Order Fulfillment service recommendations

[contingo]

Hey guys - does anyone here run a retail website and outsource the order fulfillment — i.e. a third party does the warehousing and shipping? I require this because during my startup period I want to concentrate largely on marketing. I have been looking at ILG and a local company here in Northampton. What I need is an ultra-reliable service at reasonable rates. If anyone has any input I would be grateful. (I don't need to hear from you if you are against the whole idea in principle )
thanks
S

 

[luckyg]

I do this but I wouldnt recommend the company I use. Looking around myself also.

An important factor for me is closeness to the port of entry to keep delivery costs of goods coming from port down.

 

[contingo]

Important for me too... also important for me to be able to visit premises to view operation. I was hoping that a single company could provide freight forwarding plus order fulfillment services. If it's not too cheeky PM me the company name you don't recommend.

 

[Barretts-Selfstorage]

Hi, We are a storage company based in Oxfordshire who offer fulfilllment services. If you would like to send me an e-mail over then we can discuss what kind of services we could offer you and the services you are looking for.

Regards
Adam

 

[MayflyInternetMarketing]

Do you sell your products on Amazon? If you don't, its worth a look - my clients move a lot of stock through Amazon!

The reason I ask is that Amazon also offer a fulfilment service.

 

[contingo]

Thanks for the tip, am looking into it. Would they fulfill orders for my primary website too?

 

[MayflyInternetMarketing]

I am not sure if they would fulfill orders from your site as well. This is the link for more info on Amazon fulfilment: add in the 3 w's.amazon.co.uk/gp/seller/fba/fulfillment-by-amazon.html?ld=SCfbaukloginpage

Let me know if you have any more queries.

 

[Moneyman]

Try Vdepot.co.uk they deal with loads of internet based companies. It works very well, but i am bound to say that. I invested in it. the best thing is the software that lats you track everything and monitor stock etc.

 

[luckyg]

dont touch amazon.

aftet they see how many you sell etc and if they think it will be a profitable venture for themselves they will just start stocking it themselves.

 

[luckyg]

Try Vdepot.co.uk they deal with loads of internet based companies. It works very well, but i am bound to say that. I invested in it. the best thing is the software that lats you track everything and monitor stock etc.

why is there no address on vvdepots website?

 

[MayflyInternetMarketing]

dont touch amazon.

aftet they see how many you sell etc and if they think it will be a profitable venture for themselves they will just start stocking it themselves.

We have looked after many client's products on Amazon, many sell more through Amazon than they do on their own site, and even if new merchants join the site, the level of sales are rarely affected.

I would never recommend to 'not touch Amazon' - how can you? Amazon reported a 9% increase in sales this last quarter compared to the same quarter in the previous year!

 

[luckyg]

We have looked after many client's products on Amazon, many sell more through Amazon than they do on their own site, and even if new merchants join the site, the level of sales are rarely affected.

I would never recommend to 'not touch Amazon' - how can you? Amazon reported a 9% increase in sales this last quarter compared to the same quarter in the previous year!

this thread is about order fulfillment.

i sell on amazon myself, supplementing my own websites.

when i say dont touch amazon, i am talking about their fulfillment.

if your sticking within the context of this thread and you are recommending amazon fulfillment then so be it. i disagree.

1) it is way more expensive than independent fulfillment services, and if they dont stock ur product already and they see how profitable it is they will start stockng it.

 

[contingo]

Amazon cannot stock it for themselves as we alone manufacture the product, which is patent pending. I don't know why vdepot's site is addressless but apparently they are based in Norwich.

 

[Moneyman]

Oops. this was a quick fix website to cover the old one when we updated our system. I will get one of my tekkies to fix it first thing n the morning.
The new site should be up and running in 10 days.
we are based just outside norwich. for deliveries it really doesnt matter where the parcels come from. a large chunk of our clients are based in the states or europe.

 

[Direction]

Not sure if you have sorted your problem yet, but if not, I may be able to help. I work for a fulfilment & distribution company, and we have many Internet companies who we support by providing their order processing, the pick, pack & dispatch of their products and of course storage.

We will provide advice on the best way to manage your orders in order to make it work more efficiently and then you can work with us to design the fulfilment process that suits you. What we aim to offer our customers is a service which acts as an extension of your business, so you can relax knowing all your business headaches are being dealt with, while you can concentrate on growing your business.

If you want to know more, visit our website on three w's dot directionmarketing dot co dot uk. Hope this has helped you, Regards Jessica

 

[Vince Corbin]

Another company I would avoid like the plague is Exact Abacus in Chorley and their 3EX product!

If you have very deep pockets, a huge technical department, loads of stock you want to lose and if you love to deal with people who treat you like an idiot, particularly when they could not get their heads around the requirements of a florist sundries wholesale business, then this is the company for you

With their huge contribution my business (400K turnover during 2007) ended up in the hands of the receiver, in just 8 months! But with the pressures and 24hr days that I had to do to try to get their software working, it felt more like 8 years!

 

[pfs]

I would be keen to find out more about your needs. If there is a good fit, Professional Fulfilment Services Ltd would be happy to give you a quote. We have operating centres in UK, Jersey and Guernsey. Please visit www(dot)pfs(dot)je e-mail to mike (at) pfs (dot) je - Best regards.

 

[Vince Corbin]

I am afraid I no longer have any needs as the liquidator has taken over the company with all of it's stock and "sold it" to a previous competitor, for almost nothing!

But thank you anyway, if we get back on our feet again we will keep you in mind.

 

[dragonops]

Hi there

We at Dragon OPS can offer a full logistics service at very competitive rates. We currently operate a UK distribution for a German furniture manufacturer. All instructions/orders are dealt with electronically, all stock is received into our facility in Leicestershire, and picking and despatch carried out by our experienced staff. We currently have approx 400 pallet spaces available and would be happy to discuss your requirements in more detail. Please call us on 0845 0346540 for further information.

Regards
Vicki Lock

 

[ukbizbook]

Hi,

I know ILG and would recommend them to anyone. I have worked with a few around the Beds/Northants areas and have heard some bad stories so if you want to PM me please do. I've about 10 years experience in the eCommerce/Fulfilment business so would be happy to advise if you wanted.

I hope it works out and avoid the shisters

Ukbizbook

 

[Jonathan Hathaway]

Hi all

I have used ILG in the past and their service was excellent - speak to their Commercial Director Mike Stephenson who knows his stuff. Interestingly they use 3EX software and seem to get a lot from it. I note Vince's comments above and get the impression from users that the initial learning curve on that system is quite steep, but its capabilities are pretty much infinite.

I also know of a client who uses exact abacus fulfilment services, and when I last spoke to them in early 2009, they were more than happy with the quality of service.

Hope this info is of benefit - i have worked with many fulfilment houses and software systems over the past 15 years, so happy to share experiences!

 

[mywarehouse]

We operate a pay-as-you-go order fulfilment service which may be of interest to you.

Our service is geared purely for the online retailer and there are no set up fees, no management fees, no minimum contract periods an (like Amazon) we charge storage by the volume NOT the pallet, typically saving around 25% in storage costs.

Simple price list and an API that allows retailers to integrate their shopping cart with our system meaning orders go direct from the checkout to our warehousing staff.

Take a look at our website mywarehouse.me and if this is the kind of fulfilment service you're looking for give us a call.

 

[SIX1]

I do this but I wouldnt recommend the company I use. Looking around myself also.

An important factor for me is closeness to the port of entry to keep delivery costs of goods coming from port down.

Not wishing to jump on the bandwagon of fulfilment companies that are joining this thread but hopefully I have something a little different to offer.

Fulfillment is very much a commodity, as long as it works it's generally good enough (others posting here may disagree!). What companies really want is the customer to buy again, and that's where we've squarely aimed our fulfilment business.

There are a lot of ways to get repeat business (just look at Amazon for some ideas) but for many these simply aren't affordable to implement. We make them affordable.

James

 

[TheProducers]

We offer a full range of fulfilment and related services take a look around our website site