Springfield Chronicle

In the dynamic world of e-commerce, businesses are perpetually on the hunt for strategies to gain a competitive edge through Amazon SEO, Amazon PPC, Amazon content strategies, yet operational efficiency is topping the list too. A significant move in this arena is transitioning fulfillment providers. Channel Aim has been an active guide for many clients through this journey, particularly from Amazon FBA to Third-party logistics (3PL). Despite the promising benefits, including substantial cost savings, they warn that inherent risks that may disrupt operations and impose unforeseen costs are involved.

Channelaim.com’s first key lesson revolves around the judicious selection of the right 3PL supplier. It’s not merely about reducing costs – time efficiency in supplier onboarding and contractual agreements is equally critical. They’ve encountered instances where clients have strict internal supplier onboarding rules, causing numerous potential 3PL suppliers to fall short despite their initial appeal. The advice here is to validate whether the 3PL supplier fits one’s criteria, clearly articulate their onboarding prerequisites, and eliminate non-compliant suppliers early on.

The second lesson pertains to the 3PL system. While initial demonstrations may portray a seamless transition, the practical experience may be far more complex. Some issues include a lack of support for different marketplace countries and difficulties in handling SKU setup across various channels. This setup is particularly important when considering 3PL provider, as maintaining consistent SKUs across channels can significantly improve product visibility. Consequently, they recommend thorough testing, ensuring compatibility with the necessary countries, and confirming the 3PL system can handle regular orders, cancellations, and even bundled orders efficiently.

Their third takeaway involves preparing for potential 3PL system failures. Sync failures can lead to out-of-stock items, impacting sales, order fulfillment, and overall fulfillment effectiveness. In one instance, a synchronization issue during the testing phase took a week for the 3PL team to resolve. To counter such setbacks, it is essential to ensure the vendor can promptly resolve sync issues and to include a compensation clause in the contract for situations where technical failures prevent order fulfillment.

The fourth key insight is anticipating a surge in customer requests. With the team now handling customer queries previously managed by Amazon FBA, a potentially high volume of buyer messages could be encountered. Thus, it’s crucial to allocate resources, establish processes for managing customer inquiries, and prioritize adherence to Amazon’s A-Z guarantees to avoid suspension risks due to customer performance issues like delayed refunds or replacements.

The final lesson underscores that the shipping cost per unit is not the only cost consideration when transitioning fulfillment types. Other factors like vendor relationship management, reporting, system issue resolution, and different approaches requiring additional resources also come into play. For maximizing cost benefits when making the switch to 3PL, a comprehensive assessment of all potential operational hurdles is advised.

In essence, transitioning from Amazon FBA to a 3PL provider can be an attractive move, offering benefits like reduced fulfillment costs per unit and greater freedom from Amazon’s stringent policies. However, unlike Amazon’s plug-and-play FBA system, transitioning to a 3PL demands thorough consideration of all aspects to ensure complete readiness for fulfilling e-commerce orders via a 3PL supplier.

Media Contact
Company Name: Channelaim.com
Contact Person: Jonas Petters
Email: Send Email
Country: Lithuania
Website: https://www.channelaim.com/