Related Sponsors

What's involved in order Fulfillment and is it Cost Effective?

Home » Logistics » Order Fulfillment » What's involved in order Fulfillment and is it Cost Effective?

Other than what was described above, order fulfillment consists of many services related to the warehousing; receiving the goods, storing the merchandise until sold, pick the products off the shelves and packing them for shipment, transporting the goods, managing inventory, products tracking, processing returned goods; assembly and packing; insertions, kitting, assembly, special packaging, labeling the product, packing the product with special materials; issues with technology; EDI, using software, reporting, bar code labeling and scanning, inventory management, control, and reporting; and administration; invoicing, billing, entering the order in the system, and providing customer service.

When using the order fulfillment system, marketers take the information that customers provide and use that as a way of knowing what the customer wants. This way they can focus their sales techniques in these areas to increase sales. And one other area that order fulfillment centers must be aware of is in returns. Unfortunately, as with any business, you will get returns every now and then. This must be handled properly. Order fulfillment companies do this efficiently with no problems.

The only concern with using order fulfillment centers is the cost involved. Most order fulfillment houses work off a system where they charge the company for their services. The major items order fulfillment centers look at are:

• Customer service calls: They have to handle customer services calls and inquiries. They usually build this by the minute.
• Exchange or returned items: The handling of this is usually by a flat fee.
• Sales reports: They normally charge a small fee for issuing reports. And in post instances they provide one month free.
• Labeling and invoicing: Here they just charge a small flat fee.
• Picking and packing the products for shipment: They normally charge a certain fee at cost for this.

There are more areas they work in that they charge for, but these are the most common and most sought after requests.

Next Page: How to Choose the Right Order Fulfillment Company

Related Order Fulfillment Articles