There is so much more to launching an online business than just a good e-commerce website. Online stores are a dime-a-dozen today. But successful e-commerce businesses are defined by their order fulfillment.
The success of your e-commerce business hinges on the delivery of the physical goods you sell. This is why order fulfillment plays such a critical role in your business planning.
Here are some of the top fulfillment services you should consider for your online business.
What Exactly Does a Fulfillment Service Offer?
Other than the speedy and reliable delivery of the goods you sell, a fulfillment service allows you to scale your business.
Successful packaging and order fulfillment means happy customers. They are more likely to return to your site and boost your business growth.
In short, this is what a good quality fulfillment service should offer:
- Adequate warehousing, inventory, and shipping services
- Order processing and order management
- Manage order returns
- Other services such a production logistics and recycling methods
A fulfillment service should also offer integrated services with e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, Squarespace, and Volusion.
Popular Fulfillment Services Worth Considering
There is a myriad of top fulfillment businesses on the market today. But here are some of the top 4 fulfillment services worth considering for your e-commerce business:
1. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Naturally, if you sell your products via Amazon's platform, then FBA fulfillment is your obvious choice. But, you don't actually have to sell on Amazon in order to use this fulfillment service.
FBA allows you to store your goods at Amazon's fulfillment centers. Their staff are responsible for selecting, packing, and shipping all your orders.
Amazon FBA offer some of the fastest shipping on the market today, with a 1-day turnaround. While Amazon Prime members qualify for free 2-day shipping.
FBA is ideal for e-commerce businesses looking to sell via Amazon but can be used by other platforms.
2. FedEx Fulfillment
If you sell goods across a number of different platforms, then FedEx fulfillment is perfect for you. They support popular platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and others.
This fulfillment service selects, packs, and ships all customer orders. They also manage all your inventory. FedEx integrates with the platforms you sell on. This means they receive automated notifications about every single new order.
They also facilitate the shipping of your products from the manufacturing warehouse to the FedEx warehouse. This is the definition of a multi-channel fulfillment service.
3. ShipBob Fulfillment
ShipBob fulfillment has become very popular in recent years. This is thanks to their 2-day shipping policy that states that you don't have to sell your goods on one specific marketplace.
Essentially, their services are integrated with all major e-commerce platforms. Including Squarespace, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magneto, BigCommerce, and others.
They also provide shipping and inventory management and a vast storage network that spans the U.S. This is one of the best fulfillment services for multi-platform sellers.
4. Ships-a-Lot
This is a fulfillment service that has partnered with Shopify. They offer a lightning-fast turnaround time on shipping, standing by the promise of delivering goods in less than 24-hours.
Ships-a-Lot has a great track record, with a 99% accuracy rate when it comes to order fulfillment. However, their focus is on small-medium packages and products.
So, this is a great option for merchants who sell small-medium sized goods on Shopify, looking for fast and efficient delivery time.
Become an E-Commerce Business Management Guru
We hope this blog on top fulfillment services leads you in the right direction when establishing your e-commerce business.
If you are looking for a wealth of knowledge on business management, financial management, investing, loans, and marketing, explore this site for more! Visit the Business section of the Frugal Finance Blog for more information on fulfillment, e-commerce, shipping, and much more!
Your recently discovered interest in dropshipping most probably cannot wait for you to get started. Dropshipping, after all, appears to be a quick method of getting returns. However, dropshipping can be a bit tricky.
The truth is, if not planned carefully, dropshipping could fail your expectations. To avoid such circumstances, pre-planning your dropshipping business is imperative. This ecommerce article below aims to help you with the same. Read ahead to know more and design a reliable dropshipping business plan.
10 Top Things To Consider Before Dropshipping
The following is a list of ten things that you need to take care of before you start dropshipping. Keeping these factors in mind will give you a heads up so you can have great success with your dropshipping business.
1. Monetary Resources
Although dropshipping is supposed to give you money instantly, initially, it does not work like that. For instance, if you are utilizing Shopify, then customers pay using PayPal or Stripe. As a result, it takes about a week or more for the money to reach you. Thus, you must keep money aside to pay your suppliers. Have a credit or a debit card, and take no risks.
2. Shipment Duration And Details
Before you decide to provide worldwide shipping for your products, check the shipping duration. It is advisable to pick countries with an estimated time of delivery of not more than a month, at most. This decision would help you avoid complaints from customers in the future. Online retailers often tend to forget to add shipment details on their websites for specific products. Such a mistake would give a sense of uncertainty, which customers do not appreciate. So, make sure to mention the shipping method and an estimate for shipment duration.
3. Adding products
Customers rarely perceive online stores selling only a few products as trustworthy. So, it is crucial to add about twenty or more products to your store beforehand, even before testing. If you do not, and you begin to advertise your store, you might lose a potential audience.
4. Be Prepared
You need to stay prepared not just for customer complaints but to spend money. As noted earlier, it is crucial to put some money aside in advance. When your store starts running, you would still need funds for marketing, re-building your store, and trying out new products.
5. Amazon And eBay Dropshipping
Although Amazon and eBay are more appealing, they might be as risky, too. Customers purchasing products from Amazon expect three-day deliveries. Prime users expect their products to arrive in a day. However, when you are dropshipping, that is rarely possible. So, refrain from Amazon and eBay dropshipping, and build your store instead.
6. Refund Policy
Having a precise refund policy is vital. The possibility of a refund increases the chances of sales. However, customers could also ask for a refund because they were expecting something else or because of how long it took to arrive. To avoid such situations, clearly mention on your refund policy page that refunding is only possible if the product is broken or defective.
7. Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Although some might not prefer to set up an LLC, it could be used to your advantage. It takes monetary investment, so if you do not have additional funds, you could skip it initially. However, LLC legally protects you, which is why it is something you may want to consider.
8. Facebook Page
If you have more likes on your Facebook page, it gives your online store more credibility. Before you advertise, try to get a minimum of 100 likes or so on your page. That would help to maintain customer interest and reach.
9. Follow-Up Emails
Finally, email marketing for your online store can be quite advantageous. Before the customer gets their products, use follow-up emails to build a customer-merchant relationship. Remind them of the estimated time of delivery, ask them if they have any issues, or send them a link to track their order. This makes you appear as a responsible seller, and customers appreciate that.
10. Endnotes
Dropshipping businesses can be highly successful once approached the right way. Many entrepreneurs have seen success with dropshipping. If all this sounds like music to your ears, then it’s time to start your very own e-commerce business through dropshipping.
Now that you know the various points to keep in mind before dropshipping, all you have to do is start! Attempt to put customer satisfaction first, and remember to double-check product details. Once your brand has established itself as reliable, your business will be successful in no time.
Top Dropshipping Shopify Apps
When you are launching an e-commerce store, one of the toughest things to do is to source products. A dropshipping business model is one of the smartest, profitable, and risk-free ways to get started. To help you source the best products to stock up your dropshipping inventory, we have curated a list of the top 5 Shopify dropshipping apps to choose from! Check out these applications to source top quality products for your inventory!
a. Printful
Printful is an app that offers a wide range of products and provides wonderful service! If you’re looking to create a high-quality inventory for your store, this Shopify dropshipping app should do the trick for you! Printful offers a fun range of items like t-shirts, leggings, sweaters, bags, socks, phone cases, framed photographs, and so much more! It allows you to print whatever you want on any product and then sell it to buyers. You can even customize your products. All you have to do is send your designs and Printful will ship the order to your customer. You wouldn’t need to manually fulfill each order or send the same design again and again. Printful saves your designs so it can fulfill your orders automatically. This is a free app and requires you to only pay for the product when an order is received.
b. Spocket
Spocket is an extremely efficient app that helps you connect with dropshipping suppliers in the United States and the European Union. You can build a great inventory using this app as it offers many items to choose from. All you have to do is select the products from the categories and add them to your store. Sprocket allows you to order samples before you launch a product for sale. It is free of charge for up to 25 products and costs $39.90/month for a standard plan (250 products) and $99/month for a professional plan (unlimited products).
c. Modalyst
Modalyst is an app that supplies high-quality dropshipping products from across the globe. The app provides a huge selection of ready-made products to stock up your store. You can find everything from clothes, shoes, make-up products, accessories, home decor products, and many more. Modalyst links to your Shopify store directly. This helps you add products directly and simultaneously track or edit orders, inventory, and prices. It offers a free 14-day trial. After the trial, members have to pay $35/month for an unlimited plan.
d. Oberlo
Oberlo is an app that sports a smart design that integrates your store with your Shopify account. You can directly add products to your store using the Oberlo Marketplace. The Oberlo Shopify dropshipping app helps you choose from a variety of products like electronic gadgets, accessories, clothing, toys, and a lot more. Oberlo takes care of the shipping process, so you don't have to worry about managing the inventory or shipping at any time. You can directly dropship the products after receiving an order. This makes dropshipping easier, faster, and efficient. Oberlo has a free account that allows 500 products and up to 50 orders/month. There is a $29/month plan that offers 10,000 products and up to 500 orders a month. Finally, it has a Pro Plan that offers 30,000 products and unlimited orders at $79.90/month.
e. Pillow Profits Fulfilment
Pillow Profits Fulfillment is a Shopify dropshipping app that allows you to mainly sell a wide range of shoes. You can sell footwear ranging from sneakers, boots, and heels to flip-flops, high-tops, mules, and so much more. You can even find bags, socks, pillow covers, and bedding products on Pillow Profits Fulfilment. This app allows you to get your designs printed onto their products so you can sell exciting custom products. This app is a dream come true for artists who'd want their designs to be out there. It offers a free trial for seven days and then charges $29.90/month.
Dropshipping Done Right
Dropshipping may seem confusing when you start, but trust us, it gets easier with experience. We hope that the 10 top dropshipper considerations and 5 best Shopify dropshipping apps that we have listed have given you an idea about what you need for your ideal inventory.
Our list is solid on market research, so we are confident that any of these 5 Shopify dropshipper apps will help you. You could be an entrepreneur or a seasoned dropshipper, these helpful Shopify apps and ecommerce tips serve all! Check out these apps to find the one that best fits your dropshipping business model!
