Today, most people prefer to build an online business as it allows flexibility and ease of use. However, running a business isn’t an easy task, especially when you’re just starting out. You’ll need to conduct product and market research, purchase enough inventory, plan your marketing strategies, and officially launch your brand online. While that is definitely hard work, it’ll get even harder when you’re already live and taking orders.   

When your business is running and orders are incessantly coming in, you’ll probably feel happy and stressed at the same time. You’ll be glad because your company is becoming a success and stressed because you’ll be facing difficulties fulfilling multiple orders while simultaneously handling customer service and marketing campaigns. 

To reduce your stress, consider hiring a third-party logistics company (3PL) for your business.  

What is 3PL?   

Third-party logistics is an outsourced service that handles your warehousing, packaging, and delivery. 

When a customer orders an item through your website, instead of picking the items, packing them, and bringing them to your local courier company, the 3PL logistics company will do the job for you as soon as you forward the order details to them. They’ll handle every step necessary to bring your products to your customers safely.   

A 3PL company will take the item from their warehouse, securely wrap the product—especially if it’s fragile—pack it, and send the product to the customer using their couriers. In this way, you’ll have more time to focus on the other aspects of your business that you’d like to improve.   

What Are The Benefits Of A 3PL?   

Many companies either do drop shipping or use a 3PL company. It can make you wonder, why are business owners going for their service? What do they gain from it? 

Listed below are the advantages of using a third-party logistics service for your store:   

Cost-efficient  

If your business is handling a large number of orders every day, you might not be able to fulfill your orders on time. To keep business running smoothly and ensure you’re sending out orders within one to three days, you might need to hire more staff to handle your order fulfillment process. While that can be helpful, it can also be an added cost for your business.

By availing the services of a 3PL company, you don’t have to worry about hiring more people, as the company will get it done for you. They’ll handle any issues, including hiring additional staff. All you have to worry about is keeping up with the inventory. They’ll handle everything else on their end.   

While hiring a 3PL company can be costly, it’ll save you money and time as you don’t need to worry about employing more people and renting a warehouse.   

Saves Time

Sorting and packing orders can take up a significant chunk of your day. You need to make sure that they’re correctly sealed and wrapped perfectly to avoid any damage while in transit. While you’re handling that area of your business, you may not have enough time to manage other aspects your business such as customer service.   

Hiring a 3PL company will enable you to use the time you spend on order fulfillment to work on other essential areas of your business.   

With a 3PL company, you don’t need to worry about allotting a specific time of the day to pack orders when you can just focus your attention on handling your customer concerns and planning effective marketing strategies. 

Improve Customer Experience  

When customers place an order through your website, they expect it to be delivered to their doorstep immediately. To do that, you must start shipping out their items as soon as you receive their order. However, that can be challenging to do if you frequently get a lot of orders daily. A 3PL company will be able to fulfill your order promptly, so your customers can receive their items as soon as possible.   

If you’re residing in a rural area, using a local 3PL company may not be the best choice as it’ll take additional time to get your products out to the customers. To help you minimize your delivery timeline, work with an interstate logistics company as their team and couriers are typically faster with handling orders coming in from different areas.   

When your customer receives their orders quickly, preferably within one to three days, they’ll be delighted with your service and would consider re-ordering from your store. Remember, some customers tend to give a lower rating on review sites if they received the item late, even if they enjoyed the product. To avoid unfavorable reviews, deliver the items as soon as possible.

Limitless Inventory   

One of the most significant advantages of hiring a 3PL company is that they allow you to store as many stocks as you like. You don’t have to worry about storage space when the 3PL company has got it all covered for you.   

If you’re a huge business and you’ve been selling considerable product volumes, having a well-stocked warehouse would help you never miss a sale. You can continue to sell your products without having to worry about where you’ll store your inventory.  

Peace of Mind  

With a 3PL company, you’ll get peace of mind as they’re professionals who are good at what they do. You don’t have to worry that they won’t be able to deliver on time or use poor packaging because you can easily customize the solutions you get. You’ll also get daily updates about your orders’ status.   

When looking for a 3PL company, ensure that they’re a legitimate company so that they won’t run off with your products. Additionally, you should check their capability to handle large order volumes per day and their warehouse size. Lastly, the 3PL company should be responsive so you won’t have any issues when you have shipment inquiries.   

Conclusion  

Running a business is time-consuming, especially if you do everything on your own. Allow yourself to have extra time to focus on the more important aspects of your business and hire a 3PL company. 

You don’t have to worry about handling the orders by yourself when you can simply forward the order details to your 3PL company. You’ll save plenty of time and money. You’ll also be more confident that things are being handled efficiently and professionally.