Ecommerce businesses have found great success from outsourcing fulfillment.
When you use a fulfillment company, you can scale your business faster by focusing entirely on customer acquisition. Order fulfillment is important. People expect prompt service and quick product delivery. Even if you have the best product on the market, your customer satisfaction will depend largely on the ecommerce fulfillment company you choose. What happens if it takes your customer six weeks to get their product? Or what if the shipment is damaged?
But where do you start? We’ve got you covered with the 11 best fulfillment companies.
Here are our top picks for ecommerce fulfillment services. Plus, you can use our filters to find the right fulfillment partner for you.
Top Order Fulfillment Services Compared
Fulfillment centers specialize in order processing and delivery for ecommerce businesses. This process includes receiving and storing inventory, processing orders, picking and packing, inserting packing slips, and shipping.
- Locations: By reducing the distance a package travels, you can eliminate shipping to the highest, most expensive shipping zones. This also reduces transit times and shipping costs. It’s ideal to choose a 3PL that operates fulfillment centers in major hubs and cities close to your target customer location. With prime locations, merchants have the potential to reach a larger volume of customers.
- Warehouse Management: WMS encompasses various tasks to optimize your company’s storage operations. They ensure efficient inventory tracking, order processing, and stock replenishment. These services also involve space management, labor optimization, and sometimes integrating sophisticated software for seamless operations. Ultimately, they help streamline fulfillment processes, reduce operational costs, and improve overall customer satisfaction.
- Freight Management: This includes full truch load and less than truck load freight shipping, tracking shipments, managing logistics, and ensuring timely deliveries. By utilizing tools like transportation management software and freight forwarders, these services aim to streamline the supply chain and save costs.
ShipBob
The Fulfillment Lab
eShipper
SHIPHYPE
ShipNetwork
Fulfillment.com
Floship
eFulfillment Service
One World Direct
ShipMonk
Red Stag Fulfillment
How to Choose A Fulfillment Service Provider
The first major consideration is what type of fulfillment services do you need.
If your needs extend to B2B or D2C fulfillment, you may require a fulfillment partner that can manage more complex logistics, including warehouse management and intricate inventory flows. This often necessitates a more specialized approach. To find the right services for your specific requirements, consult the table below for a comprehensive comparison of available options.
Fulfillment Services
You should also ask the competing companies the following questions on how they fulfill orders:
- Do they offer same-day fulfillment?
- Is 1-day order fulfillment an option?
- Do they offer two-day shipping?
- What other timelines do they follow to get the orders to your clients?
- Can dropshipping take place?
- Are there any long-term storage fees?
- How big is your network of warehouses?
All this matters because happy clients are returning clients.
There are several other factors to consider, such as monthly order volume, the type of product(s) you sell, and where your customers are located.
Storage and Fulfilment Fees
When you first start out, it’s really difficult to estimate your inventory size and storage fees. To make it even more complicated, different ecommerce fulfillment companies have different pricing models. Some do pricing per pallet or bin. You’ll have to look out for set-up fees, pick and pack fees as well. Amazon has a great calculator that I use to help understand fees based on Amazon. You have to have an Amazon seller account to use the calculator, though.
The pricing information below isn’t complete, but it should be enough, along with the tools above, to estimate your pricing. For specific pricing, you should reach out to each provider and compare.
Every ecommerce fulfillment provider will charge a different storage and fulfillment fee. Some require a minimum amount of inventory passing through their doors in order to work with your company. Also, the storage and ecommerce fulfillment fees may vary depending on how much business you do with the company you hire.
As you review the different companies, ask about provider fees. You can make an itemized list highlighting potential costs for ecommerce fulfillment services with each of the potential providers. This will help you determine which company offers the best rates and which third-party provider might be the most cost-efficient one to do business with.
Features and Services
Most order fulfillment companies excel in B2C fulfillment by offering a suite of services designed to streamline your operations. From robust inventory management systems that ensure stock levels are maintained, to address validation tools that minimize shipping errors, these companies cover all the bases. Many also offer subscription fulfillment, making it easy to handle recurring customer orders, as well as returns management, simplifying the process of handling returns and exchanges. Detailed reporting features provide valuable insights into your order fulfillment processes, helping you drive efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Fulfillment Services
- Amazon prep services are specialized solutions designed to ensure your inventory meets Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) requirements. This can include labeling, packaging, and product inspections, helping sellers comply with Amazon’s strict standards, ultimately streamlining the process, and avoiding any potential delays or issues with their inventory management on the platform.
- Climate control is essential to preserve the quality of temperature-sensitive products like food, cosmetics, and electronics. By maintaining optimal storage conditions, you can prevent damage and spoilage and ensure customer satisfaction. This increases the shelf life of products and minimizes returns, protecting your business’s reputation and bottom line.
- Kitting services involve bundling multiple products into a single package or unit. This is particularly useful for subscription boxes, promotional bundles, or assembly-required items. By pre-packaging these kits, fulfillment centers streamline the order process, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure consistent delivery quality to improve customer satisfaction.
- Custom packaging enhances product presentation and brand identity, providing tailored packaging solutions that fit unique product requirements. These fulfillment services often include customized boxes, branded labels, and protective materials designed to safeguard items during transit. By offering personalized packaging, fulfillment centers help elevate the unboxing experience, driving customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
- Lot tracking is a crucial feature for inventory management in order fulfillment companies. It allows you to trace the production batch of each item, ensuring quality control and efficient recall processes. This fosters transparency and trust with your customers, as you can provide accurate information about product origins and manufacturing details.
Ecommerce Platform Integration
When you consider different fulfillment providers, ask about ecommerce platforms and integration. You want to work with a company that can successfully integrate with your ecommerce platforms.
Integrations
3PLs, who are technology-driven, make it easy to connect your online store with their system. This establishes a two-way flow of information. By doing this, you’re able to check inventory levels in real time. You’re also given access to reliable, accurate, and transparent data.
You might think that integration for ecommerce platforms isn’t a big deal, but that’s not true at all. If your fulfillment provider can’t integrate with your ecommerce platform, the process won’t be a smooth or successful one.
Multichannel Integration
Multichannel integration enables ecommerce companies to sell inventory through various sales channels. With this in mind, it’s important fulfillment providers can accommodate these types of multichannel sales.
If you plan on selling through various channels, you have to be sure your chosen third-party fulfillment company can accommodate your needs. For example, if your ecommerce business sells on Shopify but also through Amazon and eBay, you want one service to cover all these sales options, like Rakuten or Shipmonk.
Integrations
Shipping Provider Integration
Shipping provider integration capabilities are extremely important when comparing fulfillment company offerings. The right shipping provider integration features ensure that you are able to connect with your shipping providers for seamless order completion.
Global Logistics
Other shipping providers you may need to ask about
Customer Service and Support
Once all the integrations are compatible and set up, it should be smooth sailing. If there is an issue, though – you will need prompt help. When it comes to customer service, you may prefer phone or live chat. In general, the more avenues of customer support, the better. Having a dedicated account manager (AM) can also make a huge difference.
Customer Support
Additional Fulfillment Companies To Consider
We’ve carefully curated a list of top-notch fulfillment options explicitly tailored for ecommerce brands selling directly to consumers through their own websites. Not only have we highlighted the best in the business, but we’ve also included additional fulfillment companies worth considering to ensure you have a comprehensive overview of all your options.
Amazon
Amazon’s vast network of fulfillment centers, advanced technology, and reliable logistics make it a leading choice for businesses wanting quick and efficient order processing. Their fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service handles storage, packaging, and shipping, ensuring fast delivery and enhanced customer satisfaction.
FedEx Fulfillment
FedEx offers comprehensive fulfillment solutions including warehousing, packing, and shipping. Known for their rapid delivery services, FedEx emphasizes reliability and efficiency, catering to both small businesses and large enterprises with tailored fulfillment options.
Simpl
Simpl provides streamlined fulfillment services focused on simplifying the supply chain. Their cloud-based system offers real-time tracking and integration with multiple sales channels, ensuring accurate order processing and timely deliveries.
Ryder
Ryder specializes in flexible and scalable fulfillment solutions, catering to the unique needs of ecommerce businesses. Their multi-channel integration, real-time analytics, and efficient logistics support businesses in meeting customer demands seamlessly.
Phase V
Phase V offers end-to-end fulfillment services, including inventory management, order processing, and returns handling. Their focus on personalized service and scalability makes them a reliable partner for businesses looking to optimize their supply chain operations.
Fulfyld
Fulfyld focuses on ecommerce fulfillment with a robust platform that supports direct-to-consumer brands. Their services include warehousing, packing, and shipping, with an emphasis on transparency, efficiency, and reducing shipping times.
Badger
Badger provides tailored fulfillment solutions designed to meet the specific needs of their clients. Their services range from product storage to packaging and shipping, ensuring that businesses can rely on them for accurate and timely order fulfillment.
Third-Party Fulfillment vs. Self-Fulfillment
Now that you have information on third-party fulfillment including what some of the best companies offer, it’s time to consider if this option is for you or if you want to stick with self-fulfillment.
In order to make the right decision, you should weigh the options carefully. You can determine if you’re able to handle the fulfillment duties on your own or if it’s in the best interest of your company to hire a third-party business to take care of fulfilling your online orders.
As you weigh the options, consider the following:
- Do you have a place for inventory storage?
- Do you have the time to handle packaging the shipments as quickly as possible?
- Are you good with order and warehouse management?
- How much will the storage fees be?
- Do you have the time to handle the shipping process and multiple shipping options as quickly as possible?
- Are you technologically savvy and able to process orders with fulfillment software?
- Can you handle the amount of product fulfillment duties?
- Do you want to handle the fulfillment duties for the long term?
Is Outsourced Fulfillment Right For You?
If you answered “no” to the questions above, you should hire an order fulfillment company to help you achieve customer satisfaction. If you can afford to outsource ecommerce order management to another company, it might be in your best interest to do so. When you choose to use a third-party logistics company to handle the inventory, packing, shipping, customer service, and other duties for you, the time you save can be used for building up your business.
Consider these aspects when selecting a fulfillment company:
- Integrations with your ecommerce platform
- Order minimums
- The type of businesses they serve
- Warehousing and fulfillment costs
- How fast they turn around and ship orders
- Customer support availability and contact information (phone, live chat, email)
- Real-time reporting management system
- Product order volume capabilities
- Type of inventory system software and warehousing capabilities
- Network of fulfillment centers, location, and warehouse space
- Whether they can provide everything you need in a single solution
- Quality control measures to ensure they get the right products to customers
By considering all these things and how they relate to your individual business, you can narrow down your fulfillment center options. When you do so, you’ll be able to select the best services provider to help your company achieve its multifaceted sales goals.
Ultimately, it’s about choosing the right fulfillment operation that can deliver to your unique needs. You also need to make sure they integrate seamlessly with your ecommerce platform. You also need to consider the type of fulfillment you need and pair that with the level of customer service you expect.
If you’re looking to source potential 3PLs, ShipBob is a great place to start. You’ll be given the support, facilities, and technology you need to scale your business faster.
Your partner matters. We hope you found our list of best fulfillment companies helpful.
