There’s what you have and then there’s what you have to offer. There are specific services and then there are diverse ones. There’s doing some things well or many things great.
With product fulfillment, it’s all about getting many things done well. This applies if you are in product fulfillment or if you are seeking it out for your business. Product fulfillment is multifaceted, and if you are either seeking it out or doing it as a job, you have to be aware of its many facets of services.
The interesting thing with product fulfillment is that there’s not a lot of difference if you approach it as a practitioner or as a client. If you are working in the product fulfillment industry, it’s best to know what to provide your clients and what they expect from you. If you are a client, you should know what a good product fulfillment service can provide you and then you’ll be able to identify which ones are the real pros that all they claim to be. It’s more or less the same thing.
Product fulfillment has gained a special place in the commercial public sphere over the last decade. It’s merged together digital applications with its existing mail and analog ones. With this, product fulfillment has reached a new level of accessibility that hasn’t been afforded to businesses that have been around for the same length of time. With that in mind, it’s become an exciting industry for both pros and clients alike.
Vertical Integration
Since the 1980s and 90s, few companies have kept all of their operations under one roof. Before then, companies like film studios and car manufacturers did everything in one location before sending their products out into the world. This was called vertical integration; however, with the advent of offshore networking and digital communication, outsourcing gradually replaced it.
Except product fulfillment.
Product fulfillment is still a key business area where almost if not all business operations are done under one roof. With this in mind, whether you are conducting the business or soliciting it, you should be aware of what a good product fulfillment company has to offer.
If you’re a professional practicing product fulfillment, you should make sure you break your business down into its categories—technology, product services, and product fulfillment solutions—and provide the appropriate services under those categories. These categories have to be filled with the right services: newfangled digital print services or variable data printing in tech, high-volume mailings or inventory management in product services… Well, you get the idea. It’s all got to be there and ready for the clients to see. Examining competitors or searching out other product fulfillment pros from the industry for advice can really help you here.
As a potential client, pretty much everything that’s listed above is what you should be looking for in a great product fulfillment business. Great product fulfillment businesses have a bank of services under one roof. You can do all of your shopping under one roof. How great is that?
Shopping Around
As mentioned, there are a lot of product fulfillment service providers out there. It’s a competitive field. If you are in the business yourself, it’s good to accumulate a lot of long-term clients and keep building your business by expanding services while still offering top quality. If you are a product fulfillment client, you have to shop around to find the right one. The right one will have a full roster of product fulfillment services while offering prices that are easy on your pocketbook.
From whatever angle you see it, product fulfillment is exciting, professional, and often necessary in today’s consumer market. Be it inventory management or product packaging, clients and pros can look at product fulfillment as a business of action in today’s marketplace—it’s a great place to be to get products or build a business.
Need solutions to your product fulfillment problems? APS Fulfillment, Inc has the knowledge and services to make your direct mail and product fulfillment ventures more successful. Contact APS Fulfillment, Inc by e-mail at [email protected], visit its web site at www.apsfulfillment.com, or call (954) 582-7450.
