Order Fulfillment: 5 Tips For Successful Outsourcing (Tip 1)

The first step you need to take when you outsource order fulfillment is: know your goals.

Order Fulfillment

Outsourcing order fulfillment can be a smart business decision for almost any type or size retail company. But there is more to successful outsourcing than simply picking the cheapest vendor, because order fulfillment is more than a simple commodity service. At least, it is for most retailers.

In this 5-part blog series, we offer 5 important tips that will help you set yourself up for success.

Tip #1: Know your goals

There are lots of great reasons to outsource order fulfillment:

• Relieve the headaches and frustration that come from wrestling with a less-than-stellar in-house operation
• Jettison an important but non-core function – you’re in the retail business, not logistics.
• Improve performance quality so you can improve customer experience – mistakes are eating into profits and driving customers away.
• Accommodate volume fluctuations without sacrificing service levels.
• Save money (maybe – outsourcing may not actually be cheaper, but the “total package” of benefits can significantly outweigh the cost).

Done right, outsourcing allows you to refocus your attention and resources toward things that directly build your business. Things like product development, marketing, and strengthening customer relationships.

What are your expectations?

Knowing why you want to outsource is vital. But you must also be clear about what you want to achieve. For example, if your goal is better customer experience, what will it take to accomplish that? (Hint: consider the details of your order fulfillment process from your customers’ point of view – what do they expect?)

In our decades of experience here at USA Fulfillment, one thing we’ve learned is that companies often don’t realize what’s possible when working with an outsource partner. So we’ve developed this easy-to-use, informative needs assessment. It’s a quiz you can take to grade your current fulfillment efforts, whether you’re handling operations in-house or using a third party. But it can be a real eye-opener for you, too.

That’s because, done right, outsourcing increases brand reputation and customer loyalty. With the right partner, you can look forward to more sales, more repeat business, and higher customer lifetime value.

For information about how to choose the proper fulfillment house for you, download our FREE ebook.

In our next article, we’ll discuss Tip #2: Finding your best match in an order fulfillment partner.