added benefit is you are in the Amazon sales network, which potentially helps you find more customers, too. The only downside—in my mind—is that everything is branded as Amazon and your business now takes a backseat. But you probably can't beat the low shipping fees you’ll get working with them. (They back it all up with their usual guarantees about quality, of course.)
Overall, I believe outsourcing shipping is a good idea. However, to be fair and give a counterpoint, I would suggest you read Jamie Salvatore’s post in Practical Ecommerce called: Top 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Outsource Fulfillment. Keep reading all the way through the comments to get various small business perspectives.
If you have found that the process of fulfilling an order has gotten out of control, then take a close look at these four market leaders. You might find that the time you save in order fulfillment will free you up to find new products and ways to serve your customer. Let me know in the comments how you manage the fulfillment process.
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