Finding the Right 3PL for Your Cosmetic, Beauty or Grooming Fulfilment
Business success is exhilarating, but it can be exhausting too. If you’ve reached the point where customers are increasing but you don’t have a moment free to celebrate because you’re too busy fulfilling orders, it’s time to find a 3PL partner.
In fact, don’t wait until you’re frazzled. The best time to start researching the right 3PL for your cosmetic, beauty, or grooming fulfilment is as soon as you know you’re serious about growing your business. So, when the time’s right for you to scale, they’ll be in place, helping you to make growth seamless.
Why a 3PL?
As your business grows, all that passion for perfection you’ve poured into fulfilling orders for your customers will need to be passed on to a third party logistics provider – so that you can focus on your product. 3PLs handle inventory storage, packing, subscription services, shipping and returns.
Find the right 3PL partner, and you’ll get far more than a basic outsourcing solution. A hand-picked, carefully selected 3PL will guarantee best value for money, delight your customers, and enhance their unboxing experience. Find the right 3PL and they’ll work with you to build your brand and grow your business.
5 Things You Definitely Want From a 3PL
No matter your size or ambition, if you’re looking to scale your cosmetic, beauty or grooming brand, here are 5 things you definitely need from your 3PL partner.
1. Fulfilment That Plans for Growth
Of course, you want a 3PL that’s perfect for the size you are now, but what about when you need to scale rapidly? Will they be able to provide more warehouse space and staff to service your needs immediately? Look for a 3PL that talks about planning for your growth, as well as managing the business at its current size.
2. A 3PL That Understands Your Product
Flawless fulfilment of your product doesn’t happen overnight – as you know. It’s built on knowledge and experience. What’s true for you is true for 3PLs too. Your ideal 3PL will have other customers like you, work extensively in the ecommerce fulfilment sector, and provide end-to-end visibility.
3. Optimised Packaging and Multiple Carriers
Packaging that is too large, too small, or the wrong shape for your product will cost you money and annoy your customers. You want a 3PL partner that will optimise your products’ packaging, so you save on shipping, and safeguard your product. They will also use multiple carrier partners to ensure the best fulfilment routes and rates.
4. Bespoke Fulfilment
Cosmetic, beauty and grooming products are about self-care and luxury rather than basic necessity, and your brand needs to communicate this from the moment it’s unpacked. The right 3PL partner will ‘get’ what’s special about your product and create a bespoke fulfilment process to respect and safeguard it. Whether it’s kitting, subscription, assembly, product inspection, branded packaging, or inserts – be sure that your 3PL’s on the same page.
5. Great Partnerships Start With a Conversation
All of the above is dependent on a 3PL having a detailed understanding of your business. So, look for a 3PL who looks for an opportunity to sit down and talk with you about how you can work together. You also want a good listener, and a guarantee that there’ll be someone to deal with your query, concerns, requests whenever you need them.
Ready to Begin?
If you think it’s time to start looking for a 3PL partner, Prolog Fulfilment would love to have a conversation with you. We provide cosmetic, beauty and grooming fulfilment, with a range of value-added services designed for your sector. Every client is unique to us and the fulfilment process we provide is, of course, bespoke.
