What is a fulfillment warehouse?
What does a warehouse solution do ?
When we talk
about a warehousing solution, we mean a company that stores products for an
extended period of time. A warehouse is a large storage center or industrial
space designed to store inventory in bulk. You'll see equipment such as
forklift trucks and containers, with shelves stacked high and filled with large
quantities of produce.
There are
storage providers that focus on wholesale fulfillment and companies that mainly
do bulk wholesale or B2B e-commerce orders. Some large retailers will have
their own warehouse(s) to store excess inventory, while others will rent space
in a warehouse in partnership with other e-commerce companies.
Renting
warehouse space is usually cheaper than buying for medium and small businesses,
although the price depends on available lease terms. It is also worth noting
that many logistics warehouse tenants can expect a rate increase of 10% from
2021 due to the high demand for warehouse expansion and construction.
Some small
ecommerce merchants may choose to rent more cost-effective space, such as local
lockers or inventory storage units if they don't have space at home. That way
they keep some supplies on hand and pick up more when they run low.
What is a fulfillment center?
A
fulfillment center is part of the supply chain and serves as a hub for all the
logistics processes required to get a product from the seller to the customer.
It takes care of the entire order processing process, from order picking and
processing to packaging and shipping. A third-party logistics service provider
(3PL), such as ShipBob, uses the fulfillment center to receive, process, and
fulfill customer orders for e-commerce retailers looking to streamline their
operations. A fulfillment center is in place to get online orders to customers
in a timely manner and relieve e-commerce companies from managing this crucial
yet challenging process.
How do fulfillment centers work?
The
Fulfillment Center's activities consist of the work that helps get online orders
to your home - also known as the order fulfillment process. An e-commerce
company's inventory is strategically stored in a 3PL's fulfillment center in
preparation for fulfilling customer orders. After a customer makes a purchase
from an e-commerce store, inventory is picked and the boxes are packed and then
labeled for shipment.
Fulfillment
centers can process both business-to-business (B2B) orders - usually a large
volume of products shipped to a major retailer - and business-to-consumer (B2C)
orders, which ship directly to an individual's home. consumer.
When a
merchant outsources e-commerce fulfillment, the 3PL completes the fulfillment
process on behalf of the store owner. This includes everything from inventory
management to negotiating rates with carriers.
Outsourcing
order fulfillment processes to a 3PL can make it easier to manage inventory,
improve customer service and save a lot of time for the seller to focus on more
strategic tasks.
What is a fulfillment warehouse?
A
fulfillment warehouse is often interchanged with the term fulfillment center. A
stand-alone warehouse differs drastically from this. A warehouse is usually a
place where only inventory is stored, while a fulfillment warehouse has many
other duties besides storage.
The average
US shipping warehouse is larger than 25,000 square feet. About 35% of
warehouses are smaller than the average shipping warehouse, while about 50% of
today's warehouses are 50,001 square feet or larger.
What are the
differences between warehousing and fulfillment centers?
While a
3PL's fulfillment center has a warehouse component — storing a merchant's
inventory in designated locations — the main purpose of a fulfillment center is
to turn inventory quickly.
Ideally, the
stock shouldn't stay in a fulfillment center for more than a month or the
merchant could get stuck paying high storage fees. However, sellers should
proactively send more inventory to their fulfillment centers to ensure there is
always enough product on hand prior to shipment.
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