Choosing a fulfillment center shouldn’t be a process you rush through. Make sure you take the time to thoroughly assess the organization you’ll be relying on for so much of your business—choose poorly, and nothing you do will compensate for the weakness a bad fulfillment center introduces to your operations. You’ll want to look for these traits:
A range of solutions to follow your growth
The right fulfillment center for your business shouldn’t just be the right fulfillment center for today, it should offer a range of solutions you can utilize as your business grows from a tiny startup to a juggernaut of your industry. You don’t want to run into a bottleneck and be forced to change to a new fulfillment center down the line.
Fair and clear pricing
The expenses associated with your fulfillment center should be clear, and they should be fair. You shouldn’t be buried in setup fees and bled out by receiving fees and hidden charges, nor should you be faced with an incomprehensible invoice at the end of each reporting period.
Accurate real-time reporting
Any properly modernized fulfillment center should be able to provide accurate, easily-understood real time reports. This degree of transparency is crucial for any modern business looking to optimize its productivity—a fulfillment center which fails to offer this service isn’t worth your time.
Versatile fulfillment programs
One size rarely fits all in fulfillment, so don’t settle for a fulfillment center that can’t adapt to your particular needs. This might mean a wide range of order fulfillment programs, or it might mean a wholly customized per-client system, but that versatility is mandatory.
Inventory management
Modern businesses live and die on the quality of their inventory management systems. Dig deep into the systems and services used to make inventory management a smooth, effective process—don’t settle for dated, inefficient solutions when you need the cutting edge.
Internet technology
E-commerce and internet technologies haven’t been optional for a long time now—so make sure you’re working with a fulfillment center that keeps up to date. That means scalable design and mobile-friendliness at the absolute bare minimum.
Parting thoughts
Your order fulfillment center shouldn’t be a source of anxiety and concern as a business. Instead, it should free you up to grow your company, confident that your orders are in good hands.
