Business logistics support. What solutions to use?

Are you planning to enter the e-commerce market or improve sales effectiveness through this channel? If so, take a close look at possibilities provided by 4PL logistics and entrust logistics operations management to the outside trusted partner. It may be a key to developing your business!

Fourth Party Logistics – response to challenges of the modern e-commerce market

Until recently has the market been dominated by the model in which companies dealing with goods distribution on B2C market conducted and supervised all logistics processes on their own. Own warehouse, a group of employees, direct cooperation with couriers… today it may not be enough. The reason is very simple: customers expect a very fast delivery of products ordered via the Internet. To make it happen, you cannot only run the warehouse from 9am until 5pm and hire several persons who would handle picking and packing orders. It may cause the entire operation to last a few days, instead of a few hours, and the buyer may get discouraged.

Another thing is costs. Contrary to appearances, acting on one’s own is not always the most economical thing you can do. A need to invest in own warehouse, employ workers, purchase specialist shelf infrastructure and WMS software – these are expenses which considerably hinder entrance into the world of e-commerce and lower profitability.

The solution which can help you overcome the aforesaid obstacles is logistics in 4PL model. It is all about transferring management of logistics into a third-party trusted partner. Such services are provided by experienced logistics hubs, OEX Business for instance.

What kind of logistics support for e-commerce business to expect?

The range of services rendered by modern logistics centers for e-stores is very broad and, importantly, flexible. This means that you, as an entrepreneur, can negotiate terms on which the outside partner will support your sales. It can take over various tasks related to the following:

• collecting goods from the wholesaler and verifying conformity of goods with your order,
• storing goods until they are ordered by the final recipient,
• co-packing, that is comprehensive preparation of products for shipping – including turning labels into Polish language, repacking goods from collective into unit packaging, and controlling quality,
• fiscalization of sales on behalf of your store,
• customs handling of orders,
• handling orders from final customers – starting from acceptance, through picking, and ending up with shipping or even management of returns,
• providing customer service support, that is serving the customer through a hot line or chat,
• shipping products – cooperation with a logistics hub is a guarantee it will be completed as soon as possible.The order may be handed over to the courier even in the evening, on the day of making a purchase.

As a result the e-store keeper is substantially relieved – both in terms of financing and number of duties. He can therefore focus on promoting his e-shop or building new sales relationships which can help him extend the range of products or lower the price of distributed goods. The logistics support, currently very easily available, is used by the best e-sellers. This sort of services are getting more and more popular on the Polish market. It is advisable to get familiar with them in order to be able to gain a competitive advantage and expand an e-niche.