There are a few common misunderstandings out there among business owners (and particularly small business owners) about outsourcing. Those misunderstandings can hold businesses back from growing, as operations stall or begin falling behind competitors because they didn’t outsource certain services soon enough.
Fulfillment is one of the activities that a small e-commerce business should outsource first. Why? Here are our favorite reasons and a down-to-earth explanation of how outsourcing fulfillment as soon as possible can change the trajectory of your company’s future.
Setting a Great CRM Foundation
One of the most important advantages that Spectra gives its fulfillment clients at the beginning of the relationship is a smooth transition. Our team is deeply knowledgeable about the complex topic of communication between platforms, and we have the ability in-house to connect our inventory management systems to whatever software that client is using. Clients are often hesitant to switch 3PL providers because they anticipate a difficult transition period, but they are always relieved to find out how easy and quick the process is with Spectra.
With that being said, starting off your e-commerce business with the help of a fulfillment provider makes that transition even easier and ensures that you are using the most efficient communication methods right off the bat. A client that has gotten by using Excel spreadsheets to track customer orders for years will eventually need to switch to a more modern approach to keep up with demand.
Working with Spectra from the beginning, in contrast, means that you have the guidance of fulfillment experts as you decide what methods you should use to track orders and stay in touch with your customers. Those methods will work for you not only in the startup phase, but in the future as well, as you scale up and add many more customers to your database.
The Smoothest Transition Possible
Many small businesses think in terms of doing everything they can in-house as long as possible, then outsourcing services to third-party providers when they finally get too expensive, complicated, or bulky to handle. In reality, that approach makes for a difficult transition.
By the time you decide that an area like fulfillment has outgrown your ability to handle it, your team is probably struggling to keep up with customer orders, which leads to disorganized inventory, mistakes in kitting, delays in getting orders out the door, and ultimately losing trust with customers, who feel they can no longer depend on your business to fulfill their expectations.
The alternative approach is much more pleasant for everyone involved, and makes much more sense in the long run. When you outsource fulfillment at a point in your company’s growth when order volume is relatively low, the transition is simple, efficient, and doesn’t interrupt the fulfillment of customer orders. You can take time to meet with your 3PL project managers and get them up to speed on your business, rather than feeling like you are dealing with a crisis and just trying to keep your head above water.
Ready For Growth
Every startup e-commerce business owner hopes that their products take off in a big way and customer orders double overnight. But are you ready to handle that kind of volume with a level of service that will keep those customers coming back? Failing to keep up with increasing demand is one of the most heartbreaking ways for a potentially great e-commerce company to lose business.
At Spectra, we always point out that having us as your 3PL partner is like instantly gaining an expert fulfillment department. If that relationship is already established when customer orders begin to rise dramatically, you never need to worry about whether you’ll be able to keep up with demand. Spectra is ready to expand your services as quickly as necessary, keeping inventory on the shelves at optimal levels and shipping out order after order with accuracy checks along the way.
Instead of scrambling to order more stock, looking for shelf space to put inventory before it gets shipped out, and shipping out incorrect orders, you can leave your fulfillment to the experts and focus on building on your success. Make sure your company is ready to grow and ride the wave of success, rather than getting overwhelmed by orders that you are not ready to fulfill reliably.
Maximizing Your Ideas
If your e-commerce business had its own in-house fulfillment department, staffed by experts and outfitted with great technology resources, it would contribute to the success of the company by recommending improvements to the way it offers products, processes orders, and develops customer relationships. That’s just what Spectra does for each of its clients as well. Each month that the Spectra team spends working with your business, they’re learning how you do things, what your customers value, and what they might want more of from you.
Having this kind of feedback from experts in the fulfillment industry is invaluable for a growing e-commerce company. It can help you avoid common mistakes that startups tend to make, and it can help make you a resource that customers trust, even though your company hasn’t been around very long. By offering fully developed, mature offerings like online storefronts that work in an intuitive, reliable way, you can maximize your relationships with customers and make sure they get the most out of your products.
Starting an e-commerce company is not easy, and there will no doubt be bumps along the way as your business grows. But with Spectra handling your fulfillment, you can be confident that that part of your operation will be efficient, dependable, versatile, and ready to scale up as quickly as the rest of your business. If you’re looking at launching your great idea online, talk with us to get Spectra on your team from day one. If you’re growing quickly and you know your fulfillment needs are beyond your ability to maintain them in-house, it’s time to transition to Spectra as your expert fulfillment partner. Book your call with us today!
