Introduction
You’ve launched your business, and all the hard work that went into creating a product is finally paying off. But suddenly you realize that not much has changed, except now you need to start thinking about fulfillment. What exactly does that mean? Fulfillment is basically everything that happens after someone has purchased your product from your website or store. It includes everything from printing labels and shipping packages to making sure products have arrived safely at their destination—and if something goes wrong with this process, it can be difficult for customers to get in touch with you about their concerns. This post will help explain why it’s so important for e-commerce businesses (or any other type of business) to think about fulfillment early on in their development process and how they can make sure they’re ready before launching their first product on sale through an online marketplace like Shopify or Amazon
Why is fulfillment such an important part of a business?
Fulfillment is a crucial part of any business. It allows you to make more money, stay organized, and save money.
Let’s take a look at the benefits:
- A good fulfillment service can help you grow your business. If you’re selling products online and don’t have an established infrastructure for shipping them out quickly and efficiently, then people are going to be more likely not only to choose another company but also order less frequently from yours because they know their orders won’t arrive on time or with care (or at all). This will hurt both sales volume and customer loyalty over time–two things that are essential for any successful business!
What is fulfillment?
Fulfillment is the process of getting your product to your customers. It includes logistics, warehousing and shipping.
It can be outsourced or in-house; it depends on the size of your business and whether or not you have the resources to do this work yourself (or if you want to). Either way, fulfillment will be a big part of any e-commerce business–and if it’s not handled properly, it could end up costing you time and money while making customers unhappy with their experience buying from you!
How does fulfillment affect your product’s cost?
Fulfillment costs are a small percentage of your product’s total cost and can be reduced by shipping directly from the manufacturer to the customer, or using a fulfillment center.
If you’ve ever shopped for something on Amazon, then you’re familiar with all kinds of products that are available at low prices because they’re fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). This means that instead of paying for shipping from China or wherever else it was made, you get free two-day shipping from Amazon itself–and this is why those prices are so low!
The same goes for any business selling physical goods: if you want to sell high volumes of cheap products like t-shirts or mugs, consider working with an FBA company like Sticker Mule who will handle all aspects of order fulfillment so that all customers receive their items quickly and efficiently without any headaches on your end.
When is the best time to start thinking about logistics and fulfillment for your business?
When is the best time to start thinking about logistics and fulfillment for your business?
- Before you launch your product. If you’re selling a physical product, think about how you will ship it. If you are selling a digital product, think about how you will deliver it.
- When people begin to purchase from your store or website in earnest (or even before then). This means having plans in place so that when demand increases, there aren’t any hiccups or delays in getting those orders fulfilled quickly and efficiently–and without costing too much money on shipping costs!
Is there anything that I can do to help with my product’s fulfillment after it’s been launched?
Once you’ve launched, there are a few things that you can do to help ensure a smooth ride for your customers.
- Make sure that you have a good relationship with your fulfillment partner. If they make mistakes or don’t handle things in the way that you expected them to, then it’s going to be hard for them (or anyone) to fix those mistakes later on.
- Make sure you have a good relationship with your shipping carrier(s). This includes knowing what carriers are available where and when, so that if one carrier is unavailable at any given time or place, another may be able to take over its duties instead of having everything held up while waiting for another carrier’s delivery truck to arrive at the post office nearby where all these packages were supposed go out first thing tomorrow morning anyway…but now won’t because I messed up by not thinking ahead enough times before making decisions about my business model! Ugh…I’m getting off topic here…just remember: always make sure both sides know exactly what they need from each other beforehand–and if possible get some sort of written confirmation from both parties confirming this understanding as well.”
Fulfillment is a huge part of any successful e-commerce business, so make sure you have it covered.
Fulfillment is a huge part of any successful e-commerce business, so make sure you have it covered.
Logistics and fulfillment are the backbone of any e-commerce business. They’re not just about shipping–it’s also about how you communicate with customers, how quickly you can get products in their hands (and out the door), and how well your packaging performs. In fact, logistics and fulfillment can make or break a product launch!
The best way to ensure that your logistics plan works? Test it out before hand. The worst thing that could happen is spending money on something that doesn’t work as expected–but if this happens at least now we know what doesn’t work so next time around we’ll know better when choosing which fulfillment service provider would suit our needs best.”
Conclusion
Now that you know how important fulfillment is, it’s time to start planning for it. If you’re ready to dive into the world of e-commerce and build a business around your product, then now is the time! But before we go any further: if this article has sparked some interest in starting an online store or selling on Amazon, check out our free course on How To Sell On Amazon (or just sign up for our weekly email updates).
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