Expert provider can free up your time for other management responsibilities As any e-commerce business owner knows, managing the myriad details involved in the fulfillment process demands extensive time and resources. Outsourcing the fulfillment of your product orders to an expert can provide a variety of benefits - not the least of which is having more time to spend on important tasks, such as marketing and new product development - that help you grow your business.

1. Outsourcing Fulfillment Services Can
Help You Grow Your Business
Expert provider can free up your time for other management responsibilities
As any e-commerce business owner knows, managing the myriad details involved in the
fulfillment process demands extensive time and resources. Outsourcing the fulfillment
of your product orders to an expert can provide a variety of benefits - not the least of
which is having more time to spend on important tasks, such as marketing and new
product development - that help you grow your business.
Following are a few specific examples of how an experienced fulfillment service can be
beneficial for your business:
• Fulfillment functions may not be the best use of your time.
If your strength is finding new products, establishing new customer relationships or
generating sales, that's where you should be utilizing your time and talents. An
experienced fulfillment partner can help you efficiently manage the critically important
"back-end" operational issues that can be time-consuming and costly, and take your
focus away from growing your business.
• Expanding your warehouse space can be costly and difficult.
Having the ability to expand your inventory can be critical to meeting increased
customer demand for product. But finding the right space at the right price can be
difficult. And if your products need to be in a climate-controlled environment, that can
be hard to accommodate if you're doing your own warehousing.
Plus, signing a long-term lease for a space that may need to increase later can eat
away your operating cash, which could be used to buy and sell product. An established
fulfillment provider should already have ample warehouse space to house your current
product and enough room to allow your business to expand in the future. In addition to
the storage issue, leasing and maintaining warehouse equipment - fork lifts, racking,
packaging materials and supplies - puts an additional drain on your hard costs.
• A commitment to excellence leads to a better response time in shipping.
With full-time staff dedicated to picking, packing and shipping product, your customers'
orders will be processed quickly and efficiently, often with a much shorter turnaround
time than what you might be able to provide.

2. • A centrally-located provider means quicker delivery to your customers.
A central location can also mean uniform shipping times and costs since UPS and FedEx
both base their rates on distance traveled. Shipping from the center of the U.S. will
always cost less because the distance traveled is always less.
When you offer a faster, less expensive delivery time, your customer satisfaction will be
enhanced dramatically. This is especially important around special events and holidays,
and can make the difference between a customer placing an order with you or shopping
someplace else.
• Established information systems help to maintain accurate data on orders.
A professional fulfillment provider will have the systems in place to capture, track and
report data based on the buying habits of your customers. This gives you easy access
to information on who your customers are, what they have purchased and why they
purchased. This important data mining capability can be invaluable as you make
marketing and product selection decisions.
• A provider with a 100 percent focus on supporting your fulfillment needs.
From the moment a consumer decides to purchase your product, a fulfillment provider
is focused on making sure that the experience is pleasant, that the product is shipped
quickly and accurately, and that all key back office systems are supporting your on-
going business needs.
In summary, if you are open to considering all these ways - and many others - in which
a third-party fulfillment services provider can benefit your business, you'll be amazed at
the time you will have to do what you do best: running your business.