Bang for Your Buck: The Real Savings in Product Fulfillment

Cutting Quarters in Two

Penny pincher, hustler, moneygrubber, cheapskate, hoardasaurus—the insults go on and on. There’s no getting around the negative terms used for people that seem to like money more than anything; such names are even applied to folks that simply take savings seriously. Sometimes the bad terminology is warranted, as such folks may buy discount Halloween cards for Christmas gifts or stock up on diapers long before they ever get married.

But these days, it may also be understandable as to why these terms are abusive and shouldn’t be used as often. Money doesn’t grow on trees, so people have to really work to get the most out of their cash to afford gas, food, and keeping a roof over their head. The idea of someone saving a secret stash of notes or cutting quarters in two to see if they can buy anything extra at the mall isn’t all that unfathomable.

Being your own businessperson means you have to work to save that much more. It’s a tough go: with so many expenses and tax considerations, a businessperson really has to put their nose to the grindstone in order to find the really good savings.

If you’re in product fulfillment, however, it’s not so tough, and the ways to save are fairly vast. If you start properly investigating how to save more, you can drop the shears and not worry about having to cut any quarters ever again.

Getting Serious

As mentioned before, saving is a serious business. You have to do a complete overhaul of your operations to see where savings are possible. Once you’ve got that down, however, you can see the many aspects of your business where savings are possible.

For products and/or business materials, you should look into finding cheaper sources. This might include looking into pick-and-pack services, which will allow you to purchase cheaper products that distributors haven’t sold and resell them yourself. When doing kitting and assembly for product packages, direct mail packages, or certain promotional material, look into ways to get those components for less or to substitute them for cheaper parts. Some pros find including smaller paper materials instead of big paper combos to be a cheaper but equally effective way of completing marketing packages.

For your basic services, see where you can get them cheaper for your product fulfillment business. A big commercial warehousing unit for storage is certainly professional, but the cost is likely huge. You might find a newer or smaller local storage facility where you can do your warehousing for half the price. International communication and electronic media have opened the doors for long-distance business deals, so if you need cheaper direct marketing materials, direct marketing services in Florida might save you far more than if you got it locally, where there’s no competition and subsequently higher fees.

Saving but not Scrooging

Going back to the insults, there is a fine line between a good saver and an outright scrooge, and that line needs to be recognized if you are in product fulfillment. There’s nothing wrong with looking for deals, but if they’re so cheap due to their being beyond poor quality or using kindergarten-grade materials and you buy them anyway, you’re getting scrooge-like.

These days, e-commerce fulfillment through digital media can save you a lot by cutting back on certain print media expenses while still allowing you to maintain a good name in the product fulfillment industry. If you are serious about getting the bang for your buck in product fulfillment, find a proper balance between quality and cost-effective measures before going forward.

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 info@apsfulfillment.com, visit their web site at www.apsfulfillment.com, or phone at (954) 582-7450.