As cross-border businesses and trades begin to grow strongly, the demand for goods circulation also increases and requires solutions to support logistics management. The fulfillment service was born as a perfect addition to the online business model, directly handling the logistics problem for sellers worldwide. So what is fulfillment service? How does this service work and how can fulfillment services get orders to global customers quickly and efficiently? Find out in the article below!
Fulfillment is a form that is not too new but not too familiar in the market. This form of service is also commonly known as a fulfillment service, a distribution center, or a logistics service.
Fulfillment is the process by which an organization handles the receipt, packaging, delivery, and return of orders for customers. This service starts from the time the goods are placed in the warehouse until the customer places an order, receives the product, or returns the order.
Thanks to the convenience in goods management, the fulfillment service is being favored by many domestic and foreign online sellers. In particular, for those participating in the MMO Print On-demand form, using the Fulfillment service helps them save maximum time in warehouse management, shipping, and returns and does not require the seller to have big capital.
The essence of Fulfillment can be understood as completing an order and bringing the order to the customer. Therefore, all industries that require transportation, packaging, and labeling can use this service!
Traders on domestic e-commerce platforms such as Tiki, Lazada, Shopee, .. or overseas such as Shopify, Amazon, and Etsy,... can take advantage of this service to increase sales efficiency and productivity. row.
The typical Fulfillment process will go like this:
Select fulfillment supplier => Send goods to this supplier => The fulfillment center conducts storage => Process when an order arises => Delivery => Collect money => Solve the following problem when completing the order (return, refund)
Depending on the needs, the seller can choose different service providers to suit their business model.
Many fulfillment centers will come to pick up the goods or ask the seller to send them to them. At this time, the seller needs to carefully pack and inventory the goods before sending the goods for storage, to avoid sending damaged goods, and to minimize the time to check the goods before entering the warehouse.
Fulfillment units will store and use modern technologies to update the status of goods in their warehouses so that sellers are informed about their goods.
When a customer places an order, the fulfillment center will pack, label, deliver to the customer and collect money at the request of the seller.
Online purchases often bring many problems such as defective goods and damage in transit. That leads to the return of goods after purchase. The Fulfillment center will receive the return request and make the refund or exchange for the customer at the discretion of the seller.
If you are preparing for a business and need to find effective inventory management solutions, you can refer to the following forms of fulfillment.
In-house Fulfillment, also known as Self-Fulfillment, is a form in which businesses manage their goods, and warehouses, and pack and ship orders to customers. The advantage of this form is that the seller or business does not need to depend on a 3rd party, they can actively control order status, and inventory or manage goods more easily. However, the disadvantage of this form is that it is easy to encounter problems in the management stage, causing loss of goods, and not controlling the number of goods due to the lack of a strict and professional working structure.
The self-fulfillment form is suitable for 2 types of businesses:
Outsource Order Fulfillment is when shipping, storage, packaging, and refunds are handled by a third-party logistics - 3PL. Companies that do not have enough staff or storage space should use this service.
In this case, employees of these units will be responsible for handling the entire process of packaging, processing, and delivering orders to customers as well as performing inventory management for service users.
Inventory is also stored at these companies' warehouses, so service users do not need to invest in facilities and do not need to hire warehouses or labor to perform management.
The disadvantage of this form of fulfillment is that service users are not directly involved in the goods management process, nor do they know the details of the management process of 3PL units. Therefore, when looking for an Outsource Order Fulfillment unit, businesses should research carefully to have a thorough understanding of the fulfillment service that they want to use.
Dropshipping Fulfillment is similar to outsourcing, except that there is no inventory to manage. The retailers (or sellers) that sell dropshipping do not keep the items they sell. Instead, when a customer places an order, the retailer passes the order on to a company that sells those products, so that they can deliver the order to the customer. This supplier will process the entire order and ship it to the customer. Once the order is completed, the seller will receive the difference for the product he/she sold!
In Dropshipping, there is a small branch called Print On-demand Fulfillment. Sellers post products with designs they create themselves, and promote products on platforms for customers to order. Then fulfillment units will manufacture products according to design and pack, manufacture, and ship products to customers!
Any business service has its advantages and disadvantages, customers can find out more advantages and disadvantages of Fulfillment service right here!
Fulfillment companies can manage orders and warehouses efficiently. The software used to manage goods gives businesses valuable insights through high-quality data sources. When using the right supplier, customers get full real-time inventory information, customized reports, and more to optimize their business.
Fulfillment service can do packing, shipping, and order tracking quickly and efficiently. Thereby providing a perfect customer experience. Some of the benefits that come with using fulfillment services are fast shipping, cost savings, real-time updates to customers, simple return of orders, and much more...
With a form of fulfillment like Dropshipping or Print On Demand, sellers do not need to spend too much capital. These 2 models are suitable for those who just started a cross-border e-commerce business and do not have much capital.
By using fulfillment services, businesses can quickly scale on demand, ship to multiple markets, and delight customers. Many fulfillment units also have warehouses in countries around the world, helping to deliver goods to customers faster than during the promotion season.
Using the fulfillment service sounds easy, however, this form also has some disadvantages such as:
If you are selling on cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, Etsy,..., sellers can refer to some forms of fulfillment as below.
Fulfillment By Amazon is the form in which the seller will store his goods at the Amazon warehouse. When a customer orders a product, Amazon will be responsible for packaging and shipping it from this center to the customer! The advantage of Fulfillment by Amazon is that it offloads the burden of packaging, shipping, and customer service to sellers.
In addition to storing inventory for sellers to sell on Amazon, FBA also allows multi-channel selling, shipping products to customers from other platforms. This helps minimize the risks when sellers sell on many different platforms.
If selling Print On Demand, the seller can choose the fulfillment service in Vietnam. The advantage of selling POD fulfillment in Vietnam is that sellers can easily control the quality of the products they sell thanks to quick sample orders and optimal shipping times.
Currently, there are several fulfillment units in Vietnam that print products, pack, and ship products to customers! Printway is one of the reputable fulfillment service providers in the Vietnam market. Sellers selling Print On Demand on platforms such as Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, etc. can use Printway's fulfillment service.
After registering the Printway app, the seller integrates his store with the app so that the order is automatically pushed back and begins the printing and production process. Thanks to the advantage of many printing factories around the world such as Vietnam, UK, USA, Australia, Czech,. Printway offers up to 350+ POD products with the most competitive base cost prices in the market!
Quickly refer to Printway's product listHERE
Above are the answers about What fulfillment is? What is fulfillment service? The advantages and disadvantages of this form as well as the introduction of FBA and fulfillment services in Vietnam.
As can be seen, fulfillment is a form of cost savings, optimizing order management and shipping, helping sellers focus more on promoting products and finding customers!
If you are a POD business, the seller can chooseFBA, FBM, or use fulfillment units in Vietnam like Printway to complete the order!
Let's optimize costs, double revenue, and increase profits with Printway fulfillment today!
