Evaluating and Improving Your Fulfillment Channels

Several fulfillment publications recently released statistics about various operation channels. Their findings were not so much shocking as they were a healthy dose of reality.

If you’re operating a fulfillment center, it’s wise to keep up-to-date on such information. These reports may force you to reassess your channels and redirect your efforts to improving them, especially considering how competitive fulfillment businesses are these days.

Sign of the Times

It’s no surprise that the statistics showed that sales via e-commerce and mobile are up as high as 10%. However, these same stats found that call center and mail orders are in serious decline; since the tech trends have changed, so have the favored order methods.

In addition, the use of business-to-business (B2B) direct marketing has grown substantially and yielded more sales—much more than business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing. It appears that business-to-business direct marketing has yielded greater results, with more large fulfillment orders being bought from one company to the next.

Changes

Perhaps this information is a cue to change things up, especially in fulfillment centers and other areas of customer order fulfillment. For instance, you might wish to scale back your call center and direct mail efforts and focus more on digital marketing, particularly in regards to social media and mobile platforms. You should also consider the scope of your fulfillment center’s operations: do you stick to fulfilling B2C orders or take on a bigger client as a B2B venture?

There’s another channel to consider as well: your product line. Certain product types have seen growth in regards to both B2C and B2B fulfillment. Consider both the channel of client fulfillment you deal in and the product channel; greater opportunities may appear if you add new products to your line while reducing or excising ones that are not performing as well.

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.