When looking at successful ecommerce businesses, many of us measure their success by how fast or how much they’ve grown. Whether they spent thousands of dollars on ad agencies or went viral on the internet, there is one crucial quality that all of these businesses share: scalability.
In short, scalability is created by implementing a business structure that allows for extreme growth while maintaining stability. When your business can scale successfully, there’s no stopping once the ball gets rolling. That said, it can be very difficult to get that ball rolling all on your own, so who’s the best help you can get? Your friendly neighborhood 3PL! In this article, we’ll reveal some of the best ways a 3PL can help scale your ecommerce business.
Table of Contents
Specialized Expertise
For starters - the backend operations behind running an ecommerce business tend to be the bulk of the business operations, especially in the early days. Everything from finding a manufacturer to packing your product(s) is crucial to make sure you can fulfill orders on time. However, the more your business grows, the wider your range of customers. Meaning; higher shipping costs and often longer shipping times. To avoid getting caught in the crossfire of quotes from different package carriers, try taking advantage of a 3PL’s expertise!
3PL’s are notorious for having significantly lower shipping costs than going directly through package carriers, meaning your business can save on shipping costs - and you can pass those savings on to your customers. Additionally, 3PLs are filled with dedicated professionals who are well versed in logistics, saving you the hassle of learning things like international shipping and customs clearance on your own!
Cost Reduction
Like we mentioned above, having the right 3PL partner will help you cut costs on all of your logistics operations. Rather than creating your own infrastructure, hiring/training new employees, and negotiating with carriers - a 3PL will take all of these decisions off your hands.
On average, most ecommerce businesses end up spending up to 15%-20% of their revenue on logistics operations. Taking advantage of a 3PL you can trust can help reduce your shipping costs by up to 25%! That means more money for scaling up production, advertising, and other important front-end operations. However, it’s important to note that cheaper is NOT always better. Finding a logistics partner with the lowest possible price will definitely let you keep more in your pocket initially, but there are often hidden fees behind hidden fees with 3PL’s who quote abnormally low prices.
Be careful when using price to determine the ideal partner for your business. As they say; quality comes with a price!
Improved Efficiency
Now, saying “quality comes with a price” hardly means anything unless you know what you’re paying for, right? In this section, we’ll talk about exactly how 3PLs can help you streamline your operations.
To start, modern 3PLs like Atomix have begun using robust SaaS platforms for their order and inventory management. Automating order and inventory management translates to significantly reduced risk of mispicks, lost orders, and much more accurate inventory numbers. In addition, you as a brand owner get access to real-time updates on all of your back end operations - meaning owners get full control over their brand while not being physically at the warehouse!
Another way real-time updates help business owners is by providing crucial insights on sales trends. These allow business owners to make informed business decisions to better position themselves for growth and success - ultimately allowing them to stay competitive in the chaotic world of ecommerce.
Focusing on your Core Competencies
In a perfect world, your ideal 3PL will effectively run in the “background” from a front-end perspective. Atomix strives to function as an extension of your brand, allowing you to focus on more important functions such as advertising, brand building, and marketing for your brand.
In the same way that WMS (Warehouse management Systems) help business owners make informed decisions, a trusted fulfillment partner allows brands to spend more time and energy on the important aspects of their brand image.
Another great way for brands to invoke a strong brand image is through the use of high quality branded packaging. To help brands “show their stuff,” partners such as ARKA are right there to help create top quality, custom designed packages for any brand. Think about it - when consumers receive an online order, it’s a lot more interesting to open a package with bright colors and fun text rather than a basic brown box or poly mailer. It also elicits a more “premium” feel for your product, showing that you took the extra time to make sure your customers are satisfied with their purchase.
Conclusion
To conclude; the world of ecommerce is fiercely competitive, and any possible advantage can be the difference between exploding or imploding. We believe that while it is possible for a brand to scale past 10k orders/month, climbing that hill with a trusted partner will surely speed up your progress.
If you or a friend is curious about scaling their DTC, B2B, FBA, or FBM brand, feel free to reach out to your friendly neighborhood 3PL!
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