ECommerce Logistics Service Guide For Your Small Business
“If you’re good at something, never do it for free” — the popular quote might have come from one of pop culture’s most dreaded villains, but it correctly summarizes an excellent business insight. In fact, this is perhaps the advice that inspired hundreds of artists, designers, retail experts in India to launch their own homegrown business. With considerable push from the government, the small business sector in India has seen unprecedented growth in the last few years. However, when it comes to eCommerce logistics for these businesses, there is a lot of room for improvement.
If you are running a small business, it is important to understand that your fulfillment services can make or break your brand. While fast and on-time deliveries can increase your customer retention and reduce RTOs, late deliveries can make the most loyal customers head over to your competitors. While assessing your business’ need for ecommerce logistics services, there are a few things you need to consider.
- Faster delivery = happier customers
- Fulfillment in sync with your customer’s needs
- Keeping inventory costs low
- Offering end-to-end visibility and tracking on your orders
- Investing in technology to supercharge your logistics
- Managing online & offline payments
- Enhancing the operational efficiency of your supply chain
The list can be extended further depending on the size and domain of a business. But we must note that it is not easy for small businesses with limited capital to execute top-notch ecommerce logistics services on their own. In fact, at a time when a brand is trying to establish their foothold in the product market, it is not judicial to spend extensive hours (and money) on fulfillment. Average logistics spend for a small, homegrown e-commerce business should ideally be more than 5% and less than 15% of the total sales revenue.
Thus the first step for eCommerce logistics for a small business should be partnering with a 3PL fulfillment company.
Why Choose 3PL Fulfillment
For cutting costs, many new business owners make the cardinal mistake of approaching local vendors for their logistics owing to discounted rates. This can cause several problems in the long run due to incompetence, lack of transparency, slow and inefficient operations.
A third-party logistics (3PL) partner can do away with these issues by effectively handling end-to-end shipping for any business round the year. 3PL fulfillment companies like Blowhorn, usually have dedicated fleet and crew to handle inventory, omnichannel pickups, on-time delivery and COD management. All in all, a 3PL partner in charge of your eCommerce logistics will allow you to focus more on your products.
The cherry on the cake is finding a 3PL service with a footprint in multiple cities to help your business expand seamlessly. Additionally, 3PL logistics companies generally have a foolproof contingency plan for unforeseen circumstances. This helps to ensure your deliveries are not disrupted due to any crisis like vehicle breakdowns, accidents or natural calamities, something local courier vendors cannot assure.
Why do you need technology in eCommerce logistics services?
Even in 2023, many first-time entrepreneurs feel they can bypass technology when choosing an eCommerce logistics service for their business. In reality, manually managing inventory or handling multiple orders leaves ample room for inconsistency and errors. Besides, tech-free operations are bound to take much more time and manpower, thereby delaying your deliveries.
The problem can be easily dealt with technology like warehouse automation, AI-powered route optimization, real-time tracking sensors and much more. At Blowhorn, we have already incorporated such advanced tech stack to fast-track our fulfillment services. In fact, our tech-powered eCommerce logistics services have helped boost the revenue of a homegrown agro-food business by more than 30%.
Why do you need logistics on a pay-per-use basis?
Choosing an end-to-end fulfillment provider can help a small business expand faster than its competitors. Especially if it is a company that provides eCommerce logistics services on a pay-per-use basis. Once registered, your business does not have to worry about separate overhead costs for warehousing, shipping or availing tech stack like Warehouse Management System (WMS) or Order Management System (OMS).
While choosing your fulfillment partner, make sure they do not have any restrictive criteria like minimum order quantity — a perk we offer to businesses at Blowhorn. After all, your business ought to get the best quality logistics service whether you have 20 or 20K orders in a day.
Choosing the pay-per-use model of eCommerce fulfillment will help any small business to scale up faster keeping costs in check. The flexibility to scale up or down anytime is another added advantage of having an experienced fulfillment partner by your side.
If you still find yourself second-guessing the importance of excellent shipping service for your business, this might help clarify your concerns:
Why you need a delivery partner who resonates your brand image
In eCommerce businesses, the seller never comes in direct contact with the customer. The only direct interaction your customer has with your brand is through the delivery partner in charge of your order. In a way, he or she is acting as a doorstep representative of your brand — and must make a good impression on your customer. Additionally, the entire delivery process should be seamless and transparent, so that the customer is delighted on receiving their order in hand.
In this context, simple choices like packaging, faster delivery times, lower shipping costs and provision for step-by-step order tracking can go a long way is sealing your relationship with a customer.
As growth opportunities for small businesses increase, the demand for good eCommerce logistics services will also rise. It is up to you as an entrepreneur to choose the right fulfillment partner for your business and grow your brand in turn. If you wish to learn more, feel free to connect with our experts anytime!
