Are you planning to start an online business? Or perhaps you have already been selling through an e-commerce page for a while. Regardless of your situation, you need to consider warehousing, shipping, and fulfillment. After someone places an order, you will want to make sure that the customer can easily get the goods. Fulfillment services for startups may be able to help.
Why choose fulfillment services?
To get the products to your customers, you would traditionally have to do any of the following things:
- Get a drop shipper and sell your product through them, so they can fulfill the orders on your behalf.
- Partner with a logistics company to take care of your warehousing and fulfillment needs.
- Fulfill your own orders with a team or independently.
Startups would typically want to pack and ship their own goods for flexibility and to save money or if their products require special packing requirements. But for a growing business, you might want to rely on fulfillment services for startups, especially if are sourcing your goods from China.
Understanding fulfillment services
A fulfillment service is the third-party warehouse responsible for preparing and shipping the orders for you from its own fulfillment center. It might make sense to your business if you have outgrown your current warehousing capabilities and you are now unable to ship orders independently. Likewise, startups who do not want to take care of the shipping can rely on that service.
Today, you can find a wide range of fulfillment services for startups in China. As you improve your fulfillment strategy and scale your business, it might makes sense to work with a service provider that provides a centralized view of your inventory and data across several warehouses. That way, you can be more flexible in fulfilling orders.
Finding the right service provider
If you need a fulfillment service for your business, the best way to start looking is online. Look them up or find recommendations. However, do not simply choose the first company you will find. It is important to make your decision based on factors like their industry experience and expertise, the kinds of industries and clients they work for, and the cost of their service.
Here are a few steps to help you find the right fulfillment services in China:
1. Check their experience
You will want to work with a provider of fulfillment services for startups with the same industry experience as yours. Get to know the kinds of businesses they work with and make sure they have extensive experience in helping startups. That will be crucial in determining their capability in fulfilling orders timely and accurately. Likewise, you should be able to depend on them for advice or strategic guidance.
2. Focus on quality rather than just the cost
It is common to choose fulfillment services based on your budget, but you will want to look beyond that and consider the quality of the service. That way, you can avoid being frustrated and you can be sure that your customers are getting their orders correctly and on time.
3. Make sure they speak your language
Consider fulfillment services for startups that are offered by a western owned and managed company in China. They should be able to offer flexible warehouse solutions, a thorough understanding of Chinese laws, customs, business culture, and regulations, and use cutting-edge technology through their EDI and WMS systems to ensure full visibility, reporting, process improvement, ROI measurement, and supply chain analysis.