If you are like me, then when you were first starting out in the 3PL (third-party logistics) game, you were wondering what in the world all of these terms meant! Outsourced order fulfillment, 3pl, order management system, I mean, here is how we all start:
- We have this great idea to sell things online to make more money
- We get our best friend or sibling to go in with us
- We decide that weight loss supplements, nutrition supplements, health and beauty products, etc are selling hot like crazy
- We decide to move forward knowing it will be easy and we will make a lot of money
- We fall flat on our face
Somewhere along the way we start hearing all of these industry terms like:
- 3PL
- Distribution company
- Logistics
- Cross docking shipping
- Outsourced shipping partner
- Third-party logistics supplier
- WMS or warehouse management system
- LTL or less than truckload
- Order management system
- eCommerce backend provider
- Payment gateway provider
- Transportation specialist
- Supply chain management
- Freight broker
- Outsourced order fulfillment
- Warehousing distribution facility
We could go on for DAYS talking about all these terms. What do they all mean? Well, to put it short and sweet, they are terms and phrases in the transportation industry for businesses that help you accomplish getting your products taken care of from A to Z, from the manufacturer to your end consumer. The good thing is that to get started and be successful as an internet entrepreneur, you just need to pick one right partner that can guide you through these terms, laws, regulations and opportunities to cut costs.
No one likes to spend money on things that they can do themselves. Well, wait, I guess there is a good reason Jiffy Lube and McDonald’s are in business. They can help you accomplish something for cheaper than you can yourself (when you factor in the value of your time, labor and materials). A good 3PL company will help you by coordinating your shipments, cutting costs to ship things, storing your product, shipping your product and handling returns.
Let’s share some ways that a good eCommerce fulfillment business can help you grow your private label supplement business.
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Fulfillment By You
- Your private labeled supplements are finished being bottled and labeled
- You pay for shipping from the manufacturer to you. $25 per box
- You pay for space to store you boxes that arrive. $??? Depends on area of the country
- Orders come in online on your website
- You spend the time and money to buy postage
- You spend your time creating each shipping label
- You go buy packaging to package your order you are fulfillling
- You spend time packaging and applying shipping label
- You spend time and gas money driving to the post office
- Great job, you spent 2 hours and saved a couple bucks
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Outsourced Order Fulfillment By Us
- Your private labeled supplements are finished being bottled and labeled
- We receive your supplements or beauty products into our warehouse storage free of charge, NO shipping costs
- You pay small monthly flat fee of $10 to store up to a pallet of product with us
- Your orders come in online as you are making sales, you send us the order information
- We create shipping labels and print labels with pre-purchased postage
- We package up your product and apply shipping labels
- We ship your product and send you tracking information
- We coordinate and handle post office pick ups
- You pay us around $1 per package.
- YOU JUST GOT YOUR TIME BACK!!!
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If you are struggling with these endless cycles of shipping labels and rushing to the post office, give us a call. We want to help you get your time and life back! Have you struggled trying to manage teenagers as you have tried delegating these simple packaging and shipping tasks as your business has been growing? Let us help you take control of your business again and let us help you grow.
In a nut shell, when we talk about “outsourcing” your eCommerce order fulfillment. Let us handle your product, storage and shipping while you focus on marketing, sales and the things you are good at. If this sounds like what you need, please call and let’s discuss ways we can help you.