The Benefits of a 3PL for E-Commerce Retailers
Scott Hothem • May 12, 2016
Small businesses are an integral piece to the communities they serve. They offer a familiar face, a local product, jobs, and personalized service that are often lost with large corporations. However, in this new age of e-commerce, your favorite neighborhood store can reach far beyond its community and the confines of its brick-and-mortar walls. Achieving scalability for regional, national and even international distribution used to require resources only available to large national brands. That is no longer the case, and with the help from a third party logistics provider (3PL), small to medium-sized business (SMB’s) can deliver the same online and fulfillment experience to their customers as major enterprises. A recent article from Inbound Logistics details some of the key benefits a 3PL can offer to small businesses. Click this link to read more about 3PL’s and SMB’s.
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When a customer places an order online, they are not thinking about the warehouse it came from. They are thinking about the brand they chose to buy from. That distinction matters because the package arriving at their door becomes a physical representation of that brand. The way it is packed, the condition of the products, the placement of branded materials, and even the feeling of opening the box all contribute to the customer's impression. A beautiful website and great product can create excitement, but the fulfillment experience has to carry that same level of care through the final mile. At Barrett Distribution Centers, we believe packing an order is about more than getting the right products into the right box. It is about understanding what each brand wants its customers to experience and protecting that vision every time an order leaves one of our facilities. Every Brand Has Its Own Standard There is no universal definition of the perfect package because every brand is different. For one customer, presentation may be intentionally simple and minimal. Another may have specific requirements for product placement, branded inserts, gift messaging, custom packaging, or carefully assembled kits. Those details are not extras when they are part of how a brand presents itself to its customers. They are part of the experience. That is why Barrett takes the time to understand how each brand wants its orders packed and presented. Our teams work within those requirements so that as order volume grows, the personality behind the package does not disappear. The hundredth order should receive the same consideration as the first, and the customer opening it should feel like they purchased directly from the brand, not from a warehouse. Becoming the Customer Through Secret Shopping One way Barrett takes that commitment a step further is through our secret shopper program. There is valuable information in fulfillment data, quality checks, and internal processes, but sometimes the clearest way to understand an experience is simply to live it. Through secret shopping, Barrett can receive and evaluate packages from the customer's perspective, giving our teams the opportunity to see what actually arrives at the doorstep.
There is something pretty cool about opening The Wall Street Journal and seeing products from a Barrett partner right in the middle of the story. And in this case, we mean literally cool . A recent Wall Street Journal feature took readers into the reality of working long hours in extreme summer heat and shared some of the tricks people use to make those days a little more manageable. Among the ice chests, hydration, and other summer essentials were cooling hats, sleeves, and towels from MISSION , a Barrett Distribution Centers partner. MISSION in Action MISSION creates cooling products for the moments when escaping the heat is not always an option. Its wearable cooling gear is designed to be activated with water and provide cooling relief, making it particularly useful for people spending long stretches of time outside. Seeing those products featured by The Wall Street Journal is exciting because it shows them exactly where they are meant to be: out in the real world, helping people get through seriously hot days. For us at Barrett, stories like this hit a little differently. We spend our days receiving, storing, picking, packing, and shipping products for the brands we support. Inside the warehouse, every item has a SKU, a location, and an order attached to it. But once it leaves our building, it becomes something much more personal. It might become the cooling towel someone reaches for halfway through a scorching workday or the hat that helps make another hour outside a little more comfortable. That is the part of fulfillment we love seeing. Proud to Be Part of the Story We are incredibly proud to partner with brands like MISSION and even more excited when we get to see their products receiving recognition on a stage as big as The Wall Street Journal. The warehouse may be where our part of the journey happens, but it is certainly not where the story ends. Sometimes it ends with a package arriving at someone's front door. And sometimes it ends with a Barrett partner helping someone beat the summer heat and landing in The Wall Street Journal along the way. Pretty cool, MISSION. FULL ARTICLE HERE
The orders are coming in faster than expected. Your best seller is disappearing from inventory, a holiday promotion performed better than anyone predicted, and suddenly your biggest concern is not generating more sales. It is keeping up with the ones you already have. Exceeding your holiday forecast is exciting. It is also one of the fastest ways to test whether your fulfillment operation is truly prepared for growth. When More Orders Change the Plan A holiday forecast helps your 3PL prepare for expected demand, but customers do not always follow the forecast. A product can take off unexpectedly, an influencer can create a sudden rush, or a promotion can perform far beyond expectations. When that happens, the impact reaches much further than order volume. Inventory moves faster. More people may be needed to pick and pack orders. Packaging materials disappear sooner. Carrier volume increases. Receiving becomes more important if additional inventory is on the way. The challenge is keeping all of those pieces moving together without allowing the customer experience to suffer. Talk About the “What If” Before Peak Your peak season conversation should include what happens if sales are significantly higher than expected. Before the rush begins, make sure you and your 3PL have discussed: How much additional volume the operation can accommodate Which products are most likely to sell quickly How additional inventory will be received Upcoming promotions and product launches Whether extra packaging materials are available How custom packaging, gift messages, inserts, and kits will be maintained Who communicates with whom when forecasts start changing You may never need the backup plan. But holiday peak is a much better time to use one than create one. Do Not Let Growth Change the Customer Experience When orders surge, speed naturally gets more attention. Quality still matters just as much. Your customer does not know that your holiday promotion exceeded expectations or that thousands of other packages are leaving the warehouse that day. They know whether their order was correct, carefully packed, and delivered as expected. A successful peak season is not simply about getting through more orders. It is about handling growth while preserving the experience that helped customers choose your brand in the first place. Preparing for the Unexpected With Barrett At Barrett Distribution Centers, peak preparation starts with understanding each brand and what a successful season looks like for them. Our teams work closely with customers to prepare for changing order volume, inventory needs, special projects, and the details that still need attention when things get busy. With experience supporting growing ecommerce and omnichannel brands, Barrett is built to help customers navigate the moments when demand moves beyond the original plan. Because when sales exceed expectations, your fulfillment partner should be ready to grow with the opportunity, not become the reason you have to slow down. You cannot predict exactly how successful your holiday season will be. You can prepare for the possibility that it becomes much bigger than planned. Because exceeding your forecast should create excitement, not a fulfillment problem.
