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A fulfillment company or center is a business that specializes in processing orders, managing inventory, and shipping for other companies or businesses. It helps free up your resources and time so that you focus on other important aspects of your business. Ideally, fulfillment refers to various supply chain functions and activities that are related to delivering, processing, and receiving customer orders.
If you are running an eCommerce business, then you understand how managing fulfillment operations can take a toll on your business resources, such as time and space. You can now outsource all these tasks to a fulfillment company. You should note that all activities of fulfillment are important to ensure you meet the needs of your customers. When starting a business, you can do some of these activities in-house. However, as the order volume keeps increasing, it is advisable to partner with China fulfillment companies. These are the steps to be accomplished in fulfilling your orders.
Inventory is taken to a Fulfillment Center
When working with a fulfillment company, this is the first thing to do. There are different ways you can use to achieve this, depending on the origin of your stock. For instance, if you buy products for resale, then you can route your products from the supplier to the fulfillment company. You have to provide details of the shipment to the fulfillment center.
However, if you have a manufacturing facility, you need to ship the products to the fulfillment center. There are different companies that offer to ship goods.
Sorting of Goods
After the stock gets to a fulfillment company, the stock is sorted. The process is the same as what happens in your retail store or eCommerce website. The company staff checks and inspects your stock. Also, they verify the quantities. The company will then confirm receipt and inform you if there are discrepancies. In this way, you can contact your supplier if you have received damaged goods.
Storage of Inventory
With organization and tagging systems available, your goods are stored. Remember that a fulfillment company is designed for quick turnover and optimized logistics, as opposed to a typical warehouse. There is a need to ensure there is a healthy balance of merchandise against the storage fees. If you leave your stock for long, then it will take up space and cost you a lot of money.
Routing of Customer Orders
At this stage, your inventory is in the fulfillment center, and it has been sorted. It does not matter the system you use to manage orders; a reputable fulfillment company makes the connection a seamless one. Some fulfillment companies can provide you with an order processing system. They can even process your orders through email or phone.
Processing and Shipping of Orders
When your business receives orders, the fulfillment company ships them to the customers. The fulfillment company can pack and ship your goods. After shipping the goods, the fulfillment company updates the order status. It is advisable to integrate automatic email notifications to alert your customers of the shipping progress. In this way, your customers will be aware of the status of shipping and can track their purchases.
