Third party logistics or 3PL companies are becoming more important in today’s world as the number of online retailers continues to grow. These companies provide services such as shipping, warehousing, inventory management, and order fulfillment.
These companies are important because they help with the logistics of the ecommerce business. Warehousing is especially important for these businesses as it allows them to store their products safely and securely.
Third Party Logistics companies also offer distribution services, which allow the sales channels to have their products delivered directly from the warehouse instead of having to ship them themselves. There are many functions that can help you when it comes to 3PL:
Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management is a 3PL function that is great for ecommerce businesses. This is because it provides a wide variety of services and helps to streamline and manage the supply chain.
3PLs provide a wide variety of services to help ecommerce businesses manage their supply chains more efficiently. For example, they can provide various software applications that help with inventory management or warehouse space optimization. In addition, they often have connections with other third party logistics companies that can be used for international shipping or customs clearance purposes.
Distribution Services
An ecommerce business can use distribution services as a 3PL function for many reasons. It provides the means to deliver products to customer’s door, and it offers warehousing and fulfillment services. Distribution service providers also help with selling products in different markets.
Transportation Management
Transportation management is a 3PL function that is great for ecommerce businesses. The main reason is that it helps in reducing the costs of logistics, which can be expensive for an ecommerce business.
An ecommerce business has to deal with a lot of logistics like shipping, warehousing and inventory. All these are different aspects of transportation management. It also helps in reducing the risks associated with the delivery process and customer service.
Warehousing Services
Warehousing services allow ecommerce businesses to focus on their core business, by outsourcing the warehousing and distribution of goods. Warehousing services providers can help with everything from storage to distribution and even fulfillment.
They can also offer a variety of other services, such as order picking, product picking, cross docking, inventory management, and more. Ecommerce businesses can save time and money by outsourcing the warehousing and distribution of goods to a third party logistics company.
These companies offer warehouse services that allow ecommerce businesses to focus on their core business, while they take care of warehousing and distribution.
Order Fulfillment Services
Third party logistics (3PL) companies are a great help to ecommerce businesses because they provide order fulfillment services. Order fulfillment services include, but are not limited to, warehousing, distribution and customer service.
The benefits of this type of service are that the company can focus on their core business while the third party logistics company handles the rest. This type of service is great for ecommerce businesses because it allows them to focus on marketing and sales while a third party logistics company takes care of order fulfillment.
This frees up time for them to grow their business without worrying about how orders will be handled or where they will be stored.