Drop Shipping in Product Fulfillment

The pressure of managing product fulfillment’s many duties can be taxing. If it’s getting to be too much, you might want to consider drop shipping. But what is drop shipping? It’s a relatively new term and one that many in product fulfillment have never even heard before.

Drop shipping is when you, as the product retailer, don’t hold the stock. Instead of coming to you, orders are sent to the wholesaler, who then ships them. Rather than doing all the work yourself, you simply offer the products while third-party fulfillment handles distributing them.

Benefits

Drop shipping is commonplace among larger online order fulfillment and e-commerce fulfillment services, such as Amazon and eBay. But what’s in it for you? First, you can free up space on-site, thus alleviating all kinds of problems related to inventory control, warehousing, and your supply chain companies.

Second, drop shipping can free you up to focus on other endeavors, such as SEO and PPC, or other pressing matters. These are competitive areas of business, so having someone else take care of a tough aspect of product fulfillment to focus on these other aspects can be beneficial.

Control and Responsibility

It should be noted that drop shipping isn’t 100% effective, nor is it for everyone. For instance, you may lose control of your pricing thanks to a third party and can no longer offer the promotions you used to, affecting your profit potential. Or if there’s an error in the shipping process, you cannot turn to the drop shipping agent to cover for you. Since clients ordered through you, it’s your responsibility to resolve the problem as an order fulfillment center.

However, you can save a lot of what you’d normally spend on inventory control and are free to spread out your profit sources. But like any big business decision, drop shipping requires a lot of research and consideration before committing. Be sure that drop shipping is right for you and your product fulfillment business before integrating it into your operations.

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.