There are lots of order fulfilment services available and comparing prices can be difficult. Here's what to look out for when you get order fulfilment prices.
Find out more about Asendia's fulfilment services
When it comes to outsourcing parts of your business the first question most people will ask is “how much is it going to cost?”
Of course, the cost of something shouldn’t just be determined by how much money you have to part with, but instead how much value it brings to your business and how high its return on investment (ROI) will be.
In simple terms, outsourcing your order fulfilment will seem expensive. After all, until now you’ve managed to effectively pick, pack and ship yourselves without spending a penny, or have you?
Think of the amount of time you spend shipping your orders, maybe you’re also paying others internally and they help with this too. Your time, and theirs, has a cash value and this is what it costs to ship your products – on top of the packaging and shipping.
It's not just about the cost of fulfilment, it's about the opportunity to spend more time growing your business.
Handling fulfilment in-house may be cheaper, but you can soon find that all you're doing all day is picking, packing, shipping and dealing with customer queries. There’s no time for anything else. You’re being taken away from important business tasks and now your time has become even more precious.
Outsourcing your order fulfilment now doesn’t seem as expensive when you consider it will free up your time to maintain and grow your business, increasing your profit, and also your employees time so they can be doing something more productive for their wages too.
Top tip: A major advantage of outsourcing order fulfilment is the time it frees up to spend on business development. However, if you're not careful you could end up with fulfilment partner that doesn't provide the level of service you need, and you spend too much time managing them and customer issues they cause. So ensure you get references from potential suppliers and check quality certifications.
Order fulfilment pricing modelsMost third-party order fulfilment providers will offer one of two pricing structures, so comparing order fulfilment prices is not always straightforward. Fixed cost fulfilment pricing is likely more suitable for start ups, but if you want to grow, a variable cost model could be better for you.
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As with any service provider, you’ll need to consider the return on investment in diverting your cash to pay for what they provide.
Like Asendia, many outsourced fulfilment services have fixed costs for things like warehousing and storage, staff, systems and infrastructure. These should not simply be passed on to you, or you may as well pay for your own fulfilment centre and staff. You need flexibility and to benefit from having a service you can ramp up or down.
Also consider if the cost will genuinely bring benefit to your business, such as account management, IT and systems integration, and international expertise (if you’re selling overseas). These are capabilities you can tap into without needing staff of your own.
Top tip: You also need to see if there’s a minimum fee each month. Fulfilment providers make money from processing orders, so what will happen if you have a quiet month?
Other costs, which are likely to be variable, include: the space used by you in their warehouse, picking and packing, despatching, processing goods-in, returns handling and packaging materials.
But you may also be able to influence the cost of some elements, such as making sure stock arrives at the fulfilment centre in a way that helps it get booked in and onto its designated shelves quickly.
Outsourcing your order fulfilment need not cost the earth, maybe even just a few £s per order, but when you take into account the cost of packaging, shipping, taxes and cross-border costs all in one – and the cost of your time – you can’t really put a price on outsourcing your order fulfilment.
So, drop Asendia a line, tell them what you need and let them make you and offer. It might be the best money you’ve ever spent.
Top tip: Shipping is usually going to be the priciest part of order fulfilment, so ensure you are shortlisting suppliers that are competitive when fulfilment costs and shipping costs are added together. A supplier that is 20% more expensive on fulfilment but could save you 10% on shipping is likely to be considerably cheaper than a supplier that is 20% cheaper for fulfilment but 10% more for shipping.
Asendia's order fulfilment prices
We can provide you with our order fulfilment prices within a useful spreadsheet that allows you to adjust order volumes, inventory, etc. to see how your costs might change as your business grows.
Our order fulfilment prices are fully itemised so you can see exactly what you're paying for and where there may be opportunities to cut costs. We will also provide rates for our UK and international shipping services. Our e-PAQ range offers packet and parcel services worldwide, working hand in hand with leading local postal and courier companies in over 200 countries, including major players in the UK. With our buying power we can negotiate rates that are deeply discounted.
Find out more about our order fulfilment services
Request our order fulfilment pricing calculator
