Not all Fulfilment Services are made equally. Most are domestic focussed so if you have plans to sell to customers overseas you'll need a fulfilment partner that offers international expertise for delivery and returns.
Whether you’re a Shopify or Magento store, or have a bespoke online store, one thing you all have in common is that you need to make sure your products get to your international customers safely, securely and in good time.
Of course, there are multiple international parcel service options you can access but can a UK fulfilment centre get you the best pricing if they don't have international expertise and volumes. And what if you are a big hit in a particular country or region, wouldn't it make sense to fulfil those orders within that area.
Asendia, for example, has two UK fulfilment centres connected to its international postal and parcel network, but it also has centres in Italy, Singapore, USA, Australia and New Zealand with staff ready and waiting to pack and ship your stock at a moment’s notice.
Think of how excited your international customers will be to know that ordering from your business thousands of miles away won’t impact the delivery times as what they’ve ordered is ‘just down to road’, so it won’t just get to them quickly but there won’t be any surprises with shipping or import costs.
Using the fulfilment centres of companies like Asendia of course takes the headache of you having to find your own warehouses to store your stock and get it there in readiness for increased international orders, but you must make sure the services they offer work for returns too.
Being able to send a product back, for whatever reason, goes a very long way to helping your customers having the confidence that shopping with you will be a pain-free experience should something go wrong.
If you’re outsourcing your international fulfilment centre responsibilities, then make sure the company you use can offer a seamless two-way service. Yes, they’ll get your products to your customers efficiently and in a manner that expect, but they’ll also offer the sort of returns service that today’s online shoppers demand.
So, what do you need to offer with your returns? Well, shoppers in eight out of the 11 markets surveyed by Flow, mostly opposed the idea of paying for returns. An average of 71% of all surveyed consumers stating they’re not willing to pay for returns. This might not be realistic for international returns if product margins are tight, but ensuring you offer a cost-effective option should be paramount.
Customers also like easy to print off return labels and packages picked up from them directly or nearby. Your returns process really does need to be as simple as possible, so factor this in when choosing your fulfilment centre partner, it will go a long way to helping a customer not only buy once but come back again and again.
In summary, if you are only ever intending on shipping orders to UK customers then there are lots of reputable fulfilment service companies to choose from; sending and returning these orders is relatively simple. But if you want to cost-effectively handle orders and returns from customers overseas make sure you find a fulfilment partner that has the international capabilities you'll need.
Asendia's international fulfilment services are trusted by growing etailers looking to expand internationally. Contact us to find out more.
