There’s no denying it: online shopping has never been more prevalent. Today’s consumers expect everything to be available at their doorstep. But it’s a relatively new phenomenon. As recently as 2010, just 5% of retail sales happened online! Today, In-person shopping has essentially taken a backseat to its online counterpart. Why? Because it gives consumers the ability to purchase anything their heart desires without the inconvenience of having to travel to a store, navigate a crowd, face potentially unhelpful attendants, and let’s not even broach the subject of parking lots. So it should come as no surprise that online shopping is more popular than ever. And, quite frankly, we’re glad for it.
With the demand for online shopping increasing, businesses have many opportunities to drive profitability and scale their business to new heights. But as they scale, business quickly realize that without the right systems in place, the realities of growth can come with a number of drawbacks. For sustainable scaling, it’s important to ensure your logistics strategy is optimized for success. Here’s how partnering with a 3PL warehousing facility can strengthen the customer experience and help your business grow effectively.
What Is a 3PL Warehousing Facility?
A 3PL warehousing facility is a third-party warehouse that helps provide businesses with warehousing solutions that will drive logistics management. As your company grows, new challenges will arise, and having a 3PL warehousing facility with the resources, technology, and know-how to navigate these changes is integral for long-term business success.
Do You Need a 3PL Warehousing Facility, and What Are the Benefits?
We can’t necessarily say whether or not you need a 3PL warehousing facility, but we can certainly tell you the benefits of utilizing a third-party logistics company. Knowing the benefits empowers your organization to make the right decision.
Simplify the Return Process
Any business that sells goods needs a seamless process for managing customer returns. For whatever reason they need to return goods sent to them, a 3PL warehousing facility can easily help you with this. Not only do they have the logistics expertise to aid in this process, but they can help you conserve dollars in the long run. You can utilize the third-party as a solution to any customer complaints that you may receive and ensure issues are handled with care – an element crucial for maintaining your brand reputation.
Fulfill Orders Seamlessly
As order volume increases, you’ll need the right systems implemented to ensure you never fall behind on order fulfillment. Otherwise, you could face negative customer reviews, which could be damaging to your bottom line. The reality is: no business wants to watch their sales plummet or their Google My Business page rack up scathing reviews. A 3PL warehousing facility has the resources needed to handle fluctuations in sales volumes. By leaning on a 3PL’s expertise, you’ll ensure orders are picked/packed and shipped quickly and efficiently to help nurture customer loyalty and repeat business.
The Right Inventory Storage
In the past, you may not have been able to adequately house the right amount of inventory due to space or lack of forecasting data. Too much stock — and not enough stock! — can both be detrimental to the profitability of your business. By partnering with a 3PL warehousing facility, however, you can avoid stock-outs, manage inventory levels, and store products closer to the end customer (ultimately decreasing your costs). The right 3PL warehousing facility will leverage automation and analytics to predict demand, understand where your key markets are, and ensure the proper inventory levels are maintained at all times.
Focus on the Right Things
In order to grow your business, you need to be able to invest your time and energy in high-level activities, such as sales and marketing initiatives. You can’t truly carry out these initiatives if you’re being pulled into the day-to-day minutia of your logistics workflow. This is where a 3PL warehousing facility can be incredibly beneficial to your business. A 3PL partner will have the tools and systems to scale as you scale, allowing you to focus on fulfilling business goals and delivering on brand promises. Just imagine: a 3PL warehousing facility in your corner to take all the logistics stress off your hands so you can focus on what you do best.
Let’s sum up the key benefits of linking up with a 3PL warehousing facility:
- More time to focus on high-level business activities.
- Orders get fulfilled and shipped at a faster rate to drive a positive customer experience.
- You can strategically house enough inventory to satisfy orders without adding extra out-of-pocket costs.
- Assistance with return management to strengthen your brand reputation.
Smart Warehousing Is Here for Your 3PL Warehousing Facility Needs
At SmartWarehousing, we can confidently say that all of the benefits mentioned above are areas that we excel in. We’ve been in business since 2001 and we’ve helped countless clients with their logistics management needs. If you’re interested in scaling your business and ensuring a positive customer experience, contact our team today.