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Product fulfillment is hard but doesn't have to be a pain. There are plenty of very sophisticated 3PL warehouses that can do any type of fulfillment you need. A
by mikhaill 15y ago
Product fulfillment is hard but doesn't have to be a pain. There are plenty of very sophisticated 3PL warehouses that can do any type of fulfillment you need. At my last job I managed an e-commerce business and our process was so streamlined that we'd never actually touch our products. They were delivered from production directly to the 3PL fulfillment warehouses where the items were unpacked and stored. When the orders came in items were packed up, and shipped out, including international delivery. When items were sent out, we got the tracking numbers for the packages back so we could send customers e-mails (again all automated).
Some of the newer operations have staff on site that has electronics expertise and offer troubleshooting of arriving items, etc. It seems that having them flash NFC stickers shouldn't be soo bad to teach them (but maybe expensive).
- kul 15y agothat's amazing, can you share some names/links of recommended warehouses?
- mikhaill 15y agoCertainly. None of these require 6 figure payments. There are some setup fees, (very reasonable) and then they usually charge per action (items packed, computers checked, etc). Ones I worked with and would recommend: http://parcelport.net http://parcelport.net, http://amplifier.com/ http://amplifier.com/ Ones that I talked with but didn't have personal experience (yet)http://www.im-logistics.com http://www.im-logistics.com, http://archway.com http://archway.com, http://www.capacityllc.com/ http://www.capacityllc.com/ Each has their own pros and cons and it depends on what you're trying to accomplish.
- jfarmer 15y agoWe use One World Direct at Everlane. Photojojo also uses OWD. http://www.owd.com/ http://www.owd.com/ http://www.everlane.com http://www.everlane.com http://http://photojojo.com/ http://http://photojojo.com/
- mikhaill 15y agoForgot to mention, there is a lot of pros/cons to 3rd party fulfillment and it has to be done right. If you seriously decide to look into 3PL warehouses, I'll be happy to give you more info about what you need to look at.
- pinwale 15y agohttp://www.shipwire.com/ http://www.shipwire.com/ is used by many Kickstarter projects. I have no relationship with them. I just read about them in an article.
- phil 15y agoThese all require upfront payments in the 6-figure range, right? As far as I know, good 3PL services are at best like Braintree, not like Stripe. That is, they work well but don't lower the barriers so that it's easy to start using them.