Deciding whether or not to outsource your company’s e-commerce or warehouse fulfillment services is an essential step for businesses that require fulfillment shipping. It requires finding a partner whom you’re willing to trust to keep your products safe and secure, as well as to ensure they reach your customers promptly and in good condition. In a sense, it means that you’re outsourcing part of your reputation. In many cases, the decision-making process for finding e-commerce fulfillment services can generally be broken down into five categories—in this case, we’ll call it the “five Cs.”
The 5 “C”s for Finding the Best Outsourcing Fulfillment Services Partner
Charter
The charter represents a company’s mission statement, essential goals, and values. When looking for an e-commerce or warehouse fulfillment service, many companies prefer candidates whose charter mirrors their own business values. In addition, you want to seek a fulfillment shipping company whose management is committed to upholding the values stated in the charter. After all, if the candidate only pays “lip service” to their own values, what does that say about how they will treat you or your customers?
Cooperation
The candidate for your outsourced shipping and warehouse fulfillment services should be one that works well within itself. Employees, supervisors, and managers should be able to sort out internal matters efficiently, without unhealthy competition or antagonism. This is especially important in case a mistake is made. If something goes wrong, you want the company to be able to quickly identify the problem and devise a quick solution, rather than engage in finger pointing or passing the blame.
Communication
Any form of shipping or warehouse service involves a large amount of data, from costs to inventory numbers to delivery dates and addresses. When outsourcing your e-commerce fulfillment, you will want a company that is able to both keep track of this information and communicate the data to you as needed.
Commitment
The best business partner is one who shares your company’s drive to succeed. Your outsourced fulfillment service should be one that is driven to provide consistent, quality results across all stages of the supply chain. If a committed company makes a service promise, then they must be willing to move heaven and earth to keep their word to you—or at the very least make it clear what their word is backed by.
Customer Service
As mentioned earlier, outsourcing your delivery service means outsourcing part of your reputation. After all, the e-commerce fulfillment company you pick will be the one that has the most direct interaction with your customer by virtue of product delivery. Any candidate for your business must be able to provide quality customer service. This means being able to handle customer complaints respectfully and responsibly, having an efficient return policy, and being responsive to your own needs as well.
The five Cs are not hard and fast rules, but they form a useful base to refer to when considering companies for your e-commerce shipping and warehouse fulfillment services. As a leading provider of warehouse fulfillment services and fulfillment shipping, APS Fulfillment, Inc. is proud to have met these standards for all of our customers who have chosen us for their Florida-based fulfillment needs.
We work with a variety of clients and know what they look for when making this type of outsourcing decision. We employ a real-time inventory tracking system that our clients can use to see how their products are handled. It is through this form of communication that we not only establish trust with our partners, but also accountability. Contact us to handle your fulfillment shipping services today.
