Category Archives: Shipping Fulfillment

As the e-commerce market grows larger and larger with each passing year, the options for fulfillment are increasing in tandem. But which fulfillment option makes the most sense (e.g., saves the most money) for your business?

Perhaps the two most common order fulfillment options right now can be broadly categorized as fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and fulfillment by merchant (FBM).

Both are order fulfillment methods that, depending on a number of factors like what your business is selling and your comfort with managing fulfillment, can be perfectly suitable options.

Let’s now dive into what FBA and FBM are, and how to decide which is best for your business.

What Is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)?

Much like how it sounds, FBA involves Amazon handling fulfillment for your business. That means that the e-commerce giant will manage storage, shipping, customer service, and returns. Consumers on Amazon will also be able to see if your business is FBA or FBM, which could impact a consumer’s behavior if they highly value Amazon’s fulfillment services. If you want to have the entire shipping and storage aspect of your product fulfilled by Amazon, then you need FBA.

What Is Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)?

FBM involves you handling your own fulfillment processes. That means you manage shipping, returns, storage, customer service, and any other aspect of fulfillment. There are some benefits and issues with this method (which we explore below). But, generally speaking, the basic tradeoff is losing access to Amazon’s seemingly endless resources and hassle-free fulfillment handled by a third-party while maintaining more flexibility and autonomy, and also potentially saving on costs.

What Is the Difference between FBA & FBM?

So, what is the difference between FBA vs. FBM?

Well, as explained above, FBA involves Amazon relieving you of the burden of having to manage your fulfillment process.

On the flip side, FBM means that you have more work legwork, but maintain more autonomy and aren’t as tied down to Amazon.

But which one is right for your business?

Benefits of Fulfillment by Amazon

Great Delivery Service

As you’d expect, it’s hard to rival Amazon when it comes to delivery service. The company has made a name for itself by being “obsessive” when it comes to customer service and satisfaction. Part of that obsessing involves rapid delivery times that are famously reliable.

Prime Eligibility

Amazon Prime is among the biggest draws to the e-commerce giant. The two-day shipping guarantee is exceedingly popular, with over 100 million customers in the U.S. alone. Qualifying for this lightning-fast delivery service can be a huge boon to your business—and can even sometimes be the difference between a closed lead or a lost potential sale.

Buy Box

The Buy Box is the much-coveted feature spot on Amazon that, when a shopper is searching for a product, places a particular version of that product’s price, shipping information, seller, and the “Add to Cart” button right up top. Customers are far more likely to make purchases through the Buy Box, making it vital. Order fulfillment and shipping make a big difference in which product is featured in the Buy Box. And that means that, more often than not, FBA-listed products win the Buy Box.

Multi-Channel Fulfillment

This essentially means that, even if you sell your product outside of Amazon, Amazon will still handle fulfillment. This allows you to build your brand outside of Amazon while still benefitting from the Amazon order fulfillment support.

Lower Shipping Rate

While this can vary based on weight and size, you will find that more often than not Amazon has cheaper shipping rates compared to managing fulfillment on your own. As you’d imagine, Amazon’s massive bargaining power means that it can extract far more favorable shipping costs than if you were to try and negotiate rates solo.

Benefits of Fulfillment by Merchant

Less Expensive

Amazon does charge a subscription for its fulfillment services, which can add up over time. Depending on how strong you are at managing your logistics and the resources you have in place, you may find that FBM will save you a lot of money over the long run.

Higher Margin

When you manage fulfillment on your own, you have the opportunity to generate higher margins. That’s because you won’t be hounded by those recurring Amazon fees month after month. You’ll also avoid paying for storage fees, and you may find that holding your own inventory is the most cost-effective choice.

More Control Over Your Inventory & Fulfillment

As mentioned at the top, with FBM, you maintain far more autonomy and independence. You’re not beholden to Amazon and its way of doing things. You’re free, in other words, to iterate your fulfillment process to find the system that is most efficient for your business.

FBA vs. FBM: Which One Is the Most Efficient?

So, which is the most efficient fulfillment option for you and your business?

Really, it’s impossible to say without knowing your business.

The bottom line is that each option offers a number of benefits, but you’ll have to engage in some thorough research to find out which is best for you. Or you can work with a top e-commerce fulfillment company…

Get Expert Support for Order Fulfillment

Whether you are an Amazon FBA seller or want to go FBM, APS Fulfillment, Inc. has the expertise and knowledge necessary to optimize your fulfillment process and save your business significant amounts of money.

There are endless benefits to working with a third-party logistics company that uses the best-quality software systems to manage your warehouse. Although other product fulfillment companies offer similar services, APS Fulfillment, Inc. goes the extra step. We take great pride that our quality control procedures are state-of-the-art, and we guarantee 24-hour turnaround times for our service orders.

Get in touch with us and one of our consultants will tailor a fulfillment plan designed to grow your business. Book a consultation by calling (954) 582-7450 or email [email protected].

We were already in the midst of a retail revolution with e-commerce coming to dominate the industry before COVID-19 came along and rapidly accelerated the process. Now businesses are in a situation where they have to take care of direct-to-consumer fulfillment all on their own due to supply chain difficulties and other complications caused by the pandemic. Luckily, they aren’t totally without resources and tools. Shopify order fulfillment is stepping in to help supplement these businesses’ capabilities.

Shopify Shipping Services in Florida

If you’re looking to understand the Shopify shipping services in Florida and how your business can best take advantage, you’re not alone; that’s precisely why we put this guide together.

Shopify can help drive efficiencies at your business which will result in faster and more accurate delivery times while also helping to reduce costs born from bloat and waste in the fulfillment process.

Your business, in other words, can likely benefit from Shopify shipping—but how does Shopify order fulfillment work?

What Is Shopify Shipping?

Essentially, it’s a platform that allows businesses both large and small to streamline their shipping process. Everything you need to know and have in order to ship, from Shopify shipping rates in Canada to Shopify shipping rates by products to creating shipping labels, can all be handled through the Shopify platform.

In other words, it empowers sellers on the Shopify platform to simplify their shipping process while reducing costs and obstacles.

How Does Shopify Shipping Work?

Shopify designed a unique system to handle the shipping process for companies on its platform.

The shipping suite of services ensures that merchants have access to all pertinent information regarding shipping, as well as the ability to find the most desirable shipping rates.

This in turn helps improve customer services and expedite shipping while also increasing its reliability, two must-have qualities for companies selling direct to consumers. Remember that customer service levels can often be a deciding factor for consumers when choosing between two brands.

The platform also offers real-time viewing on shipping and can be upgraded to include that service to the customer.

The company also splits its services into three tiers, each offering a different bundle of services depending on your needs.

What Are the Types of Shipping Methods?

Now that we have a basic overview of what Shopify shipping services in Florida offer, let’s take a closer look at the types of shipping methods on the platform.

Flat-Rate Shipping

With flat-rate shipping, you as the seller are able to determine a base fee that applies to your entire inventory, irrespective of size and weight. This is most useful for sellers that have a specific line of products that don’t fluctuate too much in terms of weight and size. This would be perfect for a company that, say, sells shoes exclusively, as they will all generally be the same dimensions. This allows you to cut down on the time it would take individually determine each product’s shipping costs.

Free Shipping

Beloved by customers, free shipping is a great way for your business to endear itself to your consumers. It can even help prevent customers from backing out near the end of the transaction when they see a shipping cost. Shopify does allow for free shipping or discounted shipping based on your product’s specific dimensions or price. You can also hand out discount codes.

Weight-Based Shipping

Exactly as it sounds—this method involves charging shipping fees based on the product’s weight. You’ll have to set up a predetermined cost for a weight range if you opt to go this route. This process takes place automatically depending on your pre-set weight fees.

How Much Are Shopify Shipping Rates?

Now that we understand how to ship with Shopify and the Shopify order fulfillment services, let’s talk price.

USPS Shopify Shipping Rate

As an example, if you’re sending a 30-ounce shipment from New York to Chicago:

• Priority Mail: $7.80 (28% savings)
• Priority Mail Express: $36.80 (15% savings)
• First-Class Package International Service (New York City to London): $22.80 (6% savings)

UPS Shopify Shipping Rate

If you were looking to ship one pound of goods from New York City to Chicago:

• UPS Ground: $8.31 (27% savings)
• UPS Next-Day Air: $37.51 (48% savings)
• UPS Standard to Canada (New York City to Toronto): $19.56 (28% savings)
• UPS Worldwide Expedited (New York City to London): $39.33 (63% savings)

DHL Shopify Shipping Rate

Another one-pound shipment example:

• DHL Express Worldwide (New York City to Toronto): $25.15 (71% savings)
• DHL Express Worldwide (New York City to London): $34.47 (69% savings)
• DHL Express Worldwide (New York City to Sydney): $38.56 (68% savings)

APS Fulfillment’s Shopify Fulfillment Services in Florida

The simple fact is that Shopify shipping services in Florida can dramatically improve your business’s fulfillment capabilities while also reducing costs. But if you want to maximize your Shopify ROI, you need an expert partner.

APS Fulfillment, Inc. has integrated our process with Shopify, so our partners can get the most out of the Shopify platform.

Our international offices have helped businesses significantly reduce both their hassle and spend on fulfillment, while also improving delivery times and shipping accuracy.

We can manage all your Shopify shipping and fulfillment needs, streamlining the process and saving your business money. Get in touch to take advantage of APS Fulfillment’s end-to-end fulfillment services.

There’s a lot to like about the winter months: beautiful snow, winter sports, a relief from exhaustively hot weather in southern regions. But with winter comes challenges for many businesses, especially shipping companies. The good news for shipping fulfillment companies, however, is that these problems are predictable—and addressable.

And remember that just because you may be doing fulfillment shipping in Florida or another state that doesn’t face too much winter weather, it doesn’t mean that you can totally ignore winter; your shipments, after all, are likely to go all over the country. Not to mention that the entire supply chain often faces challenges during colder months.

That said, see below for some useful tips on how to keep your company running smoothly throughout the season.

Tips to Prepare for a Successful Winter Shipping Season

Prepare for Inevitable Delays

You’re going to see delays—it’s unavoidable. Even the best laid plans can’t account for every eventuality. From unexpected inclement weather conditions like snowstorms and icy roads to holiday order volume increases and traffic, you’re going to have to contend with several obstacles that the winter season creates.

It’s impossible to foresee and resolve every delay (unless you’ve developed a way to control the weather and people’s holiday fervor).

What you can do, however, is be ready for these delays.

Being flexible and having contingency plans in place are crucial when dealing with these unavoidable delays. Backups like alternative routes for shipping can be hugely beneficial here. Tracking your carriers is also a great way to keep up to date with the logistics, so you can answer client questions whenever they arise.

Utilize All Available Shipping Resources

As mentioned at the top, the good thing about winter is that it is, to some extent, predictable.

Examining data of past shipping routes to determine which are the least likely to face weather issues is a good place to start when building your seasonal plan.

It’s also handy to provide services that account for winter. Products that are likely to freeze, for instance, will need special shipping protocols.

Communicate Effectively

Your customers expect your deliveries to arrive on time—it’s why they hired you, after all. But as we examined, there’s simply no way to guarantee that you won’t face some delays due to winter.

The key to avoiding a disgruntled clientele (which in turn will damage your reputation) is to maintain constant avenues of communication.

Make a team available to communicate with clients in order to head off customer frustration.

Being able to track your shipments is also a must as it allows you to provide accurate delivery estimates to customers as well as keep all your information up to date and as accurate as possible.

APS Fulfillment Inc.: A Top Order Shipping Company in Florida and Beyond

Winter is tough but conquerable. And you can conquer it. If you’re in need of extra help, APS Fulfillment, Inc. has years of experience in the supply chain industry. Offering premier shipping fulfillment in Florida and beyond, we are more than prepared to meet the winter months head-on and provide your company with reliable shipping solutions.

Get in touch with us today and one of our consultants will tailor a fulfillment plan that will help grow your business. To book a consultation, call (954) 582-7450 or email [email protected].

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Running an e-commerce business can get expensive, especially if you manage your shipping poorly. It’s important to do your research to find out where you can reduce costs and spend your money in the most valuable places without needless mistakes. Shipping mistakes are one of the most common errors that can jeopardize businesses, but these mistakes can easily be avoided with the right preparation. Here are the most expensive shipping mistakes to avoid, and how you can prevent them from affecting your business.

Traditional consumers may not realize there’s a difference between shipping and mailing, and maybe it’s not something they’re dying to know about. However, for those in the logistics industry, it’s a topic of interest. When searching for a logistics partner, how do you know what their services entail if they use the term “mailing” vs “shipping?” Is there even a difference to be noted? The short answer: yes. To learn about the difference between these seemingly identical terms, keep on reading.

There are many things to consider when setting up an e-commerce business. Some of these include delivery arrangements, inventory and stock locations, and finding the most cost-effective and least time-consuming way to organize products. Although many companies use drop shipping for their e-commerce web sites, there are many disadvantages of drop shipping that you should be aware of. Here’s what you need to know about the risks of drop shipping.

As you know, free shipping has become one of the most sought after and expected additions for consumers when shopping online. While the impact of free shipping on sales can be amazing, some companies don’t always have ways to offer free shipping to their customers. E-commerce businesses can generate even more business when they offer free shipping, from encouraging repeat purchases to attracting new clients altogether. Here are a few ways you can implement free shipping into your e-commerce strategy. 

Free shipping has become an expectation from online shoppers, rather than the bonus it once was. Offering free shipping options can be advantageous for your business, but there are certain things you’ll need to keep in mind when implementing it—things like the cost of free shipping, free shipping conversion rates, and how to advertise your free shipping all play a part in how valuable it ends up being for your business. The benefits of free shipping can be immense, but owners need to assess all of the associated risks and ensure they introduce it to their e-commerce business appropriately. Check out these common mistakes, and make sure you avoid them when offering free shipping.

Online shopping and e-commerce have become synonymous with sales culture in 2017. More and more people are choosing to browse the Internet over browsing the aisles, which is why e-commerce is such a booming industry right now. Since online shopping has become so popular, it’s become increasingly difficult for online retailers to win the loyalty of customers. A strategy many companies have used is to offer exclusive deals to online shoppers to encourage them to choose their store. One of the most common perks offered is free shipping—it’s become so common for companies to offer this that it’s now expected, and those who don’t offer it are seen as the exception rather than the norm.

The terms “shipping” and “delivery” have become more popular with the rise of e-commerce. Online shoppers often assume these two terms are synonymous when, in reality, their meanings are completely different. Whether you’re an online retailer or a consumer, it’s important to note the difference between shipping and delivery. As a retailer, you should be clear about letting your customers know what their shipping and delivery dates are to avoid complaints and unhappy customers. In addition, online shoppers should make sure that they observe both dates when ordering somethings online in order to avoid disappointment—especially if their item is time-sensitive. We’ve outlined the definition of shipping vs. delivery, so if you’re unsure of the difference, just keep on reading!