What's the difference between in Drop Shipping and Product Fulfilment?

[Lawson@CBF]

Dealing with a lot of product agents looking to use our fulfilment warehouse to process their client's work. They all seem to have the misconception that by us storing and processing orders for them are dropshipping.

To us, dropshipping is storing goods for a wholesaler or manufacturer for third-party resellers to sell and the orders come from the product owners channels. This gives the illusion that the location the client is buying from is via a direct sales channel when in fact they are a non-stock holding reseller.

Product fulfilment is the process of storing goods for any business to be processed, picked/packed and sent out to the client directly from multiple channels like Amazon, eBay, Not on the Highstreet, their own websites or shipping to wholesalers and TV shopping channels.

Drop shipping is growing from our perspective, we see some wholesalers having hundreds of sales channels without the online marketing costs or logistics.

Is dropshipping frowned upon or will it continue to grow?

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

"Is dropshipping frowned upon" Certainly in the eyes of our acquiring bank partners it appears to be.

 

[Mr D]

I've no problem using dropshipping companies or dropshipping for others.
Some sellers seem to have a problem with other people dropshipping their goods.

As a business method it has been known to work, its different and the risks are different.
Misconceptions about it appear to be as common now as 10 years ago. There are some cowboys around.

 

[LiveNetworks Ltd]

I think the distinction is only relevant from the buyers perspective because to you, the service you offer doesn't differ irrespective of how your customer chooses to classify their relationship with their customers and the retail channel.

Dropship would imply the ability for me as a middle man to have orders sent to my customers directly without me needing to hold stock.

You will be storing and processing for customers that are buying a fulfilment service from you, but they could easily be offering their agents/customers a dropship service which of course you'll be delivering also.

 

[Mr D]

The common dropship done this time of year? Mothers day presents.

 

[Pish_Pash]

An easy distinction...

Product Fulfilment = I own the goods.

Drop Shipping = Someone else owns the goods.

 

[artbo]

In dropshipping you haven't opportunity to take good witch you sell

 

[Mr D]

In dropshipping you haven't opportunity to take good witch you sell

And in English that is?