Starting a business during a recession is no easy task, but there are ways to make the setup cost less and decrease the risk in taking on overheads.  E-fulfilment services are a great option that will not only save you money, but time, too.

Storage:

Firstly, e-commerce fulfilment services are a great way to store your items securely and with no contract signing you into a fixed amount of time to rent premises.  E-fulfilment companies often offer storage on a pay as you go basis, allowing you to pay for exactly what you need.

There are different types of storage available and which solution you choose will depend entirely on your businesses circumstances.

• Single user-this is only a viable option for large blue chip companies who need their own dedicated storage space.
• Multi-user-this is the most common option for small and medium sized businesses.  These are shared storage spaces with other small businesses.
• Overspill facility-this is temporary storage for high demand times, such as Christmas.
• Bonded goods-this is customs warehousing for the storage of dutiable dry goods.

Pick & pack:

From the point of order to the final stage of the delivery arriving with the customer, e-fulfilment services can save you time and money.  Rather than employing somebody internally for your business to be in charge of orders, packaging and delivery and having to make a commitment to that person with employment contracts.  An e-fulfilment company can do all of this for you on a pay as you go basis, giving you the most flexibility and a low start-up cost.

The product will be chosen and marked against the warehouse management system, ensuring that your stock data is accurate at all times, it will then be packaged securely and despatched via your chosen method of delivery.

There are other services too that e-commerce fulfilment companies can help businesses with, all on a pay as you go basis.  These include:

• Call centre support
• Product assembly
• Point of sale
• Quality control
• Re-labelling
• Re-boxing
• Label verification

By using e-fulfilment services, businesses will save time and the money that it would cost to employ someone internally to do the same job.  The setup costs for businesses is also greatly lessened by outsourcing, with no contracts needing to be signed for a set amount of time.  Not only will it save you money, it will also give you the flexibility to grow and change your business as and when you need to.

Take a look at 3-p logistics for a reliable, but affordable solution to e-commerce fulfilment.