e-commerce fulfilment

[wajidm]

Hi Guys, I am exploring the option of the ecommerce fulfilment options out there which will take off the load of pick and pack myself and those time can saved to grow business. I was reading about FBA and it does look very good but a the same time lot of posts says its expensive.

What else fulfilment services companies are available out there which couldbe relied upon?

Any clue

 

[Iain Hill]

Hi,

In my personal opinion, FBA is great if you are just selling on Amazon (and your strategy is to just sell on Amazon) and you have a relatively decent throughput of orders (anything in the warehouse over a year can be expensive).

Yes they can do multi channel fulfilment but their prices are comparitively expensive (for multi channel) and I am told that your items will still go out in Amazon branded packaging.

There are lots of companies that carry out ecommerce fulfilment, my suggestions would be as follows:

Make sure you go with a company that specialises in ecommerce fulfilment, not just a warehouse or haulage company that dabble in it.

Secondly watch out for any hidden fees, best to ask whether there are any minimum monthly spend on orders, any monthly management fees, license fees to use their software or long contracts. I'm not saying dont go with a company with these, I am just stating to ask and work them in to your costs if applciable.

Thirdly make sure there IT systems are good, in order to save you time, you'll need to ensure they can integrate with your sales channels (which might just be Amazon) so your orders are received automatically, and you will want access to a system that can give you visibility/management reports your end in order for you to stay in control.

I do work for a fulfilment house so if you want any guide prices or advice on more specific matter please feel free to PM me. I am also giving an informative presentation on fulfilment later this month so if you are near to Bristol on the 29th July (I appreciate the chances are slim), give me a shout and I can register you for free.

 

[Jon Neale]

Check out bay42, they offer a good personal service.

 

[wajidm]

Hi Both, Thanks for your advice.

Any of you heard James and James for ecommerce fulfilment. I was reading up on them and they seem to have a good setup for this. Just wondering if anyone in forum using them right now.

 

[FuturePro]

At FuturePro Logistics we specialise in helping our customers grow their business. I would be very happy to provide pricing and details of what we can offer.
You would also be most welcome to visit us.

 

[RepricerExpress]

Amazon FBA sounds like it's perfect for what you need. It will free up time and storage space and increase your chances of winning the Buy Box. Amazon will take care of returns too.

 

[Seanna Holland]

Hi, I am interested to hear your comments on FBA. I co-own a fulfilment company and we have had a number of people come to us off the back of the costs associated with FBA. We have also had issues with existing clients who have suffered at the hands of amazon if they sell through them but we do the fulfilment, the pressures amazon put on them becomes unbearable until they switch to FBA for the amazon side... just food for thought.

Iain Hill makes some very valid comments, find a fulfilment specialist not just a storage company and do be careful of hidden costs. So many companies charge for all the extras but you won't realise that until you have signed up. Be wary of long contracts too, if a fulfilment house is confident of their service offerings then they should not need to try and tie you in for a lifetime.

Am also more than happy to quote for our services, but make sure you do get a few quotes to compare and contrast with the FBA pricing.

Good luck!

 

[Abe Choi]

I've actually met up with James & James and viewed their warehouse and their workflows. They definitely have fulfilment down in terms of technology. Depending on your pricing, FBA and/or 3PL wont work as their costs will kill your margins.

If you are going to use a 3PL, make sure they are tech forward as in they don't mess about with FTP syncs,emails as you will find, once you start to scale they wont be able to handle your volume. Most players are just mom and pop fulfilment centres that are just leveraging cheap labour and rent (because they are in the middle of nowhere). You will want partners that use apis and can grow with your business and understand how to translate tech into benefits for you as a customer.

 

[Fergus Parker]

I've also heard some great things about James and James Fulfilment. They seem to have some powerful systems which allow you complete transparency over your inventory. There is a really interesting demo on their website that tells you more about it.

 

[Fergus Parker]

I've just noticed that James and James Fulfilment are doing a webinar today on controlling inventory - apologies if this is too late for you. There's a link to register in their blog: Three Ways to control inventory and warehousing to optimize your retail operations. It won't let me post the link unfortunately.

 

[IanDade]

Hi

I would be very happy to speak to you about your options. Feel free to drop me a PM at any time

Ian

 

[Parcelhub]

Depending on your anticipated daily volumes:

www.mailworkshop.co.uk/ecommerce-fulfilment-services/

 

[Tomas_FBAprep_Poland_EU]

Wajidm,
at FBAprep-Poland we provide pre-FBA services for those e-commerce sellers who import their inventory from e.g. China and ship it to Amazon Fulfillment Centers in Poland, Germany and Czech Republic. Please feel free to request a quote - I believe that we could offer you premium services at the very competitive price.

We are located in Kutno, Poland - next to one of the biggest inland intermodal terminals for container handling operations in Central Europe (PCC Kutno in the special economic zone), which connects EU with China on a daily basis as well as sea ports in Germany (Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Duisburg), Netherlands (Rotterdam), Belgium (Antwerp) and even the United Kingdom.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions!