Many small business owners start as a one-person team or have a small team to help with operations.
At first, you’ll have to wear many hats: managing your online store, responding to customer chats, ordering inventory and handling fulfillment. With your small operations or because of your extra hands, you might find the whole process manageable and all done in-house.
Then through grit, diskarte, and some luck, you might find yourself in a position to scale. While this gives you the opportunity to increase your revenue, your fulfillment process can become overwhelming.
This may be one of the signs that it’s time to outsource your fulfillment.
What is order fulfillment?
Fulfillment is the stage of your operations where you have to prepare and deliver the orders your customers place.
E-commerce fulfillment includes the following steps:
- Having the inventory on hand
- Processing your customers’ orders on your website or e-commerce platform
- Packing your customers’ orders
- Shipping and delivery
- Handling returns and after-sales concerns
Many Filipinos shop online because it can be faster, cheaper and more convenient than shopping in stores. However, if customers find that delivery is slow, they keep receiving the wrong orders, or their orders arrive damaged because of poor packaging, they’ll stop buying from your online store.
All these issues involve order fulfillment, which is why it’s crucial for business owners to ensure their fulfillment has no issues.
Also read: How Ninja Van Can Boost Your ECommerce Fulfillment
In-house fulfillment vs. outsourced fulfillment
Businesses have the option of in-house fulfillment or outsourcing their e-commerce fulfillment.
In-house fulfillment means doing all the tasks – getting inventory, packing orders, and shipping them to your customers – on your own or with your own team.
Outsourced fulfillment, on the other hand, means paying a third party to handle this for you.
Key differences between the two include:
Overall, outsourcing your fulfillment gives you a competitive edge. If you’re planning to scale your business, streamlining your operations through outsourcing can help you achieve cost-effective fulfillment solutions.
Learn more about What is 3PL and How it Works
Signs it’s time to outsource e-commerce fulfillment services
Once you start scaling your e-commerce operations, fulfillment will be more time-consuming than before. Here are some sure signs that you’ll benefit more from outsourcing solutions.
when your e-commerce business is growing.
1. Your customers complain about your fulfillment issues.
Issues with fulfillment can dissuade customers from making another purchase from your store. If you find that your customer reviews raise issues like slow delivery or the wrong items were delivered, it could be a sign that your in-house fulfillment is overwhelmed and unable to meet the demand of orders.
2. You have a low seller rating on shopping platforms.
Low ratings are a sign of unsatisfied customers with your products and services. This can affect your visibility on e-commerce platforms, which can make it difficult to sell, especially in competitive niches.
3. Your customers are abandoning their carts at checkout.
Customers may have wanted to make a purchase, but they might have been dissuaded by the shipping fees or delivery times posted on the checkout page. This has likely made them think twice about completing their purchase.
By streamlining your fulfillment process, you can create cost-efficient savings that translate to better deals for your customers.
#NinjaTip: Skincare brand, Dermtropics, shares how outsourcing their fulfillment helped them build business efficiency while fostering sustainability. Read their story here.
4. You want a cost-effective way to expand your business.
You want to scale your business, but increasing your capacity for in-house fulfillment isn’t cost-effective. To meet the increased demand, you’ll need to pay for rent, staffing costs, packaging solutions and other shipping costs.
Outsourced fulfillment solutions means only paying for the service, which is a fraction of the costs to scale.
5. You want to streamline your operations.
If your current fulfillment operations involve different apps, services, and third-party vendors, scaling may require adding or changing more of these. This can be a time-consuming process.
Outsourcing, however, unifies all of these processes. Instead of dealing with multiple processes and suppliers, you can rely on one partner to handle all of these.
6. You don’t have the expertise to improve your fulfillment.
Diskarte can only get you so far as an online seller. You also need to have skills like understanding fulfillment and how to make it efficient and cost-effective without sacrificing customer satisfaction.
Working with an expert fulfillment service provider gives you better access to cost-effective solutions. This can increase your profit margins while also providing services that your customers can appreciate.
Why choose Ninja Van’s fulfillment and warehousing services
When you partner with a 3PL provider like NinjaVan, you’re greatly benefiting from streamlining and reducing your operational costs.
With Ninja Fulfillment, you’re working with a fulfillment partner that’s efficient, reliable, and equipped to manage your inventory and fulfill big volumes of orders.
Here’s what fulfillment will look like when you work with Ninja Fulfillment versus handling scaled operations in-house:
Scaling is the next logical step for successful e-commerce businesses. For cost-efficient scaling solutions, let Ninja Van be your trusted logistics and fulfillment partner.
We’ll help maximize your efficiency and keep your costs low while meeting your e-commerce goals.
For inquiries about Ninja Fulfillment:
- Reach out to Erick Paul Ramos at 0917-7161495
- Send an email to ph-niu-fulfillment@ninjavan.co
More tips to optimize your e-commerce operations:
Inventory Management Techniques for Online Sellers
What is SKU and How to Use It for Your Business
How Supply Chain Management Works
