As e-commerce continues to grow and become a primary method of buying and selling globally, the pressure will be on e-commerce brands to step up their game and fill orders quickly and inexpensively. Modern consumers demand conveniences such as fast delivery and low-cost (or free) shipping, and they expect their products to arrive intact, undamaged, and in working order.
All this presents significant challenges when it comes to fulfillment, which is why many up-and-coming brands choose to outsource. But not all fulfillment providers are created equal, and some might not have the capacity to scale with a company as it grows. If you feel like your current provider isn’t meeting your needs, it could be time for a change. Let’s take a look at some warning signs that indicate it might be time to look for a new provider.
Too Many Customer Complaints
If your customer service department is being hammered by complaints of incorrect orders, delayed shipments, damaged items, or packages that never arrive at all, it’s a good sign your current provider is not cutting the mustard. World-class fulfillment providers have an accuracy rate of over 99.9 percent—anything less is cause for concern. Dissatisfied customers often aren’t repeat customers, so errors in fulfillment can have a real impact on your sales. Make sure your fulfillment provider’s mistakes aren’t causing you a loss of business.
Inability to Scale with Your Growth
One major reason to outsource fulfillment is to grow your business. Growing means putting effort into developing new ideas, refining your product offerings, creating marketing initiatives, reaching out to consumers through social media, and building great customer rapport through outstanding service. It doesn’t necessarily include spending hours each day packing and shipping orders. If you’re doing everything right, your business should grow, maybe even internationally. As you scale, your fulfillment service needs to have the space and resources to keep up with a steady increase in orders, as well as peak season spikes. If they’re not keeping up and scaling their operations alongside you, orders will start to back up, leading to late deliveries and dissatisfied customers.
Outdated Technology
As ecommerce becomes more complex, technology needs to advance to keep up with the changes. These days, many ecommerce companies sell through multiple channels and have inventory spread across multiple warehouses. Without the right software, it can be hard to know how much inventory you actually have, which can lead to lost sales and supply-chain inefficiencies. Keeping track of multi-channel sales requires a platform that consolidates all your orders, regardless of channel, into one system. It also needs to track all your inventory together, no matter where it’s stored, so you always know you have the the optimal amount of stock. If your current provider’s technology can’t handle these basic requirements, you won’t have the information you need to avoid these issues.
Poor Customer Service
When things go wrong, or if you simply have a question, you need to be able to get in touch with someone fast. If your fulfillment provider’s client service team is unresponsive or practically nonexistent, it could lead to a poor experience for both you and your customers. Contacting customer service should be easy via a web portal, email, or online chat—and phone service should be an option if you need more immediate assistance. It’s not helpful if response times are too slow—same day assistance, or at most a 24 window, can nip problems in the bud before they become serious. And your provider’s customer service team should be proactive in contacting you should any fulfillment delays or issues affect your orders. That way you know what’s being done to correct the situation, and you have peace of mind knowing you are always informed and in control.
Inflexibility
Every company has different needs. Your product might have to be packaged or shipped a certain way, or you may have specific branding requirements. Maybe you’re running a sale that requires the warehouse take on a greater workload. Perhaps you would like to include special advertising inserts or thank you cards in the packages. You might want to run a special promotion that involves kitting, such as assembling gift boxes for the holidays. Or maybe you want to start a subscription box service. Whatever your specific needs, your fulfillment service should have a simple, standard way of submitting your requests, and be flexible enough to accomodate them.
Your fulfillment provider should be more than just a vendor; they should be a partner who operates as an extension of your company. Your success is their success. Considering this, they should stand by you to help your company grow and work with you when you’re ready to scale globally. If your current provider isn’t living up to your expectations or doesn’t seem to have your best interests at heart, look for one who better meets your needs.
If you’d like to find out more about Simple Global and how we can help, click here or give us a call for more information.
