Fulfillment in e-commerce logistics services covers the operations that take place from the physical preparation of the customer’s order once received to its delivery to the customer. Since handling all these tasks is a heavy workload for the seller, there is a need for companies specialized in managing these operations.

The company that undertakes the service on behalf of the merchant is responsible for planning all preparations throughout the process. In this way, the workload of the sellers in the sales process is alleviated. Let's take a look at how this service works and which sellers can opt for it.

What is Fulfillment?

An excellent opportunity for e-commerce store owners, the fulfillment service is basically order completion. In this day and age when online shopping has become extremely common, everyone involved in online trade asks what fulfillment means. This process includes the steps that the seller follows while delivering an order to the buyer.

In this way, many steps are followed in the online logistics department in order for the placed order to reach the buyer smoothly. If an e-commerce company wishes, it can stock the orders at its own premises and underwrite all the work such as receiving stock, inspecting inventory, labeling, and managing the inventory system until the order reaches the buyer.

However, handling this entire process can generate a massive workload and high costs for every company. For this reason, e-commerce companies prefer to partner with a fulfillment company. Thus, the company provides a comprehensive service to the e-commerce business.

This logistics service model includes many elements in the process of delivering the order to the buyer and covers all aspects of online sales. The process can be said to cover four main headings: e-commerce platform integration, warehousing and delivery, picking and packing orders, and returns and complaints.

What Are the Benefits of Fulfillment?

E-commerce companies can achieve even better outcomes by working with a fulfillment center. The core activity of this operation is not just order execution and product distribution. Thanks to the partnership with a third-party logistics service, the e-commerce company gains more time for its primary business activities such as sales and innovation.

In this way, various advantages help the e-commerce company grow. We can list some of the advantages of fulfillment as follows:

• It allows the seller to dedicate more time to core business activities such as business development, marketing, and customer support.

• By acquiring expertise, the process becomes more systematic.

• Thanks to better process optimization, existing resources are utilized in the best possible way to achieve results and resolve issues.

• It offers more advantageous delivery and the opportunity to open up to foreign markets.

• It ensures faster deliveries.

• Warehousing and shipping are executed in the best possible way.

• You secure better shipping rates for overseas deliveries.

• The seller does not need to deal with occurrences such as holidays or illnesses of warehouse employees.

• A single payment is sufficient for all services, including warehousing, packing, and shipping.

• You have many more shipping options, such as courier delivery to the customer or personal pickup.

Looking at the advantages listed above, it can clearly be stated that transferring orders to an external partner for fulfillment services has many benefits for an e-commerce company.

Carrying out such an important part of the business by handing it over to professionals also positively affects the e-commerce aspect of the business. All you need to do is decide on the external logistics partner that you believe will be best for your enterprise.

What Are fulfillment Fees?

Pricing of fulfillment services is formed based on the services offered by the fulfillment center. It includes fees such as system integration, product intake, storage, product picking, packaging, and value-added services. We have detailed these for you below:

Setup Fees / System Integration

Setup service and system integration refer to the integration of your marketplace store, website infrastructure, and other sales platforms with the fulfillment center's software. This setup & integration fee can vary based on the scope of the integration.

Product Intake Fees

Product intake fees, also known as the goods receiving process, vary according to the type of product to be received, the quantity of products, product packaging, and the inspection procedures to be carried out during intake. In a standard product intake process, checking the quantity and damage-free state of the products are among the fundamental operations.

Storage Fees

Storage fees are priced depending on variables such as how long the product will be stored, how much space it will occupy, how it will be stored, and so on.

Picking and Packing Fees

Once the products reach the warehouse, how they will be picked and packed is defined according to the seller's requests. A pricing structure is generated based on these specifications, and the seller pays the fees corresponding to the service.

Shipping Fees

During the shipping phase of the product, delivery from the warehouse to the customer is usually undertaken by 3rd party logistics and shipping companies. These fees can also be included in fulfillment services and proceed based on the initiative of the seller or the service provider. You can meet your fulfillment and intermediate warehouse service needs with ParkPalet, and ship your products safely with Navlungo.

How is Fulfillment Service Pricing Done?

Fulfillment fees, of course, can vary depending on the companies from which the service is received. This depends on the structure of the provider and how they fulfill the service.

Some fulfillment operation centers ship ready-made products to customers, while some centers send products to end-users by providing value-added services such as packaging, product bundling, gift wrapping, and similar features.

Most fulfillment service providers set a fee per transaction, so sellers incur costs per order. As the order volume of E-Commerce sellers increases, their costs decrease due to economies of scale.

How is Fulfillment Done in E-Commerce?

In e-commerce, fulfillment services take place fundamentally under four main categories: warehouse management, order management, logistics management, and customer relations management (which includes returns and complaints).

In warehouse management, the inventory of the seller company is stored in one place. This stage is the part where everything related to your company's warehousing operations, such as warehouse space, stock availability, and shipping equipment, comes to the fore.

The order management step involves tasks such as checking stock, pricing, order picking, fulfillment, tracking, tracking deliveries, record-keeping, and sending notifications regarding demand and purchase.

In the logistics section, duties such as packaging and delivering orders are carried out. When an e-commerce company receives fulfillment services, it does not have to deal with these processes. This way, they do not waste time receiving and delivering orders.

One of the best aspects of fulfillment is the customer relations section, which involves assisting clients in the best possible way. If any issues are experienced in the ordering process, it involves supporting the customer, tracking the stage of the product in the delivery phase, and establishing the necessary contact with clients in case of returns, exchanges, and complaints.

The relationship established with customers at this stage can be maintained via various communication channels such as mail, call centers, or SMS. Since the external logistics partner handles this entire process, a bond of trust is built faster and easier between the customers and the company. Quality of service is steadily improved through reports generated based on kept records.

In the video below, ParkPalet co-founder Alp Çiçekdağı explains the fulfillment service in detail. You can watch this video if you wish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ4xKSsRDG4

What Are the Fulfillment Implementation Steps?

E-commerce logistics service, fundamentally grouped under four headlines, proceeds like this when the fulfillment process is broken down into smaller execution steps:

• Receiving the order (from the e-store, social media boutiques, or via phone)

• Registering the order request in the inventory system

• Delivering confirmation to the customer after the order is confirmed

• Directing the order request to the warehouse

• A warehouse employee locating and retrieving the ordered product

• Packing the order and preparing it for shipping

• Dispatch of the order

• Informing the client by sending a message that their order is on the way

• Delivering the order to the customer

• When necessary, executing exchanges or returns of orders and issuing refunds

• Updating the inventory

The first of the fulfillment implementation steps is warehouse management. To sell with stock, it is necessary to hold product stock in the warehouse. In this process, operations related to the space management and product stocks of the warehouses are conducted. The second step is order management.

This phase covers the organization of tasks related to the order, such as customers ordering products from the e-commerce company, checking product stock, keeping records, and preparing the order.

The third stage is logistics management. It covers packaging and delivering the order once it has been received and prepared. The shipping process being run by an external logistics partner reduces the workload and costs of the e-commerce firm.

The fourth and final stage is customer relations. Here, the customer is informed about the status of the order, and customer satisfaction is achieved by dealing with requests such as product exchange or return.

Who Can Choose Fulfillment Services?

If you have a growing e-commerce business, handling all orders, managing warehouses, and keeping stock will call for a considerable amount of time and cost. Therefore, to meet ever-increasing customer demand, you might consider partnering with a fulfillment service as a fast and modern solution.

Automatic order fulfillment software can provide convenience up to a point. However, it is wiser to use a service that offers more flexible adaptation instead. If you own a medium-sized or large e-store, you can select this service too.

What Should You Consider When Choosing a Fulfillment Service Provider?

One of the points you should pay attention to is that the logistics firm you want to partner with should be quick in order fulfillment. Because in an increasingly competitive online marketplace environment, your orders must be completed as rapidly as your e-commerce company operates.

When choosing a fulfillment service provider, you should ensure they can guarantee delivery in three days or fewer via a reliable shipping service. You can also prioritize that your fulfillment service provider strategically uses multiple warehouses situated in different regions.

Utilizing multiple warehouses located in different regions both reduces shipping time and lowers costs, as less distance will be covered in the shipping process. It is also important that the company you partner with is flexible.

Last-minute arrangements and changes should be possible, and other various order fulfillment experiences should be adaptable to your customers, allowing necessary adjustments to be made.

If you want to grow your e-store without worrying about storing products and preparing orders, you can create your e-commerce logistics request at ParkPalet right away to receive fulfillment services!

Ways to Reduce Costs in Fulfillment Services

The fulfillment service contains the service costs we specified, and reducing these costs is one of the most critical elements for all merchants. There are multiple ways to decrease costs.

Working with the right shipping company, staying in regular contact with the company you work with, ensuring that your marketplace integration and order management system function efficiently, and conducting bulk product and order management will basically minimize these costs.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fulfillment

Below you can find the most frequently asked questions and answers from users regarding fulfillment.

Is It Sensible to Use a Fulfillment Service?

Using a fulfillment service is the most logical solution for businesses that want to focus exclusively on sales and marketing. There are many stages and operations from packaging the product to delivering it to the customer. Automating these processes so you can focus only on sales and marketing builds a critical resource of time to scale the business.

Who Should Prefer Fulfillment Services?

Online businesses with weak operational resources or insufficient time can use fulfillment services. Planning and executing a massive operation can be highly challenging, preventing you from dedicating enough time to your products. Fulfillment can be considered the best choice for those who desire to manage massive organizations with few people.