The transition from offline to online shopping has led to the tremendous growth of the e-commerce industry in the past decade. While this shift in buyer behavior has increased opportunities for ecommerce businesses, it has also made the ecommerce market highly competitive.
For ecommerce businesses, there comes a time when it becomes extremely difficult to handle tasks like warehousing, distribution, and fulfillment on their own, and they look for third-party logistics providers to help.
If you’re new to the ecommerce business, you may be wondering what exactly is a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, what services they offer, and how they can help you improve your business.
At Global Logistic Solutions, we understand the importance of partnering with a 3PL provider. In this article, we will help you understand what a third-party logistics provider does and how a 3PL provider can help your business.
What Is a Third-Party Logistics Provider?
A 3PL provider is an outsourced partner that handles an ecommerce business’s supply chain and logistics operations. This includes order fulfillment, warehousing, inventory management, distribution, kitting & light assembly, and other related services.
Here are ways a third-party logistics provider can help your ecommerce business grow.
- Save time and money
A 3PL provider can help you with everything from packing your products to supply chain management and fulfillment of orders. Therefore, partnering with a 3PL provider can reduce or even eliminate the need to hire in-house specialists to perform order fulfillment or invest in warehouse space, inventory management systems, and shipping networks. This not only saves you time, allowing you to focus on your core competencies, but it also significantly reduces your operating costs. A reliable 3PL provider serves as an extension of your team to provide the support you need to fulfill orders as smoothly as possible.
- Supply chain optimization
Handling supply chain processes can become a challenge, especially if you’re handling a lot of orders. Everything from receiving orders to shipping orders and returns management can prove to be overwhelming when you already have a lot on your plate. A 3PL provider maximizes efficiencies when it comes to receiving, warehousing, packing, shipping, and returns. This optimization results in lower costs, faster shipping times, and improved customer satisfaction.
- Scale operations and be more flexible
3PL providers provide ecommerce businesses the flexibility to scale space, labor, and transportation based on current inventory and consumer demand. The goal of most businesses is expansion. If a business scales rapidly and they aren’t equipped with adequate warehouse space, shipping networks, and efficient technologies to accommodate the increased demand, they could become overwhelmed and fail to fulfill orders on time. This is where third-party logistics providers come in to help ecommerce businesses scale their operations efficiently.
If you’ve been searching for a trusted 3PL fulfillment provider, look no further than Global Logistic Solutions.
Global Logistic Solutions a wide range of services including warehousing, distribution, FTL and LTL freight services, kitting and light assembly to help ecommerce businesses scale their operations.
