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While many aspects of the shipping and fulfillment industry have gone fully digital, some still require a physical presence. Whether you're an eCommerce business storing products in a warehouse or a 3PL managing inventory for multiple clients, inventory management is critical. But managing your physical inventory in a digital world can be tricky. Here are some tips to help you get started.

What is Inventory Management?

Inventory management is the process of ordering, stocking, and using a business's materials or products. There are various types of inventory, like raw materials, cycle inventory, and MRO goods, which we won’t get into right now. But prioritizing your inventory helps you understand what you need to order or manufacture more frequently to continuously fulfill your customers' needs.

Being a warehouse employee isn’t just about lifting heavy boxes all day. They also have to keep track of inventory and update information as necessary. When it comes to traditional inventory management, this often means laboriously filling out spreadsheets or keeping physical files updated. But with digital inventory management, they can kiss those days goodbye. Instead of relying on the fallible human memory, the warehouse team can depend on a fully automated system that does the updating for them. Stop worrying about a lapse in record-keeping causing disaster for business operations.

Let's face it - warehouse work can be physically demanding without worrying about the warehouse's physical inventory process. Digital inventory management allows businesses and warehouses to focus more on regular tasks while letting technology handle the rest.

Digital Inventory Solutions

Digital inventory solutions can help automate and streamline your inventory procedures. You can improve your bottom line by using inventory management software and other inventory control technologies, like barcoding and RFID tagging. Automating your inventory management processes can help reduce errors, increase efficiencies, and allow you and your team time to focus on other tasks.

Manual processes can often lead to errors and missed opportunities when managing your inventory. But automating your inventory with a digital inventory management system like ShipHero ensures accuracy and frees up time for you and your team to focus on the important stuff. Constant communication with your sales channels means you'll always have up-to-the-minute information about what's in stock, what's sold out, and what needs to be replenished. Gone are the days of physical inventory count headaches and lost sales - let technology do the heavy lifting for you.

Inventory Tips and Tricks

Here are a few methods you can use to streamline your inventory management, no matter where you are in your process:

• Define your objectives and KPIs: What do you want to achieve with your inventory management process? You can develop KPIs to track progress if you reduce stock levels, increase turnover rates, or improve customer satisfaction.
• Develop standard operating procedures: Documenting your procedures helps ensure everyone on your team is on the same page and following the same process.
• Utilize technology: As we mentioned before, technology can significantly help manage inventory. From barcoding and RFID tagging to automated reordering systems, various technology solutions are available to help streamline your process.
• Conduct regular audits: Regular audits help ensure accuracy in your data and catch any errors that may have slipped through the cracks. Auditing also allows you to identify improvement areas in your process and make changes as needed.
• ShipHero Cycle Counts: Cycle counting helps to ensure that your physical inventory matches what you have recorded in the system, keeping everything in check. It also allows you to count smaller sections at a time, rather than having to shut down operations for a complete physical count. In other words, cycle counting helps prevent any potential inventory-related chaos and keeps your whole process running smoothly.
• Communicate with stakeholders: Good communication is critical in any business operation, but it's imperative when managing inventory. Ensure everyone who needs to be informed about changes in inventory levels is kept in the loop. That way, there are no surprises down the road.

Digitize Your Inventory Management Process

In the digital era, physical inventory management can feel like a relic from the past. But efficient inventory management software allows you to have your cake and count it too. By automating the mundane tasks associated with physical inventory, you can spend more time checking things off your to-do list and less time inputting data. Why suffer through tedious physical inventory counts by hand?

You can make this process much easier with the right tools and solutions. At ShipHero, we specialize in helping businesses streamline their inventory management process so they can focus on what they do best – running their business. If you’re looking for help managing your inventory, contact us today to see how we can help.

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Talk to our software experts today and learn more about how our warehouse software is built for eCommerce brands.

Aaron Rubin, Founder & CEO

‍ShipHero

About the author:  Aaron Rubin is the Founder & CEO of ShipHero. He is responsible for planning and executing the overall vision and strategy of the organization. Rubin’s greatest strengths are leadership, change management, strategic planning, and a passion for progression. He is known for having his finger on the pulse of ShipHero’s significant initiatives, entrepreneurial spirit, and keen business acumen. His leadership of ShipHero is grounded in providing excellent customer service that drives improved business operations. His passion for ShipHero comes from the culture and his ability to impact the lives of employees, customers, partners, and investors.

Follow Aaron on Twitter&LinkedIn.

The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with numerous geopolitical factors, has resulted in major disruptions to the supply chain in recent years. In particular, US companies that rely on China for manufacturing have suffered issues related to frequent lockdowns. In light of these problems, the country is reconsidering its traditional approaches to manufacturing and logistics, and businesses need to stay abreast of the latest laws and policies if they hope to stay competitive. Read on to learn how retailers are future-proofing their supply chain in light of US manufacturing reshoring.

Is US Manufacturing Coming Back?

Manufacturing in the US vs overseas has been a topic of debate for years. However, recent legislation is causing many businesses to reassess their current retail expansion strategies. In February of this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act of 2022. Along with increasing the competitiveness of American companies, the bill aims to improve supply chains and reduce the shortages that have become common in recent years.

In light of US manufacturing reshoring, companies are asking themselves whether they’re properly positioned to compete for available loans and subsidies. Making changes to your supply chain now could better help you benefit from the new legislation while future-proofing your business against shortages and disruptions down the line. However, not all companies are poised to make the change.

Benefits of US Manufacturing Reshoring

Recent events have left retailers feeling helpless about supply chain issues. However, making the switch to domestic manufacturers can go a long way toward guaranteeing your business a bright future. Here are some ways in which manufacturing goods in the US can help you control your supply chain destiny moving forward.

Save Time on Production

Manufacturing products overseas increases costs along with the time it takes your goods to reach consumers. Not only does moving this task closer mean customers receive purchases faster, improving your service ratings, but the entire sales process is also accelerated. As a result, your company is more agile, and money stays in your pocket.

Save Money on Shipping

It’s no secret that shipping is a significant cost in the eCommerce world. When you manufacture goods closer to home, you spend less money shipping products to customers and shipping supplies overseas. This is particularly important in an emergency, when you may need to air ship items out on a faster timetable.

Enjoy More Control

It’s hard to control what’s happening in your manufacturing plants if they’re located thousands of miles away from your team. One of the benefits of domestic manufacturing is that it gives business owners the opportunity to ensure goods meet their high standards and specifications. In the long run, using lower quality items can cause you to spend more on quality checks, repairs, and even processing returns.

Reduce Errors

Errors are all too common in the supply chain. However, increasing the length of a product’s journey from manufacturer to customer also raises the number of opportunities for mistakes to occur. By shortening that chain, you can reduce the odds of your product being damaged, lost, or even stolen in transit.

As your eCommerce business grows, it can be hard to keep up with your company’s logistics needs. Not only do you have to get goods out the door on time, but you also have to manage reverse logistics for products coming back into your warehouse. By investing in a third-party fulfillment service, you can take the first step toward optimizing your logistics and putting your business in the best position to benefit from US manufacturing reshoring.

To find out more about ShipHero's fully outsourced fulfillment solution, talk to one of our Fulfillment Experts today.

Maggie M. Barnett, Esq. COO of ShipHero

‍ShipHero

‍About the author: Maggie M. Barnett, Esq., is the COO of ShipHero. She is responsible for planning and executing the overall operational, legal, managerial and administrative procedures, reporting structures and operational controls of the organization. Barnett’s greatest strengths are leadership, risk mitigation, change management and a passion for business transformation. She is known for her expertise in delivering operational excellence and an ability to provide guidance and mitigating risk. Her leadership of ShipHero is grounded in a servant mentality, always doing the right thing for our stakeholders. Her passion for ShipHero comes from the ability to drive operational excellence throughout the organization impacting the lives of our employees, customers, and partners.

Follow Maggie on Twitter&LinkedIn.

In the digital age, customer expectations are high. We’ve entered a time where no matter how relevant your message or how unique your product, your customers expect a streamlined delivery experience. Delays in shipping or products harmed along the way turns a loyal customer into a frustrated one. This is why fulfillment is a huge issue across the world during the pandemic. Manufacturing has slowed, carrier rates are on the rise, and ports are congested; resulting in packages getting lost or taking double the time to arrive. For many, investing in logistical infrastructure has become a high priority because efficient fulfillment processes are required for customer happiness and retention.

What is Order Fulfillment?

This is the process which allows you to get a product delivered to your customer after they order it online. Within the supply chain, this process includes inventory receiving, storing, processing, picking and packing, and transporting the items to the shipping destination of the customer. The efficiency of this is measured in the time it takes for an order to get to the customer’s porch once processed. These fulfillment services are complicated. They take a heavy chunk of change to get up and running and if you don’t do them right, they become costly to a business.

This is why many large multi-million dollar companies have their own supply chain infrastructure, but many smaller companies can’t afford to bring those services in house. Which is where a third party fulfillment center can help. They are decked out with the latest technology and streamlined processes so your company doesn’t have to invest in its infrastructure.

Types of Order Fulfillment

There are a few different order fulfillment strategies you can utilize.

In-House Fulfillment

This works great when you are small, or if you have millions to invest in a warehouse and the crew required to man it. But unless you have the money to invest in a fulfillment infrastructure and know how to do it well, this isn’t a great option.

Dropship Order Fulfillment

This is where you don’t keep the products you sell in stock. Instead you as the seller would purchase the inventory as needed from a manufacturer to fulfill orders. However this can be difficult due to manufacturing shortages and congestion in the ports. Now your product is stuck and you have any customers who haven’t received an order.

Third-Party Fulfillment

This is a great strategy which gives you control of your supply chain with the help of professionals who know the industry and how to navigate it. When using a third-party fulfillment company you contract them to store, pick, pack, and ship your product all while providing you with key strategies for your logistical needs.

Why Third-Party Fulfillment

Likely, you have already felt the major supply chain disruptions within your own company. So why go to third-party fulfillment? It drives revenue. Because in today’s world eCommerce companies will get ignored if they can’t offer 2-day shipping. This has become such a standard for customer satisfaction it is often highly annoying to clients if they have to wait longer.

You can fulfill your orders in house, but often, this only works for so long. Especially when order volumes become too high and force you to invest in high quality fulfillment infrastructure (staff, technology, warehouses, shipping) which gets pricey!

Often it’s better to work with a third-party provider because they scale up and down in order volume as you need, they have the tools in place to provide customers with a seamless and speedy delivery, and they provide your business with strategic insights. Some of the best fulfillment services help you elevate your eCommerce business with strategies to turn your fulfillment from a cost to a revenue driver.

When picking the best fulfillment center available to you, there are a slew of options. Especially with the continuous improvement of equipment and technology.

Top 10 Order Fulfillment Options for eCommerce

Let's take a look at a few third-party order fulfillment companies.

ShipHero

If you want to dump the headache of running your own warehouse, or if you want to run your warehouse more efficiently, ShipHero has a solution. With both a stellar warehouse management system (WMS) and a fully outsourced fulfillment option their clients have peace of mind.

The warehouse management system (WMS) streamlines your warehouse's entire processes and procedures to increase efficiency and make your team more effective. Plus, they offer 30% faster shipping times than many competitors and a highly rated Client Support team which provides you with a fulfillment expert to help you with any questions or concerns on your supply chain.

Overall ShipHero simplifies your picking, packing, and shipping in order to allow your team to pick and pack more in the same amount of time.

If you’re interested in learning more, here is a case study.

Amazon Fulfillment (FBA)

What is FBA? This fulfillment solution allows businesses to outsource their order fulfillment directly to Amazon. Meaning, your business would send its product to Amazon fulfillment centers, then as the customer purchases the product, Amazon will pick, pack, and ship it. And, when an item is sold you pay Amazon a small percentage of the total price (this includes item price, shipping cost, and gift-wrapping costs). The average seller typically pays about 15% of their product's cost.

Due to their size, Amazon FBA has no maximum monthly order volume which makes it ideal for large operations. They also have more than 200 million Amazon Prime members who search Amazon.com frequently, which means your product gets in front of more people than usual. As Amazon grows it has become one of the fastest growing fulfillment companies for many multichannel sellers.

Red Stag

In their eCommerce fulfillment offering, RedStag has a few benefits worth highlighting. First they have the option of same-day shipping and fulfillment services with as late as a 5pm cut off. Second, their WMS helps you gain visibility into the different phases of your supply chain. Third, they offer eCommerce returns processing. Returns are a common part of the supply chain but unfortunately it can be difficult to have a solution for them. However RedStag offers a reverse logistics process to help you turn a lost sale into a good customer experience. They do this by offering a high speed return process which documents any damage done to the product then they can refurbish and restock the product for you.

They also offer custom packaging and help you source and test appropriate boxes for your product. And when doing this they take into consideration how best to consolidate the items within your packages to help clients lower their number of packages per order and become more eco-friendly as sustainability is top of mind for many eCommerce brands.

ShipBob

A third-party logistics provider who fulfills your eCommerce orders for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. Meaning companies who don’t use a middleman like retailers or wholesalers to get their product in-front of a customer. ShipBob will determine where best your product fits in their fulfillment centers based on the most common order locations between their network of fulfillment centers. This way your inventory is strategically split across all their locations so your products are near your customers.

With their order management software they will also track your shipments from beginning to end so you get clarity into where exactly your product is at any time.

3PL Central

For those of you who want to do self-fulfillment, 3PL Central is a good option. They have a warehouse management software which automates many processes required within your fulfillment process. With this platform they help you optimize your warehouse workflow so your processes and operations are streamlined.

Their WMS is a cloud-based solution and it automates billing, integrates with API, EDI, shopping carts, retailers, and shipper connections. Above all they strive to eliminate manual errors, offer high quality reporting, and help you move to paperless operations. They also integrate seamlessly with your existing systems.

ShipMonk

They offer both a cloud based inventory management software and fulfillment services. Their inventory portal gives you the ability to identify your best selling SKUs and blacklist old skus. What's more you can track your inventory levels across multiple channels.

And with several fulfillment centers across the US they will split your inventory across locations and help you source the warehouse which offers the best price. They also boast a high performing customer team of “Happiness Engineers” who will spring into action and help when a problem arises.

Stord

This company is a single partner to fulfill your freight, warehousing, and fulfillment needs. Their goal is to make your supply chain a competitive advantage by helping you optimize everything from port to porch. They offer fulfillment, freight, and cloud based software. Their software connects all the programs you use within your supply chain in one place so you have one dashboard to see your entire supply chain process. In addition, it also helps you find shipping rates for different freight loads.

Their focus is a holistic approach to fool-proof your supply chain and they want to help you create a strategy so you can optimize your physical and technological solutions.

Deliverr

Here you get free two day shipping through platforms such as Wish, Facebook, Shopify, Walmart, Google, Ebay, and Instagram. They also have several freight options including drayage, transloading, and LTL services. Their mission is to let any company, regardless of size, offer their customers fast and cost effective fulfillment. Meaning they want to make sure companies who may not have huge order volumes have the same tools as a large company without the cost of the supply chain infrastructure.

In addition they want to provide eCommerce businesses with the tools they need to grow and understand their fulfillment costs so they easily compare fulfillment options.

FlowSpace

You can utilize FlowSpace for eCommerce fulfillment, retail fulfillment, and warehouse storage. They offer both fulfillment services and a WMS which gives you the ability to track both inbound and outbound shipments and even give you real-time inventory management insights and recommendations. These data insights help you forecast your inventory. They have a fulfillment network which will connect to your brand, provide faster delivery, and help you identify key fulfillment centers to reach your customer quickly. Their warehouses are equipped to palletize your inventory and perform customer kitting services.

Ware2Go

This is an on demand fulfillment and warehousing company owned by UPS. They are out to change the traditional 3PL model for companies of all sizes. They have a nationwide network of warehouses and their fulfillment processes are designed for scale so you never outgrow their ability to handle your product. They offer software to help you streamline both of your fulfillment, and sales channels as in this platform the algorithm learns your company's sales patterns and gives you inventory and distribution insights based on those patterns.

This is their “FulfillmentVu” technology and it combines WMS, OMS, and TMS into one platform. Plus you can integrate your current marketplaces into the software as well.

Pick What Highlights Your Business

Overall there are many third-party order fulfillment options for eCommerce sellers to consider. And each one has unique options available for different business needs. No matter what fulfillment service you use for your eCommerce company, you should consider your options carefully. Especially because those you work with will affect your customers' perception of your business as a whole. Your fulfillment partner should be one who you trust to have your company's interests in mind. They should help you generate a strategy to improve your fulfillment as your business grows, and they should relieve the headache of tracking your fulfillment instead of adding to that headache. Because a streamlined order fulfillment process is key to standing it. It means you become a staple household brand by clients who want to repeat a great purchasing experience. Making your pick of a third-party order fulfillment provider a high impact decision.

If you need any help in this decision, we are always happy to discuss. Schedule a time to chat with us here.

Find Out More about Order Fulfillment Options

Check out these blogs that highlight the best order fulfillment options for 9 different eCommerce sellers.

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment for Amazon

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for Walmart‍

Top 10 Order Fulfillment for eBay‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Wix

‍Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Square‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for ChannelAdvisor

‍Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WooCommerce

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for BigCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Squarespace

As one of the largest retailers in the world, Walmart provides a great online marketplace platform for eCommerce business owners. Walmart Marketplace lets you sell products to an audience of millions – no setup or monthly fees necessary.

That said, you still need a good fulfillment partner to unlock the true potential of your business. Read on to learn more about the best order fulfillment partners for Walmart.

What is Walmart?

Walmart is a United States retail company that runs hypermarkets, department stores and grocery stores. It boasts over 10,000 stores in 24 countries and is the world’s largest company by revenue according to 2022’s Fortune Global 500 list.

Walmart sells just about anything you can imagine, such as groceries, food items, electronics, apparel, toys and so much more. It also provides an online platform for eCommerce businesses called Walmart Marketplace. Like eBay and Amazon, Walmart Marketplace allows third-party sellers to offer their items on the retail giant’s website to reach millions of people.

What is Order Fulfillment?

Order fulfillment is a process where an eCommerce seller receives a customer order, processes it according to the customer’s wishes and delivers the product to the customer. Order fulfillment is the most basic process in eCommerce because it’s how you get products to customers.

While it seems simple, you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of order fulfillment. If your order fulfillment process is slow and inaccurate, customer satisfaction and sales will drop.

Generally, order fulfillment is a five-step process:

• Inventory receiving: You receive products from production facilities or distributors at the warehouse.
• Inventory storing: Your warehouse crew stores the products in the appropriate spots.
• Order processing: After receiving a customer order, your warehouse crew picks and packs the products to prepare them for shipping.
• Order shipping: Once the products are picked and packed, your warehouse crew passes them to shipping carriers for delivery to the customer.
• Return handling: If the item is damaged or doesn’t fulfill customer expectations, they may return it. Your warehouse is responsible for receiving the items, assessing the issue and returning the replacement item.

How Does the Walmart Fulfillment Process Work?

Walmart’s in-house fulfillment process through Walmart Fulfillment Service (WFS) works like most 3PL companies. Here’s how you can fulfill customer orders through WFS as a third-party seller:

• Create an account in the WFS portal.
• Mark your items for fulfillment by Walmart.
• Send your products to the designated Walmart fulfillment center.
• Let the Walmart Fulfillment Service crew pick, pack and send the items to delivery drivers according to shipment requests.
• Leave Walmart’s team to manage returns and provide customer service.

Based on the process flow above, you don’t have to do much beyond sending your products to the fulfillment center. Once your items are there, the WFS crew takes over everything until the products arrive at the customer’s door and all complaints are resolved.

What Does a Walmart Order Fulfillment Provider Do?

A Walmart order fulfillment provider takes control of the entire process on your behalf. eCommerce businesses usually work with third-party order fulfillment providers when they can’t handle orders in-house or want to scale their companies beyond current capabilities.

What Are the Benefits of Using a Walmart Order Fulfillment Service?

The benefits of using a Walmart order fulfillment service include cost savings, extra storage space and expert insight. Here’s a detailed look at the benefits of working with 3PL companies:

Warehousing Support

eCommerce third-party logistics companies operate warehouses and fulfillment centers for their clients. Because you’re using the 3PL company’s warehouse, you don’t have to worry about running out of space.

Lower Carrier Shipping Charges

Order fulfillment services get lower carrier shipping charges because they ship large volumes of items daily. When 3PLs get lower carrier fees, they often pass the savings to clients, reducing your overall shipping costs.

Expert Support

Most 3PL companies have years, if not decades, of experience in order fulfillment. Working with them means they can help you identify and solve any fulfillment issues.

Time and Labor Savings

In-house order fulfillment takes a lot of time and effort. Outsourcing fulfillment lets you reassign warehouse staff to other tasks that directly contribute to eCommerce business growth.

Take a look at ShipHero’s order fulfillment services today and see if we can fulfill your  eCommerce shipping needs.

Factors to Consider While Selecting an Order Fulfillment Partner for Walmart

Choosing the right order fulfillment partner is essential to getting the most out of their expertise. Here are four things to consider when choosing your next 3PL partner:

Order Fulfillment Speed

Speed is one of the most essential factors in choosing the best order fulfillment partner. Customers and clients want faster fulfillment times and won’t settle for anything less. Ensure the 3PL company you choose supports two-day and same-day shipping to most, if not all, of your customer base.

Storage and Fulfillment Fees

Storage and fulfillment fees are important for any business, but they become even more essential when you sell in large volumes. Pick a fulfillment company offering lower storage and fulfillment fees if you’re planning to sell many products.

Pricing

Fulfillment companies charge monthly subscriptions and annual fees, but sometimes you must pay other costs as well. Ask about extra fees and ensure there are no hidden expenses before you start working with them.

The cheapest fulfillment companies aren’t necessarily the best option because they may cut corners or provide subpar service. Instead, choose a company with reasonable prices and services that fit your needs without sacrificing quality.

Returns Management

Easy and convenient product returns are essential to retaining customers. Choose a fulfillment company that knows how to handle returns and communicates with customers professionally.

What to Look For in a Walmart Fulfillment Partner

The best Walmart fulfillment partner should cater to all your order processing needs. Here are three things that a good Walmart fulfillment partner should have:

eCommerce Platform Integration

If you don’t sell exclusively on Walmart Marketplace, eCommerce platform integration is essential to capturing orders from multiple places.

Some major eCommerce platforms that fulfillment partners should cover include eBay, Amazon, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Wix and Square.

Multichannel Integration

Multichannel integration is when your fulfillment partner uses one warehouse to process orders from multiple storefronts or sales channels. A fulfillment company that receives orders from multiple storefronts saves both time and money while ensuring that you don’t miss any orders.

Ease of Use

Most order fulfillment companies grant you access to software to help you manage inventory and warehousing. Find a fulfillment company with simple and easy-to-learn software so your team can understand it quickly and minimize downtime.

How We Chose the Best Walmart Fulfillment Companies

There are many companies offering order fulfillment, so choosing one is challenging. Luckily, we’re here to help you do just that. Here are five criteria we used to create this list of best Walmart fulfillment companies:

• Shipping speed
• Fulfillment network
• Software features
• Returns management and customer service
• Subscription, storage and carrier charges

Best Walmart Fulfillment Companies

With the criteria above in mind, here are the best Walmart fulfillment companies today:

1. ShipHero

ShipHero boasts high-accuracy order fulfillment and lightning-fast shipping at affordable costs. We offer flat-rate fees for all our clients without any hidden costs. You don’t have to worry about distributing your inventory either because ShipHero distributes your products to eight fulfillment centers across North America.

Pros

• Eight fulfillment centers across the United States and Canada
• Integration with major eCommerce and marketplace platforms
• Real-time inventory and warehouse management systems

Cons

• Limited shipping label customization
• Additional costs for international shipping
• Minimum 500 orders per month threshold

Pricing

ShipHero offers single-rate prices for clients across the lower 48 states with no hidden fees. Check our pricing page to get your custom order fulfillment pricing.

Get your custom order fulfillment quote from ShipHero today!

2. ShipBob

ShipBob boasts over 30 fulfillment centers across six countries to ensure your products get to customers on time, no matter where they are. It also provides a free analytic tool to monitor your supply chain efficiency.

Pros

• Affordable two-day shipping rates
• Web-based fulfillment dashboard
• Multichannel support

Cons

• Complicated online store integration
• Occasionally slow customer support

Pricing

ShipBob has an online calculator to estimate order fulfillment prices. Request a quote for more detailed pricing information.

3. ShipHype

One of ShipHype’s greatest advantages is its same-day shipping services to select locations. For everywhere else, it offers two-day and next-day shipping from its five regional distribution centers.

Pros

• 99% order accuracy
• High SKU (stock-keeping unit) limits
• Dedicated account manager per client

Cons

• Occasional invoice discrepancies
• Prices may fluctuate

Pricing

ShipHype offers no-contract fulfillment service pricing, and you can get a quote on its website.

4. Rakuten Super Logistics

Rakuten Super Logistics (now ShipNetwork) promises fast delivery with 100% accuracy. With fulfillment centers across the United States, it promises to deliver your products within two days via ground shipping.

Pros

• Simple fulfillment application process
• eCommerce platform integrations
• Efficient returns management

Cons

• Requires minimum orders
• Lost inventory issues

Pricing

Rakuten/ShipNetwork offers customized pricing. Contact a representative to get a quote.

5. Simpl Fulfillment

Simpl Fulfillment is a 3PL company that offers weight-based flat-fee fulfillment, ensuring cost transparency. It can also integrate with over 50 marketplaces, shopping carts and other platforms.

Pros

• 24/7 client support
• Free 3PL consultations

Cons

• Only one warehouse

Pricing

Simpl Fulfillment’s services start at $6/order. For detailed pricing, request a quote.

Outsource order fulfillment to ShipHero today!

6. ShipMonk

ShipMonk is an all-in 3PL company offering order management, warehouse management, purchase tracking and other services to make the fulfillment process easier.

Pros

• Real-time inventory tracking
• Fulfillment centers in North America and Europe
• Multi-channel client support

Cons

• Hidden fees in the fine print
• No temperature control for frozen items

Pricing

ShipMonk offers an online calculator to determine your fulfillment pricing. For detailed quotes, contact a sales representative.

7. Easyship

Easyship works with numerous international carriers to help you sell worldwide. Easyship can offer up to 91% off on carrier charges thanks to its many working relationships.

Pros

• No-code eCommerce integrations
• Global fulfillment center network
• Branded tracking pages and shipping labels

Cons

• Spotty client support
• Complicated refunding flow

Pricing

Easyship offers a free fulfillment plan for up to 50 shipments monthly. Paid plans start at $29/month.

8. Shipwire

Boasting over 30 warehouses worldwide, Shipwire helps your company sell and deliver products to millions of people.

Pros

• Numerous eCommerce integrations
• B2B and B2C eCommerce support
• Shipping rate optimization

Cons

• Inconsistent client service quality
• High rates

Pricing

Shipwire doesn’t list its pricing information publicly. Contact a sales representative to ask for quotes.

9. Red Stag Fulfillment

Red Stag takes a cloud-based approach to fulfillment in helping B2C and B2B eCommerce businesses deliver their products.

Pros

• 100% inventory and order accuracy guarantees
• Guaranteed same-day fulfillments
• No-commitment services

Cons

• Limited fulfillment center presence
• Relatively high pick-and-pack costs

Pricing

Red Stag offers a 30-day free trial. After the trial, you can contact a Red Stag representative to get a quote.

10. Fulfillify

Fulfillify handles order fulfillment for eCommerce businesses of all sizes to ensure they can deliver products on time. With its four warehouses, Fulfillify can deliver products to almost the entire United States within one or two days.

Pros

• Multiple eCommerce integrations
• Real-time inventory tracking
• Mobile-focused fulfillment platform

Cons

• No global fulfillment center presence
• Pricing

Fulfillify doesn’t list its prices publicly. You can complete the contact form on its website to request a quote.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right order fulfillment partner for Walmart Marketplace lets you deliver all customer orders without delay. With a great third-party logistics partner and Walmart Marketplace’s huge audience, you can potentially sell products to millions of people and grow your eCommerce business.

Don’t work with Walmart? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment for Amazon

‍Top 10 Order Fulfillment for eBay

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Wix‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Square‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for ChannelAdvisor‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WooCommerce

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for BigCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Squarespace‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for eCommerce Sellers

Order Fulfillment for Walmart FAQs

What is order fulfillment at Walmart?

Order fulfillment at Walmart is a service provided by WFS for eCommerce sellers on the Walmart Marketplace platform. WFS works like many other third-party logistics services, where Walmart’s team takes charge of your entire order fulfillment process.

How does Walmart Fulfillment Services work?

Walmart Fulfillment Services works by taking care of your entire order process, from receiving items at the warehouse to delivering them to customers. Here’s a step-by-step guide to the WFS process:

• Create an account on the WFS website.
• Mark your marketplace products as Fulfilled by Walmart.
• Send your products to a Walmart warehouse.
• The WFS crew picks, packs and delivers customer orders.
• The WFS crew handles returns and provides customer service.

How much are Walmart’s fulfillment fees?

Walmart’s fulfillment fees start from $0.75/month for each cubic foot of storage. Carrier shipping charges start from $3.45 for a 1-lb. product.

What is Wix?

As one of the most popular website builders out there, Wix has around 200 million users worldwide. This website builder requires no coding or design skill and has a slew of tools you can directly implement into your website to beef up your eCommerce store. Using the Wix App Market you can easily integrate these additional programs with a click of a button so all your store needs can be found in one place. They are a company who prides themselves in offering a platform which empowers its users to put their best foot forward without the requirement of being highly tech savvy.

Wix was born in 2006 and has scaled quickly becoming one of the leaders in website creation. They continually release new features to improve the platform so no matter your profession, they will have tools to empower you for success.

Why use Wix?

One of the biggest reasons to choose Wix for your eCommerce store is the ability to use the platform completely free. You can build a beautiful website and launch your business without needing to pay a dime. Then, if you want more advanced features like invoicing, email campaigns, SEO, ads, and ownership over your domain, you can purchase a Wix Premium Plan for a low annual rate.

Another reason is because Wix is powerful. They provide you with a slew of tools to help you engage with clients, analyze traffic, and much more. Plus when you create your website you can choose from hundreds of templates and drag and drop design choices that make setup simple. They also have a diverse App Market with over 250 solutions you can integrate directly into your site for further customization.

And it’s highly secure. Being SSL certified on your website, especially if you collect payments. Your clients need to feel they are safe entering their financial information at check out or when paying an invoice. Wix has you backed with security certificates which give your clients peace of mind. Now you can feel free to safely collect order payments, book events, offer subscriptions, and even classes from your Wix store.

In the end, Wix is an exciting website builder to use because it’s simple to maintain and beautiful to use. This highly diverse platform is meant to give technological power back to entrepreneurs so their business development momentum doesn’t get halted in its tracks.

Fulfillment Through Wix

If your online store needs to fulfill orders, you have several options which inherently work with Wix. The first being you as the seller can be the one to personally store, package, and ship your own products. Many people start out this way, but unless you want to invest in large logistical infrastructure it can become tedious as you grow.

You can also use dropshipping services; this is where you send orders to the manufacturer who then makes, packages and ships your product for you once an order is processed. For this option you don’t need inventory on hand but you are at the mercy of shipping congestion if your manufacturer is across seas.

And lastly, you can also work with a third-party fulfillment service. These are organizations who have invested heavily in fast and efficient fulfillment and shipping options so you don’t have to worry about it. They are often spread around the US so your product is within quick delivery distance of your customers. They will store, pick, pack, and ship your products once an order is sent to them.

Benefit of Third-Party Fulfillment

According to Wix, eCommerce businesses on the Wix platform who utilize third-party fulfillment services increase their sales revenue by 25%. This can be a huge return for you. Plus with the infrastructure these fulfillment centers have in place, you can get your items shipped faster, and more accurately to give your customer a better experience. As returns occur in your business, these solutions can help you handle and reinventory them all while providing a high quality customer experience. When you don’t have to store your products yourself and try to fulfill orders all day you can take more time back to grow your business.

ShipHero

ShipHero can put your mind at ease. If you need technology to help streamline your warehouse processes or want someone to take over the fulfillment process entirely they have you covered.  Their services include a top tier warehouse management system (WMS), high quality inventory management, and a fully outsourced fulfillment service. Which means you have more time to focus on business growth. With a one click fulfillment integration into your store, you gain a fully outsourced fulfillment solution which can help you ship 30% faster and includes transparent flat-rate fees. With their PostHero integration you can track package progress for your customers and recognize and address fulfillment gaps. And their Client Support team is highly rated and eager to help you with any questions.

Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment

As a part of the Wix App Market, you have access to the Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MFC) app. Here you can utilize Amazon’s low cost fulfillment solution and offer delivery in as fast as one day with low shipping costs. You do not have to sell your product on Amazon to get the benefit of fast shipping or to utilize their carriers. Your customers can see delivery dates at checkout as well as receive email insights on when they can expect their order. And the MFC automatic inventory placement processes allows you to place your products closer to your customers. Plus with the power of Amazon behind you, this solution will scale up and down as you need without increasing your fixed costs.

Printful

Through your Wix store, if you sell a Printful product, you can fully automate your fulfillment process. This print-on-demand dropshipping company allows you to sell custom products online without the cost of keeping inventory. They help you with customization of clothing, stickers, hats, stationary, posters, and much more. For these products they source high quality materials so your products can make a lasting impression. If you don’t have a design in mind, they do have a built-in Design Maker to help you generate one and test what it would look like on different products! They don’t require any order minimums. And they utilize local fulfillment services in your area so you can be a part of growing local businesses.

Selery Fulfillment

Wix eCommerce store owners can get same-day eCommerce fulfillment options through Selery. They help businesses save money by removing costs which bog business owners down. With a bird’s eye view order dashboard, you can track your entire order through the fulfillment process from beginning to end. And they offer you a dedicated customer service representative so when a problem arises you can quickly reach them via live chat or a quick phone call. In order to make reverse logistics easier, their dedicated returns team will process returns as they come in order to ensure your customers will get their refund quickly. Plus, they will integrate everything across your order and fulfillment processes for you so you don’t have to try and integrate them yourself.

Next Smart Ship

This solution is geared towards small and mid-size businesses who face problems like limited budget, and lack of time, to build their own fulfillment process. They can help you expand your offering with international shipping partners located in China, United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia. And you can utilize their Smart Platform which is an inventory management software to make your fulfillment workflow simple by utilizing intelligent channel planning, automated order management, real-time order tracking, and multi-platform management. On top of it all, they can help with customized packaging and kitting as an additional service.

NovEx

With easy integration into your Wix eCommerce store, NovEx can help you upgrade your eCommerce order fulfillment. They strive to have the latest technology within the eCommerce industry and with your Wix integration they can help you automate your fulfillment processes. Their supply chain experts will consult with you to find the best fulfillment process for your business. This solution is simple to set up and integrate into your eCommerce website and once you connect you’ll see order tracking and inventory management reports.

Fulfyld

The goal at Fulfyld is to become a partner who supports your eCommerce fulfillment service needs. You can connect your store to their platform with seamless integrations to get your inventory started at a Fulfyld location. From there they will distribute your inventory to the most effective location based on your client order history. When a client places an order, they will pack and ship the product out. Plus, they can help you with subscription box fulfillment and Kickstarter backer rewards. Overall, they will help you simplify your fulfillment process and take the logistical burden load off your shoulders.

Sup Dropshipping

As one of the apps on the Wix marketplace, Sup Dropshipping is a one stop dropshipping service. They have a Dropcustom Creator which helps you develop your print on demand products and they offer free sourcing services for those products. Plus they don’t charge any hidden usage fees and don’t require a credit card up front. They also value the quality of your products and know how much you do. Because of this they offer a product inspection service to help you test product quality before it ever hits your clients door. And with custom product photoshoots, they can help your products shine in their description image so they are as exciting to clients as they are to you.

ShipBob

With ShipBob you can sync your products from your store to their fulfillment dashboard. Using their dashboard you can gain their fulfillment, shipping, and warehousing services for your eCommerce store. They offer 30+ global fulfillment centers and 2-day express shipping throughout the US. With their customization suite you can offer your customers gift notes, customized packaging, custom packing slips, and custom labels. In addition they also have global offerings throughout the US, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the EU. And no matter what your location orders run through ShipBob’s warehouse management system so ShipBob’s high standard SLAs now apply to your business.

CartRover

When you connect your Wix eCommerce site to CartRover, you can standardize your order tracking and inventory integrations between other eCommerce sources. With your Wix store integration they offer sales order downloads, sales order deliveries, shipment tracking, and inventory level reporting. As orders come through your system and a client is checking out, CartRover will use address verification technology to standardize US addresses, standardize international addresses, and hold orders with incorrect addresses. You also get the ability to load in or ignore orders based on specific criteria so you can batch send your orders to specific states or with specific high priority products.

Conclusion

Order fulfillment can be messy and time consuming. Some small businesses try to keep up with a massive demand of orders while also managing and maintaining an entire business. When this happens things unintentionally get missed. Orders can fall through the cracks, quality control can slip, and as an owner you can feel torn between completing orders and promoting your business. But now, there is no reason to do all of this on your own.

With Wix, your eCommerce site can come to life and give you the ability to leverage the tools and apps Wix can integrate into directly. Take a tip from them. Leverage tools to make your life easier. Picking a fulfillment service to take on your order management and processing will feel like a breath of fresh air if you are trying to do it all on your own. Suddenly you have more time on your hands to focus on what matters. And with their expertise you can strategize on how to improve your customers experience with a stellar fulfillment process. You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes in customer satisfaction, and overall customer retention.

Don’t work with Wix? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

Don’t work with Squarespace? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment for Amazon

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for Walmart‍

Top 10 Order Fulfillment for eBay‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Square‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for ChannelAdvisor‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WooCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for BigCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Squarespace‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for eCommerce Sellers

So, you want to open a store for your unique product. Congratulations! This is a big step! Whether online or in person, your business will need a website. And while there are many ways to use brick and mortar to your advantage, companies are opting for a digital storefront only. Especially as we move into the digital age.

A well established website with clear browsing options and a shopping cart gives your clients easy access to buy your product quickly and efficiently. One of the most popular places to create your online shopping experience is Squarespece. A website builder which many use to list their products.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is an easy to use website builder which allows you to create a website or online store in minutes. Unlike other website builders no coding is required. Squarespace has templates which allow you to drag and drop your website structure into place. If you need help they have a 24/7 support team and offer a free trial to get you started. Plus, with them you can also create a custom domain.

With Squarespace you don’t need to be tech savvy or a coding genius to make a beautiful and functional website. Though it’s not free and you will need to pay a fee (monthly or annual), many business owners don’t mind the cost because of its easy to use features and high quality list of extensions.

It’s so easy, Forbes Advisor gave it 4.2 stars saying, “Between its affordable pricing and intuitive interface, Squarespace offers a great package for both individual users and new business owners alike.” There is a reason this website builder is one of the most popular on the market.

Why use Squarespace?

If you have used a more complicated website builder before, you know you’re better off hiring a designer for any change rather than trying to figure out the coding yourself. But with Squarespace no coding is needed. It’s both easy to use and maintain even if you don’t have website experience. Plus there are Youtube videos on how to use the backend of Squarespace.

Now that’s not to say, that if you want coding for your website, you can’t do it. In fact, coding is an optional feature available within the platform. Squarespace is mobile-optimized so your site looks good on the computer and the phone. And you can add your social accounts onto your Squarespace profile including Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

But the biggest reason is because Squarespace can become a hub to run your entire business with their extensive extensions list. Directly from your home page you can go to the extension panel and select what extensions you want to connect to your site. With a few clicks you can get up and running with advanced programs to help you with finance, inventory, products, sales, marketing, and fulfillment so you can truly run your business in one place.

Squarespace Order Fulfillment Options

We know starting your own business can be scary. There is so much to think about. Products, marketing, sales, quality, target audience, messaging and much more. However we can help you in regards to a shipping and fulfillment solution for your product. Arguably, one of the most important strategies you need to develop for your business is how you will get your product in your clients’ hands. Especially as this is one of the biggest factors which will encourage a client to purchase from you again.

As we have seen a rise in warehouse technology there are now a slew of options available to get order fulfillment done right. When it comes to order fulfillment for your store while using Squarespace, some of those options work better than others.

Below is a list we have curated for you of the best businesses you can work with for order fulfillment in your Squarespace store.

ShipHero

This is a great option if you want to let go of running your own warehouse or if you want  technology to help streamline your warehouse processes. ShipHero helps you get rid of manual processes and lost paperwork, confusing fees, and bland generic packaging. With their open source API they can integrate directly into your Squarespace store and help you fulfill and track orders. Plus with them you’ll get dedicated account resources and you will speed up the process of products getting to your clients.

Overall they are great to work with whether you want to outsource your order fulfillment or not because they have the industry knowledge to help you develop an award winning strategy for your logistical process.

Shippo

Shippo is a great example of a Squarespace extension to easily connect with your store for order fulfillment. All you have to do is login to Squarespace and find the “Shippo Extension” within the extensions list. With Shippo you’ll get the ability to import your Squarespace orders into Shippo for fulfillment. Then you can find the best pre-negotiated carrier rates from recommended carriers on their list.

They provide the label and email tracking numbers you can forward to your clients and you can also sync this tracking info directly back to Squarespace. And if you want Shippo to handle fulfilling your orders for you, you can apply to become a part of their client network where you will join their warehousing and fulfillment partner network.

Cart Rover

This software integrates sales channels and order sources together with your ERP system in order to provide an easy selling experience. Meaning it connects your Squarespace, your shipping, order management, and warehouse management systems (WMS). It’s already integrated with many popular shopping charts and can track inventory and orders with ease.

It will automatically retrieve the orders from your cart and send them to your fulfillment center and order tracking softwares. This way your inventory will stay synced and updated between your softwares so you know exactly where your inventory is at all times. The great thing about CartRover is it usually takes less than an hour to set up and both step-by-step instructions and an on-boarding service is provided.

EasyShip

With this shipping extension you gain access to software which helps you grow internationally because EasyShip has access to shipping in over 35 countries! It is also another Squarespace extension you can add directly to your site with just a few clicks.

With this software you can compare shipping cost quotes, monitor finances, and create shipping labels. Plus they take charge of keeping your clients informed with tracking notification emails which can be designed to match your company's brand. They also offer an extensive resource library where you can learn more about the shipping world for your business.

Order Desk

Order Desk is another Squarespace extension which will streamline order management workflows. They allow you to create order routing automations to faster manage your fulfillment process. These triggers allow you to set up specific workflows for the different types of orders for your business. You can even send custom emails based on specific triggers within your order process. Plus, if you are unsure how to generate these routing processes yourself, they have a team of experts who can help you set up complex workflows.

Order Desk will also help you generate a picklist report of your orders by SKU for easy picking and packing plus gain insights on your best sellers. What's better, they offer a 30 day trial!

Printful

For those of you looking for a dropshipping, print-on-demand model for your store, Printful is a great solution. Because of their print-on-demand model, Printful will manage your inventory counts and shipping rates with no upfront costs, you only pay when you make a sale! Plus, you don’t have to make the product.

They make it for you and can print, embroider, or sew any design you sell. They have several print centers globally so they can support your brand world wide. And they can make the packaging experience unique for your business as well with hand-written thank you cards, stickers, and coupons in your packages.

Simpl Fulfillment

This cloud based software helps with both fulfillment and inventory management. It can automate your fulfillment processes and gives you the benefit of negotiated shipping options for you to compare. They have a highly rated customer success team, transparent pricing and billing, and secure inventory storage. Plus, while they handle your orders, shipping, inventory and returns, they will give you a live view of the entire process. This way you don’t oversell and are always in the know regarding your inventory counts.

They are dedicated to helping small growing eCommerce brands and want to help remove barriers so anyone can scale.

Katana

Katana is an ERP software which helps your company gain insights into manufacturing and inventory for your business. They want to give business owners total control over both in-house and outsourced manufacturing production. With it you can optimize your products and raw materials, set up reorder points, and prioritize your sales orders. It supports both made-to-order and made-to-stock processes and most manufacturers are already using this software. Which means you can now get more visibility on the manufacturing end of your business. You can trace materials, expiration dates, and product lifecycle. Which can help you stay in industry compliance if you need to keep track of perishable stock.

This company also offers a 14 day trial to start so you can get an idea of how they will work with your business before committing.

Selery Fulfillment

This is a great option if you have a need for subscription box fulfillment or you need highly personalized packaging. They will give you a dedicated account manager to offer white glove service for your packing needs. With personalized kitting processes they can take care of collecting, packaging, and shipping multiple products in one box. And they can get as customized as you need because their kitting services include your company's branding and even customized boxes should you need them.

They also offer an advanced list of eCommerce order fulfillment integrations into their platform. Plus, they can give you same-day fulfillment and real time inventory tracking!

FinerWorks

FinerWorks is dedicated to service the artistic community with many of their clients being Etsy sellers, artists selling prints, photographers, online galleries, picture framers, and other printing and photo labs. They are a drop shipping print-on-demand service whose packaging will look like you personally produced and shipped the order. Within their service, they offer three tiers of fulfillment service so you can choose the one which best fits your company's needs.

And FinerWorks takes their discrete service seriously as they will remain unknown to your client because the shipping label will have your company information and not theirs so the client will never feel their presence.  

Conclusion

Overall Squarespace is a great way to get your product delivered to clients. Not only is it user friendly and beautifully designed with award winning templates, but it can also act as a hub for your business as a whole. It is an easy to use option with a wide number of extensions and integrations. Plus you don’t have to be a tech genius to get started!

With the options above, order fulfillment for your Squarespace store doesn’t have to be a hassle. The companies listed in this article are those who are dedicated to helping brands like yours find success. And when you work with a company who has experience fulfilling and shipping thousands of orders, you get the benefit of learning key strategies from their experience. A good shipping and fulfillment partner should be willing to share their knowledge in order to help your business and your order volume grow. Source a few choices and see what works best for you. It all depends on what works best for your business and what improves your eCommerce experience!

If you need more information on fulfillment trends and tips, check out our blog.

Don’t work with Squarespace? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment for Amazon

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for Walmart

‍Top 10 Order Fulfillment for eBay

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Wix

‍Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Square

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for ChannelAdvisor‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WooCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for BigCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for eCommerce Sellers

Becoming an eBay Seller

eBay is a great place to sell if you want to clear out the clutter in your house or start a business. Becoming a seller on eBay is fairly easy, registration requires you share your address so eBay can verify you live in a country they are registered to operate within. You can find the eBay country list here. If you live in one of these places, congratulations! You qualify to sell on eBay. Once you register you can complete email verification and begin listing items! When you are ready to start listing, there are a few ways to do so. You can either list an item at a specific price, or you can put the item in an auction where people can bid on the price. The highest bidder wins! Either way you list your merchandise it’s important to know eBay does not stock and ship these products, instead you will need to work with a fulfillment partner (or complete fulfillment yourself) to get products shipped to their new owner.

Benefits of eBay Third-Party Fulfillment Outsourcing

While eBay has hinted at the possibility of a dedicated eBay order fulfillment service, they do not have one available yet. Which means sellers must decide between fulfilling orders themselves or using another means of fulfillment. Third-party fulfillment solutions are often the answer here, and there are many benefits to using them.

Lower Fees

Outsourced fulfillment solutions are dedicated to logistics. They know the nuances of the industry, and they have purchased equipment, space, and staff to dedicate their time to managing the entire order processing procedure. This typically results in lower fees for you. Because they have streamlined the process and do it at a much larger volume, by many other sellers including yourself, they can get better shipping carrier rates then what you would get on your own. And as they continually streamline their technology and processes as the logistics space continually sees improvement, you benefit from those improvements and can often get access to top rated technology in the business.

Improved Seller Ratings

Seller rating is a big deal on eBay. It helps eBay buyers understand who they can trust to get a product to them on time and as expected. The shipping experience is a huge part of how a seller will get rated. As an outsourced fulfillment solution gets your products to your clients quickly, efficiently, and without hassle, and keeps them informed every step of the way, client ratings will go up, improving your seller rating. On top of that, your seller rating can be influenced by things like shipping times. In fact, your seller rating will actually go up when you update your shipping policy to include free shipping or express shipping.

Hands Off Logistics

These fulfillment providers can help you come up with efficient strategies for your order and inventory management. They know the market, they have seen what works and what hasn’t, and might even have experience streamlining logistics for others in your industry. With their help you take a giant step back and trust these processes are flowing correctly. They will keep you continually informed on the efficiency and success of the process so you have peace of mind. And if any issues arise from a strategy, or perhaps you’ve outgrown your strategy, you can meet with them and adjust as needed. Which means you as an owner will have more time to market your product and expand your business.

eBay Fulfillment Options

We all know having an excellent fulfillment strategy is key to running a profitable business. Choosing a trusted fulfillment partner to represent your company well and get your products shipped on time can be tricky. You have to find someone you trust to represent your company's standards. It’s hard enough that many prefer to do all the fulfillment on their own for a while. But packing and shipping orders take up a huge amount of time and the cost savings of getting this time back should be considered when sourcing a fulfillment solution. Especially because if you get this set up right, you could walk away from your business for a week on vacation and everything would be taken care of for you!

We understand fulfillment centers are highly front facing and one of the biggest reasons why clients will give you their repeat business. And there are many options available to choose from. To help navigate this, we’ve curated a list of fulfillment partners who work well with eBay and you can depend on them to help you put your best foot forward.

ShipHero

With this option you can let go of running your own warehouse. ShipHero can take over your fulfillment processes and help you streamline them to get your product to your clients faster. And they have software which can help you get rid of manual processes, lost paperwork, and confusing fees. With their open source API they can integrate directly into your eBay store to better track and fulfill orders. Their dedicated account team will help you every step of the way and help you generate an overall logistics strategy to take your company to the next level.

But don’t take our word for it, check out this case study!

FirstMile

With domestic and international shipping rates, First Mile can get your products wherever they need to go. Their goal is to give business owners a leg up when it comes to the global economy so you can serve more across the world. They help you get quotes for the shipping situations you most commonly encounter because they understand how messy it can be to navigate the labyrinth of eCommerce. And will dedicate a customer service representative to help you with  your inventory and order management, and shipping levels across multiple locations.

eFulfillment

This service can help eBay sellers reduce several tedious tasks including receiving, product inspection, inventory storage, and order fulfillment. They are fulfillment partners with several years of experience who help over 700 online sellers worldwide. Once inventory is in the eFulfillment warehouse they give you access to a web based fulfillment software which shows you inventory levels, orders, and shipment status. And they can help you optimize return processing as this is often a tricky part of online sales. If an order gets returned, eFulfillment alerts you of the situation so you can determine what you want to do next, whether it be restocking the order or not. They will also handle getting the corrective order to your clients. Plus they offer no minimums, no setup fees, and no long term contracts!

Deliverr

The goal of this fulfillment solution is to give businesses a competitive advantage. They offer Amazon-like pricing and don’t require any long term contracts. With their price calculator directly on their website they are highly transparent with costs. Account creation is fast and can be done in under two minutes. And because of the speed at which Deliverr can help you ship items, your listings may qualify for eBays Fast ‘N Free tags! This tag means your product listing becomes more prominent in search results and your product listing is included when buyers set filters for faster shipping times.

Red Stag

With this fulfillment service, you can address your end to end logistic needs. With same-day shipping and fulfillment, inventory and order monitoring, eCommerce returns processing, and same-day fulfillment service guarantees, you are in good hands. Red Stag understands today's eCommerce client wants their order quickly and in the best possible condition. They strive to make sure their systems are fast and efficient with delicate handling so your clients are impressed with the delivery experience. They also have a warehouse management software (WMS) which gives complete visibility and can help with reporting on what products move and what don’t so you can adjust your inventory accordingly.

APS Fulfillment

With their warehouse management software (WMS) you can connect your eBay store directly in with your warehouse so you can automate the order handling process. With APS there are no monthly order minimum requirements. And they don’t limit the size, weight, or shape of the products you ship through them. They receive your inventory, do a quality control inspection, then shelve your product. Once an order is processed they pick, pack, and ship the order as well as assign it a tracking number so you and your client will have the ability to track it. And you gain 24-hour access to submit support tickets for any questions about the WMS or fulfillment process.

Cahoot

With Cahoot you gain access to a quick setup to connect your eBay store and delineate your inventory to different Cahoot fulfillment warehouse locations. Once connected your company will receive automatic order routing and fulfillment, free and fast shipping options, a nationwide shipping network, and visibility into each delivery. Order volume is flexible so you can start small with Cahoot and grow with them as your products rise in popularity. And as your client base grows they can help you put your product in fulfillment warehouse locations nearest to them. They want to help you level the playing field against marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart who create high shipping expectations with fast and free shipping options for their clients.

Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment

With the power of Amazon behind you, this solution will keep up with the rise and fall of your business orders. They can scale up for you without increasing your fixed costs. And you get the benefit of Amazon’s delivery speeds so you can get their product out in as little as one day. You don’t even need to list your product on Amazon to gain these benefits, they will work with several different eCommerce stores and channels, including eBay. As a part of the check out process your client will see reliable delivery dates and email insights on when they should expect their order. Plus, Amazon MFC will automate the inventory placement for your products so they are placed closer to your client locations.

Ecomdash

With Ecomdash you gain access to an inventory management platform which helps you fulfill orders and manage your online sales together in one application. This is a good solution if you are a small to mid-sized multi-channel retailer and Ecomdash proudly supports eCommerce sellers. They can also help you with both dropshipping and distribution management of your product. Plus they give you a complete view of your inventory, sales, and back stock so you can make highly informed logistical decisions. And they are ready to support you in a moment's notice with live chat, phone, email, and community boards.

Thill Inc

With Thill, you get order, inventory, and shipment services integrated directly into your eBay store. They offer a “plug and play” fulfillment solution for eBay sellers so you can experience the expertise of a company who has provided fulfillment to companies for 50 years! They make sure you have order tracking capabilities so your clients know exactly when orders will arrive and can give you email confirmations when an order is delivered. They understand order fulfillment is an art and want to provide business owners with a highly tailored service offering with flexible solutions. And their 24/7 support center makes sure any issue is addressed in a timely and helpful manner.

Conclusion

No matter how you start on eBay, as your products grow in popularity you will likely need a third-party fulfillment solution to help you handle the volume. Especially as your business grows and will require more of your attention. The above options are dedicated to helping their clients provide a high quality experience and allow you as a business owner to take more time back in your day. What's especially helpful is they have high class experience in the logistics industry so you can lean on them for expertise in how best to situate your fulfillment network to better serve your clients. And together, you can take your business to new heights!

To find out how ShipHero can bring your eBay fulfillment to the next level, contact our sales team today.

Don’t work with eBay? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment for Amazon

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for Walmart‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Wix

‍Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Square‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for ChannelAdvisor‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WooCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for BigCommerce

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Squarespace‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for eCommerce Sellers

Amazon isn’t called “The Everything Store” for nothing. While it started as an online bookstore, Amazon has since become the largest online retailer in the world, selling almost every kind of good imaginable. As an eCommerce business owner, you’d be remiss if you didn’t use Amazon as one of your sales channels.

All that said, a great order fulfillment partner is essential to achieving your company’s true potential on Amazon. While Amazon’s in-house Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) is a viable option, you may want to look for alternatives before making a choice.

Read on for a list of the best order fulfillment partners for Amazon sellers!

What is Amazon?

Amazon is a major technology company that provides eCommerce, media streaming, cloud computing and other services worldwide. One of its most well-known services is Amazon.com, an eCommerce platform that sells all kinds of products.

A large portion of Amazon’s sales come from third-party sellers who sell their products on the site. Many people sell on the platform in addition to their own platforms because Amazon has a wide worldwide audience, increasing the chances of people noticing and buying their products.

Third-party Amazon sellers can qualify for the Prime program, which gives them extra benefits. Prime seller status means you’re a reliable seller who delivers high-quality products on time. With Prime, people are likely to buy your products because Amazon endorses you.

What is Order Fulfillment?

Order fulfillment is the process of taking a customer's order, processing it according to their specifications and delivering the goods to the customer. Good order fulfillment is essential for an eCommerce business because it’s how you get products to customers.

In most cases, order fulfillment is a five-step process:

• Inventory receiving: You receive items from distributors or production facilities.
• Inventory receiving: You store the products in a storage facility, typically a warehouse.
• Order processing: After a customer puts an order in, you take the product off the shelf and prepare it for shipping.
• Order shipping: Once your product is picked and packed, you hand them off to a shipping carrier for delivery.
• Customer return handling: If the customer receives a damaged product, they may request a return. You’re responsible for receiving the returned item, identifying what went wrong, answering customer inquiries and sending a replacement item back.

How Does the Amazon Fulfillment Process Work?

The Amazon fulfillment process through FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) works by taking over order fulfillment from your company. Essentially, you’re outsourcing order fulfillment to the FBA team to save on the time and effort of doing it yourself.

Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to fulfilling your orders through FBA:

• Create an Amazon seller account.
• Sign up for FBA.
• List products for Fulfillment by Amazon.
• Prepare your products according to Amazon’s packing and shipping guidelines.
• Apply Amazon shipment ID labels to your packages.
• Send them to the designated Amazon fulfillment center.

Once Amazon receives your products, the warehouse crew will handle all order fulfillment duties for you. When a customer makes an order, you can sit back and rest assured knowing your products are in good hands.

What Does an Amazon Order Fulfillment Provider Do?

An Amazon order fulfillment provider processes customer orders on your behalf. Most eCommerce businesses outsource order fulfillment to third-party logistics (3PL) companies because they can’t handle orders in-house anymore.

What Are the Benefits of Using an Amazon Order Fulfillment Service?

The main benefits of using Amazon order fulfillment services are extra storage space and reduced costs. Here’s a closer look at what you get by working with fulfillment partners:

Increased Focus on Business

Outsourcing order fulfillment means taking a sizable burden off your shoulders. Instead of hiring or assigning people to fulfill orders, you can have them help in other ways that directly support business growth.

Cost Savings

Order fulfillment companies offer storage space, so you don’t have to operate your own warehouse. Generally, third-party logistics costs will be cheaper than renting warehouse space, paying utility bills and hiring staff.

Extended Reach

Some 3PL companies have an international network of warehouses, making shipping products to other countries easier. While you can ship internationally with in-house order fulfillment, calculating shipping rates and times is a pain. With the help of a 3PL company, you can ship products to international customers easily and affordably.

Improved Scalability

With in-house shipping, you might need to purchase new storage space or build a new warehouse if you want to sell more products. Unfortunately, both options are usually expensive and time-consuming. If you work with an order fulfillment partner, however, you can just pay extra inventory storage fees – allowing your eCommerce business to sell more products.

Fulfill your eCommerce shipping needs today with ShipHero’s order fulfillment services!

Factors to Consider While Selecting an Order Fulfillment Partner for Amazon

Before choosing an order fulfillment partner, you must know what you need out of them. Consider these four things before starting your search for a fulfillment partner:

Order Fulfillment Speed

Thanks to Amazon, today’s customers and clients expect one-day or two-day shipping for everything they buy. Because they won’t settle for longer delivery times, you must pick an order fulfillment partner that provides quick fulfillment and delivery times to most of your customers.

Storage and Fulfillment Fees

Storage and fulfillment fees become increasingly important as your product stock grows. Choosing a fulfillment company with lower per-item storage fees can help you save a lot of money in the future. If you sell slow-moving products, you may also want to consider long-term storage fees.

Pricing

Your fulfillment partner may use subscription or volume-based pricing. Choose the pricing model that best fits your needs, and ask about extra fees so you won’t be surprised by additional costs down the line.

Picking the cheapest fulfillment company doesn’t automatically mean you save money – you might pay in lost sales or reputation damage due to subpar service. Research the available options and pick a fulfillment company that fits your needs without sacrificing quality.

Returns Management

A painless product return process increases the likelihood of repeat customers. Pick a fulfillment partner with excellent product returns management and professional customer service.

What to Look For in an Amazon Fulfillment Partner

Working with an order fulfillment company is generally a long-term commitment, so you must choose the right one. Here are three things you should ask about before picking your 3PL partner:

eCommerce Platform Integration

While Amazon is one of the largest eCommerce marketplaces in the world, you may want to sell on other platforms. Fortunately, many order fulfillment partners can capture orders from multiple eCommerce platforms.

Some prominent eCommerce platforms your fulfillment partner should support include Walmart, BigCommerce, Square, Wix, eBay and WooCommerce.

Multichannel Integration

Multichannel order fulfillment means a 3PL company uses one warehouse to take orders from all your online storefronts. You can save a lot of money by processing orders from multiple platforms in one place, making multichannel integration essential when picking fulfillment partners.

Ease of Use

Most order fulfillment companies provide dashboards to manage your inventory and warehousing operations. Finding a fulfillment company with easy-to-learn software is a good idea to minimize the time spent training employees.

How We Chose the Best Amazon Fulfillment Companies

With dozens of order fulfillment companies on the market, choosing just one is hard. Luckily, we made the process easier for you. Here are the criteria we used to choose the best Amazon fulfillment companies in this article:

• Order processing speed
• Fulfillment center network
• Fulfillment software features
• Returns management and client support
• Subscription, storage and shipping costs

Best Amazon Fulfillment Companies

Without further ado, here are the best Amazon fulfillment companies you can work with today:

1. ShipHero

ShipHero is an order fulfillment company offering near-perfect shipping accuracy and quick delivery times. Moreover, we offer transparent flat fees without hidden costs whatsoever. When you work with ShipHero, you’ll get world-class end-to-end fulfillment services at a reasonable price.

Pros

• Wide fulfillment network across North America
• Integration with various eCommerce channels
• Real-time inventory management dashboard

Cons

• Occasional lack of shipping transparency
• Higher international cost of shipping

Pricing

ShipHero offers single-rate prices with no hidden fees for clients in the lower 48 states. Visit our pricing page to get a quote right now.

Check out ShipHero’s order fulfillment solutions today!

2. Fulfillrite

With over 16 million orders shipped and 1,600 clients served, Fulfillrite has a wealth of fulfillment experience. Fulfillrite’s eCommerce fulfillment services pair you with a logistics expert who can troubleshoot and improve your fulfillment process.

Pros

• eCommerce platform integrations
• Discounted shipping rates
• Specialized Amazon FBA prep

Cons

• May not be right for large businesses
• Relatively low SKU (stock-keeping unit) limits

Pricing

Fulfillrite doesn’t post its pricing information publicly. You can get a quote by requesting one from a sales representative.

3. Xpert Fulfillment

If you ship lots of similar products, Xpert Fulfillment is for you. It offers fulfillment rates as low as $4/order for clients who ship over 2,000 orders monthly but only have 10 SKUs.

Pros

• Integrates with eCommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce
• Zero setup and receiving fees
• 100,000 square feet of storage space

Cons

• No information on fulfillment center locations

Pricing

Aside from the special rates, Xpert Fulfillment doesn’t post any pricing information. Contact a sales representative to get a quote.

4. Fulfillment by Sears

Powered by eSellerHub, Fulfillment by Sears helps you process eCommerce orders at affordable rates.

Pros

• Pay-what-you-use pricing model
• No minimum volume requirements
• Full control of pricing and inventory

Cons

• Relatively high price

Pricing

Fulfillment by Sears doesn’t post its rates publicly. Contact an eSellerHub representative for pricing details.

5. Ships-a-Lot

Ships-a-Lot promises to fulfill orders on the same day they come in with perfect accuracy. It also provides unlimited client support, so you can contact them to solve issues anytime.

Pros

• Integrations with Shopify
• Extreme focus on a small number of clients

Cons

• Strict client requirements

Pricing

Ships-a-Lot doesn’t post its prices publicly. Send a quote request through its website for pricing information.

Check out ShipHero today for fast and affordable order fulfillment!

6. ShipBob

ShipBob operates over 30 warehouses worldwide to guarantee your products arrive on time, no matter where the customers are. Even with this international reach, ShipBob offers affordable two-day shipping rates.

Pros

• Robust reporting and analytics tools
• Real-time inventory management dashboard

Cons

• Slow customer support
• Complicated eCommerce integration

Pricing

You can use ShipBob’s online calculator to estimate fulfillment prices. Request a quote for more detailed pricing information.

7. IDS Fulfillment

IDS Fulfillment doesn’t just give you cookie-cutter order fulfillment services. Its team will communicate with you to determine your company's best fulfillment and warehousing solution.

Pros

• Climate-controlled warehouse space
• Three fulfillment centers covering 92% of the United States

Cons

• No international presence

Pricing

Contact an IDS representative for a free consultation and price quote.

8. Fulfillify

Fulfillify operates four warehouses to ensure two-day shipping to almost the entire United States.

Pros

• 350,000 square feet of warehouse space
• Real-time inventory management dashboard
• Mobile-based fulfillment software

Cons

• No global fulfillment centers

Pricing

There’s no public pricing information on Fulfillify’s website. Complete a contact form to request a quote.

9. Rakuten Super Logistics

Now known as ShipNetwork, the former Rakuten Super Logistics offers one-day fulfillment services with 100% accuracy. With 12 fulfillment centers across the United States, it can ship within one or two business days for 98% of the country.

Pros

• Easy application process
• Dedicated U.S.-based client service
• Robust returns management

Cons

• Minimum order requirement
• Issues with lost inventory

Pricing

Rakuten/ShipNetwork uses a custom pricing model. Contact a sales representative to get a quote.

10. Simpl Fulfillment

Simpl Fulfillment syncs with over 50 eCommerce platforms, meaning you can open your stores just about anywhere on the Internet. It also offers a weight-based pricing model that ensures cost transparency.

Pros

• Always-available client support
• Free fulfillment consultations

Cons

• Only one warehouse location

Pricing

Simple Fulfillment’s services start at $6/order. You can request a quote for more detailed prices.

Final Thoughts

While Amazon has its own in-house fulfillment service, it doesn’t hurt to look into other options. With the right third-party fulfillment partner, you can unlock Amazon’s true potential and sell to millions of people around the globe.

Don’t work with Amazon? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for Walmart

‍Top 10 Order Fulfillment for eBay

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Wix‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Square

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for ChannelAdvisor‍

Top 6 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WooCommerce‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for BigCommerce

‍Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for Squarespace‍

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for eCommerce Sellers

Order Fulfillment for Amazon FAQs

How do I make an Amazon fulfillment order?

You can make an Amazon fulfillment order by following these steps:

• Find the product you want to ship on your inventory page
• Click “Create Fulfillment Order”.
• Complete the customer details form.
• Confirm the information you put in.
• Place the order.

Sellers usually make these fulfillment orders to sell a product stored at an Amazon warehouse to a customer from another eCommerce platform.

Can you start with Amazon FBA with no money?

You can start with Amazon FBA with no money because Amazon charges fulfillment fees for every product sold. You don't need to pay startup costs – just ship the items to an Amazon warehouse to start making money.

How much can I make with Amazon FBA?

Most Amazon FBA sellers can make $1,000 to $25,000 monthly. You can earn up to $250,000 per month if you're exceptionally successful. Naturally, how much you earn depends on the products you sell, how you manage customer expectations and how fast you ship orders.

If you’re a small or medium business owner that takes credit card payments online, you’ve probably heard of Square even if it’s not your preferred payment platform. They’ve been all over the news as a success story of a company that grew from a niche manufacturer of payment processing hardware for small merchants into a $100-billion-plus financial ecosystem.And if you’re a client of Square Online or thinking about becoming one, then you know you need a strong, reliable fulfillment partner to complement the ease of use Square Online offers. Because if only two of the three elements of your customers’ experience with you are operating at peak efficiency (shopping and paying), and the third (fulfillment) is lacking, you’re playing with fire:

• 45% of shoppers expect their items to be delivered within four to five days
• 69% of online shoppers say they will be significantly less likely to shop with a retailer if they do not deliver within two days of the promised date
• 16% of online shoppers will take their business elsewhere after one incorrect delivery date

Before getting into the best fulfillment options for Square Online users, below is a quick recap for new eCommerce entrepreneurs. If you’re a veteran in the eCommerce space, skip down to “How We Choose the Best Square Fulfillment Companies.”

What is Square?

Square is a mobile payment processing app and card reader, and the very first of its kind, which is why the adoption rate was so high.Overnight, Square (and then Square Online) let anyone accept credit card payments with their phones or tablets. And that “anyone” included those who up until that point only knew their business as a cash business like farmers’ market and flea market vendors.Square was also unique when it launched because it didn’t require contracts, commitments, applications or monthly fees. All you needed was an email address and knowledge of how the Square dashboard works.Today, Square Online is a complete revenue collection system for vendors on and offline; every account holder is enabled to accept online orders, ring up orders at POS and receive payments through the Square dashboard.

What is Order Fulfillment?

Order fulfillment is a quick way to describe the process of receiving a purchase order from a customer, processing that order and getting the purchased product to the purchaser. The fulfillment process begins when a customer’s order is received and ends when that customer receives their order.When the customer receives the item or items they ordered in the time they were promised, this is considered positive fulfillment. If a hiccup anywhere along the fulfillment chain disrupts the process and the customer either receives their package late or doesn’t get what they asked for, this is considered negative fulfillment.

How Does the Square Fulfillment Process Work?

Square (and Square Online) makes fulfillment extremely easy for anyone from the Square dashboard.From your Square dashboard that you can integrate into your site, you can set up curbside pickup or shipping fulfillment for any item. And you can set up a shipping fee if you see fit. Alternatively, you can use Square Online to build your own eCommerce site with a fulfillment option.Either way, once you’re ready to accept orders with Square Online, you can choose your fulfillment method form the Square dashboard: fulfill yourself (i.e., you find the item, wrap it, box it and add arrange for curbside pickup or prepare the shipping label, ship it and track the shipment to make sure it gets to your customer), or you can bring in a third-party logistics (3PL) company for fulfillment.

What Does a 3PL Order Fulfillment Provider Do?

A 3PL order fulfillment provider will set the fulfillment method and handle the entire fulfillment process. It’s a massive headache off your plate and it gives you back hours of time per week (or more depending on how much you sell and how many shipping labels you have to produce) to put towards growing your business.Some 3PLs will be software to help you pick, pack, create shipping labels and ship items purchased by your customers. Others own and operate their own warehouses to store your products and ship from there. And a few (like ShipHero) offer both.

What Are the Benefits of Using an eCommerce Order Fulfillment Service?

As mentioned above, the big benefit of using a 3PL for eCommerce fulfillment is getting rid of a huge pain in the neck, which you can do right from the Square dashboard.The fulfillment process has so many moving parts and so much that can go wrong along the way that entire college-level courses are dedicated to it. And if you run an eCommerce business, you’re most likely too busy to take it. This would put you in a disadvantageous position if things went off the rails.With a 3PL behind the scenes, whatever happens wouldn’t be your problem. And if the worst did happen, you’d know you had real experts in the field to respond, react and fix the issue before it cost you a customer.Find out more about ShipHero’s fully-outsourced Fulfillment Solution now.

Factors to Consider While Selecting an Order Fulfillment Partner for Square Online

Like in almost every other business-to-business service market, the 3PL options for fulfillment are plentiful and varied, with many pretenders for every one contender. That’s why it’s important to be diligent in your research before selecting a 3PL fulfillment partner for your eCommerce business.

Fulfillment Type/Order Fulfillment Speed

This is the biggest one because failure here can lead directly to lost business (as stated above). You should definitely be looking for a 3PL that offers some sort of same-day delivery, as 41 percent of consumers are willing to pay a charge for same-day delivery.

Pricing and Storage/Fulfillment/Transaction Fees

On the surface, you’ll pay more for 3PL fulfillment than if you were to do it yourself. But if time is money, the investment in self-fulfillment is substantial. So, the goal when finding a 3PL is to spend less than you’d spend doing it yourself. Only you know that number, but be steadfast getting under it.

Returns Management

Less than one in 10 products bought in bricks-and-mortar stores are returned. Online, it’s close to 30 percent. So, the effectiveness of your returns process is very important for operations, but also for customer retention: 92 percent of consumers surveyed said they would buy again if the product return process was easy.

What to Look for in a Square Online Fulfillment Partner

Once you’ve narrowed down your list of possible 3PL vendors, you’d be wise to look under the hoods of each to make sure they can work with Square Online and the Square dashboard, and that they are in fact a fulfillment expert for Square Online. How well they execute the fulfillment type they promise will dictate their value to you.

eCommerce Platform Integration

This is obviously the most important part. If a 3PL provider can’t plug into Square Online or the Square dashboard, they’re of no use to you whatsoever.

Multichannel Integration

You never want your 3PL to keep you from growing, so you have to trust them to know everything about where you want to start selling next, and how to follow or adjust their fulfillment type to handle those orders.

Ease of Use

Often overlooked in 3PL selection is smoothness across the fulfillment process, and this starts with an interface that everyone along the line can use. And be picky. Find something you know will work for you and your team, where the transaction fees are minimal or non-existent, and that works with the Square dashboard.

How We Chose the Best Square Online Fulfillment Companies

You have many order fulfillment partner choices, so choosing one can be tough. Fortunately, we can help with that. Here are the criteria we use when choosing the best Square fulfillment companies:

• Shipping speed
• Fulfillment network
• Fulfillment software features
• Returns management
• Subscription, storage and shipping costs

The Best Square Online Fulfillment Companies

1. ShipHero

ShipHero was founded by a former eCommerce entrepreneur who was frustrated with the shipping software options available and decided to do something about it.

Pros

As mentioned above, the big pro ShipHero has going for it is the choice you have to either use their software to ship from your warehouse, or to let them ship your items from their warehouse, giving you back days of time by the end of every year.

Cons

Right now, the perceived knock on ShipHero is that it’s not a market leader yet. But that’s changing quickly.

Pricing

ShipHero Fulfillment offers flat rate shipping costs that includes picking, packing, shipping, mailing supplies and postage. Pricing is more competitive without shipping zones and costs are more predictable.Find out more about ShipHero’s fully-outsourced Fulfillment Solution now.

2. ShipStation

ShipStation is a web-based order management and shipping software. They don’t have their own warehouses, but their software is used in North America, Europe and Australia.

Pros

• Fairly flexible and relatively easy to use
• Integrates with QuickBooks

Cons

• Can be clunky to use for some people
• Once your shipments reach 500 per day or more, the system loses its efficiency and can actually slow you down

Pricing

They offer six tiers up to $229.99/month based on how much you think you’re going to ship.

3. ShipBob

ShipBob is another web-based platform in the ShipStation family, and it has a built-in analytics cruncher.

Pros

• The ShipBob staff is very large, so help with problems when they arise is easy to get

Cons

• The learning curve is steep for beginners and tech newbies
• Struggle with API issues and compatibility

Pricing

Shipping costs are customized per client.

4. Ordoro

A shipping solution for small- to medium-sized businesses with a small business, homespun feel.

Pros

It has an intricate inventory tracking tool, which works well for eCommerce companies with multiple SKUs.

Cons

Overall, the features aren’t as robust as others.

Pricing

Pricing is definitely competitive, but you get what you pay for.

5. Shipedge

Shipedge has a suite of products to manage the entire order management lifecycle, supply chain and logistics in one centralized platform.

Pros

Easy to integrate with most platforms.

Cons

Not the most user-friendly interface.

Pricing

Pricing is modular.Find out more about ShipHero’s fully-outsourced Fulfillment Solution now.

6. Printful

Printful is a 3PL fulfillment company primarily for eCommerce apparel companies, and specifically apparel creators.

Pros

You can use Printful to design your own products

Cons

• Its functionality is limited to the needs of its primary audience
• Products are not made until ordered which could cause shipping delays

Pricing

Pricing is customized

Final Thoughts About Square Fulfillment

If you’re a Square Online customer, you clearly care about quality and about giving your customers the best possible experience. By choosing the right 3PL shipping partner, you complete the loop.

Don’t work with Square? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

Top 10 Best Order Fulfillment for AmazonTop 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WalmartTop 10 Order Fulfillment for eBayTop 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for WixTop 10 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for ChannelAdvisorTop 6 Best Order Fulfillment Partners for WooCommerceTop 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for BigCommerceTop 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for SquarespaceTop 10 Best Order Fulfillment Options for eCommerce Sellers

Whether you're a fledgling micro-enterprise or an established brick-and-mortar store, eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce are becoming more of a necessity in today's "always online" world. And one essential component of running a successful eCommerce platform is order fulfillment. After all, order fulfillment is what allows your products to get to your customers.Here, we look at one of the best order fulfillment partners for one of the most popular eCommerce platforms out there, WooCommerce.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a free, open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It allows anyone with a WordPress account to set up and manage an online business. As a flexible eCommerce platform, WooCommerce can be customized in a myriad of ways with its built-in features, including inventory management, order tracking, customer engagement, secure payments and delivery status – and with various integrations as well.

What is Order Fulfillment?

Order fulfillment refers to the process of receiving, assembling, packing and shipping orders to their respective buyers and other related tasks such as:

• Inventory management
• Supply chain management
• Quality control
• Customer service
• Returns and refunds
• Warehouse management

Order fulfillment is a necessary component of running a WooCommerce Shop, as it is what brings orders to customers and keeps them satisfied.

How Does the WooCommerce Fulfillment Process Work?

Because WooCommerce is primarily focused on providing small businesses with an online platform, it doesn't have a robust order fulfillment system.WooCommerce Shipping is a built-in fulfillment system that is accessible via the main dashboard. From the WooCommerce dashboard, store managers can manage inventory, prepare orders, automate tax calculations and live shipping rates, and print and manage DHL and USPS labels.

What Does A WooCommerce Order Fulfillment Provider Do?

Essentially, a WooCommerce order fulfillment provider would take the whole fulfillment process out of your hands and allow you to focus on the other facets of running your online business.Order fulfillment partners take over tasks like inventory management, order picking and packing, shipping, delivery tracking, and sometimes even storage. A reputable fulfillment service will have the necessary infrastructure in place to pick, pack and ship your orders quickly and efficiently.

What Are the Benefits of Using an eCommerce Order Fulfillment Service?

By outsourcing your WooCommerce order fulfillment to a third-party provider, you free up valuable time and resources that can be better spent on other areas of your business. But the benefits don't stop there.Here are a few more reasons to outsource your order fulfillment:

Extra Storage Space

Renting and operating a warehouse can take a sizable chunk out of your overhead costs. And if you're building a business from the ground up, you may not even have the money to cover warehousing in the first place. The last thing you'll want is to have to store your products at home. This is where an eCommerce fulfillment center can help. A lot of fulfillment service providers now offer warehouses to store their clients' products for a minimal fee. This fee often covers storage, maintenance and manpower.

A More Affordable Shipping Solution

Many order fulfillment providers partner up with shipping carriers to send orders out in bulk and cut costs on deliveries. As bulk shipments are cheaper than single orders, fulfillment providers can offer cheaper rates for the same or even faster delivery times.

Improved Scalability

As your business grows, you'll either have to expand your workforce or increase your current employees' workload. The former can take a lot of time (and money), while the latter can take a toll on your employees' productivity and overall happiness. With an outsourced fulfillment service provider, however, you can simply request a plan upgrade and boost your fulfillment capacity to handle increased demand.

Expert Service

Forget about having to train and monitor your order fulfillment team's performance. Fulfillment services hire, train and supervise their crew members so that they can deliver the best service to their clients. And should you experience any issues with your supply chain, you can fall back on the opinions of experts who are equipped to handle these kinds of things.ShipHero is here to fulfill all your eCommerce shipping needs. Take a look at our order fulfillment services.

Factors to Consider While Selecting an Order Fulfillment Partner for WooCommerce

There are dozens of order fulfillment service providers out there. How do you decide which one is right for you? Before you settle on a partner, make sure to consider the following factors first:

Order Fulfillment Speed

Due in part to Amazon's 2-day shipping offer, eCommerce customers have grown to expect their online orders to arrive at lightning speed. When screening fulfillment providers, prioritize ones with decent track records in terms of delivery times. And if a business can't promise fast order turnaround times, they should at least try to stick to their delivery estimates. Look for a fulfillment provider that can at least hit their delivery range consistently.

Storage and Fulfillment Fees

Looking for a long-term commitment? A good fulfillment provider will offer better rates for businesses that are looking for long-term partnerships and that have massive inventories.

Pricing

When screening fulfillment providers, watch out for hidden fees like monthly minimum fees, warehouse fees, fees for storing, handling, and restocking returned items, and assembly fees. Some service providers may issue penalties for items that are not labeled correctly, exceed weight limits, or use incorrect packaging materials.Other special services that you may have to pay for (depending on your business) include cold storage and special handling.

Returns Management

Order fulfillment services must be able to handle product returns and exchanges without putting customers under any undue stress. A good return process makes customers feel valued and improves their satisfaction with your business even if they were initially dissatisfied with their initial delivery.

What To Look For in a WooCommerce Fulfillment Partner

Here are three things to ask about when shopping around for a long-term order fulfillment partner:

eCommerce Platform Integration

You have to make sure that your chosen partner uses software that can be integrated with your WooCommerce platform. This eliminates manual data entry, data silos, miscommunications and issues due to human error. It'd be best to find a fulfillment partner that can integrate with several different platforms. That way, if you decide to switch platforms down the line, you won't have to let go of your current fulfillment service provider.If you’re looking to switch your eCommerce platform, look for a fulfillment partner that integrates with one of the following options: Squarespace, BigCommerce, Wix, ChannelAdvisor and Square.

Multichannel Integration

Multichannel order fulfillment allows merchants to send out their products from one warehouse to multiple storefronts. This eliminates the need to establish warehouses for each location, saving businesses money in the process.

Ease of Use

You'll want an order fulfillment system that is intuitive and user-friendly for all kinds of users, whether they're tech-savvy or not. Today, most order fulfillment systems allow store managers to monitor and manage everything from inventory to shipping from one centralized dashboard.

How We Chose the Best WooCommerce Fulfillment Companies

Before we get to our list of the best WooCommerce fulfillment companies on the market, take a look at the criteria we used to narrow down our options:

• Shipping speed
• Fulfillment software features and integrations
• Returns management
• Pricing
• User-friendliness
• Best WooCommerce Fulfillment Companies

These are our top picks for the best WooCommerce fulfillment partners today:

1. ShipHero

ShipHero is an order fulfillment partner and warehouse management software that promises high-speed delivery (3.5 days on average) and end-to-end order fulfillment at lower-than-average costs.ShipHero has eight warehouses located across the US and Canada, meaning that even small businesses can reach a larger volume of customers faster through the service. ShipHero also offers PostHero integration, which allows shop owners to track packages to their destinations. This lets them provide more accurate delivery dates to their customers.Pros

• Two-in-one fulfillment service and warehouse management software provider
• Access to PostHero shipment tracking and estimation
• Eight warehouses spread across the US and Canada

Cons

• Occasional software issues
• Not enough options for shipping label customization

PricingShipHero offers no zone pricing and a flat rate that includes pick, pack, postage, materials and shipping. Contact them for a customer quote.

2. Ordoro

Ordoro is an all-in-one multichannel fulfillment platform that offers shipping management, order management and inventory management for complex fulfillment workflows. Pros

• Supports advanced pick and pack workflows
• Provides barcode scanning and tracking number writebacks
• Supports dropshipping and automated order routing

Cons

• Does not provide inventory management features on the introductory plan
• Does not provide forecasting features
• Not accessible via mobile app

PricingThe Ordoro Starter plan is free of charge. The Express plan starts at $59/month and can accommodate unlimited users.

3. Dropified

Dropified is a web-based dropshipping software that supports the eCommerce platforms Shopify, gearbubblePRO, CommerceHQ, and WooCommerce. Unlike the other fulfillment providers on this list, Dropified focuses on dropshipping and comes with several dropshipping-specific features. For example, it provides users with direct access to wholesalers who can dropship for your business.Pros

• Sources top-selling products from real marketplace sales data
• Allows shop owners to add products to their online store in an instant
• Lets users place multiple orders to AliExpress and Alibaba in one click

Cons

• Exclusive to dropshipping businesses
• Limited automation tools

PricingDropified offers a 14-day free trial to all first-time users. Plans start at $39.17/month billed annually.

4. Red Stag Fulfillment

Red Stag Fulfillment offers cloud-based order fulfillment for both B2C and B2B online retailers. This fulfillment service provider offers picking, packing, kitting and returns.Pros

• Same-day fulfillment guarantee
• Provides affordable shipping for larger items

Cons

• Only has two warehouses in the US
• Dashboard and user interface leaves much to be desired

PricingRed Stag does not provide pricing information on its website. You'll have to request a quote to learn more.

5. Byrd

Byrd offers "scalable and digital" eCommerce fulfillment and aims to support the growth of online shops through its international logistics network.Byrd offers a wide range of services, from warehousing and real-time inventory to efficient picking and packing to shipping and return management.Pros

• Over 25 fulfillment centers in Europe
• Live inventory management
• Stores and ships organic products

Cons

• No free trial version
• Difficult onboarding process

PricingByrd does not provide pricing information on its website. You'll have to request a quote to learn more

6. ShipBob

ShipBob touts itself as a "global omnifulfillment solution". It boasts over 30 distribution centers across six countries and a 99.96% on-time delivery rate. Pros

• Two-day shipping
• Custom-branded packaging
• Easy onboarding process

Cons

• Slow response time for the app
• Limited integration options

PricingShipBob’s website has a calculator to help you estimate order fulfillment prices. For more detailed pricing breakdowns, request a quote.

Final Thoughts

WooCommerce is a great platform for small business owners and entrepreneurs, but it's just one part of running a successful online business. You need a great platform that can handle order fulfillment and get your products out the door and into the hands of your customers as efficiently as possible.That’s why we put together this list of the best WooCommerce fulfillment providers. We hope it will help you choose the right partner to take care of your order fulfillment needs.

Don’t work with WooCommerce? Find the best carriers for many of the highest profile marketplaces on the web.

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Order Fulfillment for WooCommerce FAQs

How do you fulfill orders in WooCommerce?

To fulfill orders in WooCommerce, you must first check to make sure you have the items in stock. Next, you've got to package your items, add labels, ship them out and send a tracking number to your customers.

Does WooCommerce have inventory management?

Yes, WooCommerce has built-in inventory management capabilities.

How do I fulfill a dropship order?

WooCommerce Dropshipping helps users send automated order notification emails to wholesale dropshippers when new orders come in. This automates order fulfillment of dropship orders.