Outsourcing to 3PL
Jonas Raaschou
If you have been managing an online shop for a while now, you might be thinking of ways to optimize your workflows. There’s a couple of things you need to consider if you’re scaling your business and want to see a change in your daily processes. A WMS does a lot of the hard work that you do down in the busy basement, but there’s also a few other integrations you should be aware of. Find answers to your questions here.
If you have a simple orderflow and a medium amount of shipments, it is a good idea to outsource your warehouse so that you can take advantage of economies of scale such as procedures and IT systems.
As you know it can be complicated to make a schedule for your employees when the amount of shipments is seasonal or varying for any reason. When outsourcing you don’t have to worry about that.
Before making a decision
It is necessary to have an overview of your present processes and costs. Having a total overview of your needs makes the dialogue with a 3PL transparent for both parties. Transparency is the keyword. Having no transparency will create a huge distance between you and your customers.
Some of the cons when outsourcing is that you will have less flexibility compared to having your own warehouse and managing the orders yourself. Furthermore, you risk a lack of quality control which might affect your customers in the end. Therefore it is important to clarify your wants to your partner when it comes to their service such as customer service and quality. It will always be in everyone’s interest having satisfied customers – no doubt about that.
Outsourcing to one of Webshipper’s 3PL partners gives you the opportunity to keep track of your orders and your order management. You will have the same insights into your orders, shipments, shipment status and tracking information as if you had your own warehouse.
When should you invest in a WMS-integration?
Do you need or do you use a warehouse? The answer is simple then; Your business needs a WMS. If you send hundreds of parcels every day a simple setup is just not going to cut it – by now your business is scaling and challenges with failed deliveries can be a huge daily pain, which will undoubtedly result in dissatisfied customers.
The infrastructure you provide your scaling business will pay off in the long run and make it easier for you to focus on other business aspects.
When should you outsource your logistics?
As a minor online business sending parcels every day outsourcing your logistics to a 3PL can be very beneficial. By having a logistics partner you save on the cost of rent for your own warehouse and its employees.
3PL’s can offer your business very favorable and competitive prices on freight agreements that you might not be able to obtain yourself from your individual couriers.
As a larger company with an e-commerce business it might make sense to outsource some of your warehouse to a 3PL, maybe in another country saving your out-of-country customers time and money on shipping and customs.
You will also eliminate your need for maintenance and constantly upgrading your warehouse to modern facilities.