What are the benefits of working with a 3pl?
One of the milestones of building a successful eCommerce business is the outsourcing of order fulfilment. The outsourcing process involves selecting a third-party logistics partner that will be responsible for receiving your inventory, storing it in their fulfilment centre, picking and packing, and shipping.
Start-Up Fulfilment Vs Scaling
Most start-up businesses begin by outsourcing their order fulfilment to an established online sales platform. This builds confidence in their brand at an early stage and offers them the opportunity to grow a storehouse of reviews to bolster growth.
Once your eCommerce business is established, third-party logistics companies are the obvious next step. Brands that are seeing consistent growth, and have established multiple routes to market, will need a 3pl partner if they want to scale. 3pls provide great customer service, whilst additionally providing a range of all-important value-adds.
What is Scaling?
In the early stages, businesses expect to invest resources to manage growth. Maybe you need to purchase new software or find storage solutions for your inventory. Once growth is established, however, businesses turn their attention to scaling. This requires a 3pl eCommerce partner who can help them to increase revenue, without having to make ongoing infrastructure investments.
5 Benefits of 3pl eCommerce
Think scaling sounds too good to be true? Here are 5 benefits that accrue from 3pl eCommerce value-added services:
1. A 3pl Fulfils All Your Orders
Your 3pl eCommerce partner can fulfil all your orders – B2B, Prime, or website. This means that, straight away, you gain time and resources that have been focused on managing your business up until now. Once they’re taken care of by your 3pl, you can turn your attention to developing new products.
2. Personalised Fulfilment
The larger online sales platforms offer consistency over flexibility. Which means that personalisation isn’t part of their business model. If you’re looking for an alternative to transit cartons, and labelling requirements, that’s what you’ll find from a 3pl. You’ll be offered customised packaging, personalised inserts, and bespoke kitting if your product requires it.
3. Fulfilment Infrastructure
3pls are complex operations that are designed to manage fulfilment from inventory, through storage, picking and packing to shipping and returns. They offer the technology you need to track the progress of your orders in real time, and the in-house expertise of staff, many of whom have worked with us for years, and are motivated by high-quality service.
4. Dedicated Account Support
3pls prioritise the account support they offer to the brands the work with. In place of online forums or logging cases online to get them resolved, 3pls provide face-to-face resources. If you need help, or guidance, you can call a real person, who will own your problem and make it their responsibility to achieve satisfactory resolution for you.
5. Continuous Improvement for Growth
3pls have an absolute stake in the brands they partner with because growth benefits both parties. Brands can expect account support at every stage of their development therefore, including:
- Supply chain guidance.
- Inventory Management.
- Customised packaging.
- Flexible storage options.
- Subscription services.
- Returns Management.
Are You Ready to Scale?
If you are at the stage where you need a 3pl eCommerce partner who can offer the infrastructure, expertise, and range of value-add services you need to scale, we’d love to talk. Prolog has an established fulfilment centre, located in the heart of the UK, with flexible warehousing and a trained, highly motivated workforce.
We offer far more than basic fulfilment; at every stage of the process, we provide a personalised service, tailored to your brand. We’re designed to deliver growth to your business, exceed your customers’ expectations.
