In the world of e-commerce, setting up and running a successful webshop can be a challenging undertaking. One of the crucial aspects of the success of an online shop is efficient logistics management. Outsourcing fulfilment from the start can be a smart strategy for start-up webshops. That choice makes you look at fulfilment in a different way: is fulfilment a cost or a revenue? In this blog, we discuss how outsourcing fulfilment can help your webshop’s growth and success.

Imagine this: you have just launched your webshop and you receive your first shipment of products from your supplier. You have found a storage facility, whatever it may be – a garage box, part of a warehouse – to store your stock. You start organising your inventory, and soon you notice that orders are pouring in thanks to your (online) marketing campaigns.

But then it starts, the ‘leverage effect’: your inventory management gets confused, you have unexpected stock differences and backorders pile up, customers return products and these end up in a corner of your warehouse somewhere, waiting to be processed. What started as a promising adventure soon turns into a logistical nightmare. And nobody wants that.

This scenario illustrates the importance of efficient logistics management in e-commerce. Running a webshop goes beyond just having an attractive website and promoting your products. It also includes managing inventory accurately, processing orders efficiently and handling returns in a timely and organised manner.

In addition, outsourcing logistics offers many advantages:

1. Focus on core business: The time you do not have to spend on logistics handling can be integrally used to focus on your core activities and competences such as purchasing, marketing and customer service.
2. Scalability: fulfilment companies have the infrastructure and geographical spread to respond quickly in case of growth. This means you don’t have to invest in warehouses and staff, and you don’t have to worry about peak periods such as sales or black Friday. It also allows you to grow geographically and build a customer base across national borders.
3. Efficiency and professionalism: fulfilment companies specialise in logistics management and have sophisticated systems and processes to process orders accurately and efficiently. This ensures a professional and reliable fulfilment experience for you and your customers.

Outsourcing fulfilment from the start can be a smart move for (start-up) website owners. Not only does it offer operational efficiency and scalability, it also allows entrepreneurs to focus on growing and developing their business without being distracted by logistics concerns. In short, logistics is a financial cost but a time and efficiency gain.