If you're selling karaoke machines or small freezers, you likely have a logistics challenge. Both are currently top-selling e-commerce items. If you're Amazon, you can provide same-day delivery. The e-tailer gets products on doorsteps faster by operating mini-warehouses across the country to meet demand.
But if you're a rapidly growing e-commerce company without the volume to establish a mini-warehousing network, how do you compete with near-instantaneous delivery? For fast-growing e-commerce businesses with fluctuating demand, third party logistic (3PL) services with warehousing provide a cost-effective way to scale your digital commerce.
Go Local With Virtual Warehouses
All e-commerce companies want to sell the next Cabbage Patch Doll—the best selling toy of the 1980s. Unfortunately, Coleco, the company that took over the Cabbage Patch Kids—as well as one of the most successful games in retail history, Trivial Pursuit—filed for bankruptcy by 1988. Once the sales boom sizzled, the company could not pay its expenses.
Back then, retailers had to build costly warehousing and distribution networks to distribute their hit products. But they also had to sustain the high level of sales required to pay for the expanded logistics infrastructure. If they scaled down fast enough, perhaps sold off a few warehouses, they could regain control of costs. Many, though, unsuccessfully tried to sustain their one-hit-wonder logistics model.
There's a more cost-effective way to ship those karaoke machines. Flexible third-party logistics solutions enable e-commerce businesses to scale up or down according to sales volume. When outsourcing logistics, the 3PL solutions provider maintains warehouses across the country. You only pay for the distribution, transportation, and warehousing services you use.
Expedite Hot Product Delivery and Sales
iPhone customers may tolerate late arrivals and long lineups, but chances are your competitor can have a product imitation in the market next week. With flexible warehousing and fulfillment, you do not need to miss a sale. Many 3PL solutions can connect directly to your e-commerce site to optimize product fulfillment.
One increasingly popular 3PL logistics model is to ship products to 3PL warehouses where demand is high. Your third party logistics services then provides speedy delivery of the product to your customers.
If you're concerned that your sales boom in a hot product is overwhelming your supply chain, third party logistic solutions are a flexible way to grow your online sales without losing control of costs. Consult with 3PL solutions providers for customized solutions for your business.
