Order Fulfillment for Start-Ups

Most order fulfillment companies love to land the big clients, those with thousands of shipments per month.  And while most e-tailer start-ups want to get to that level, they realize it may take months or even years to achieve that high volume.

So should a start-up wait to outsource their order fulfillment until they achieve a certain volume?  Not if they partner with Alternative Logistics.

There are two primary difficulties with out-sourcing low volume items.  First is the potential of start-up costs and/or monthly minimum fees.  While most order fulfillment companies have both, Alternative Logistics has neither.  We know that initial sales volumes are very hard to predict, and we don’t expect our clients to pay for services they don’t use in the slower months – so we have no minimum fees.  And whatever time it takes us to set up your account and load your products is on us.  We know how precious cash is until you get a steady order flow, so we would rather have you use your cash for sales and marketing than for overhead – so we have no start-up fees.  (The only upfront cost you may incur is if you would like to integrate your e-commerce site with our cloud based system).  No start-up costs and no monthly minimums make it feasible to outsource your order fulfillment from Day One.

The second problem with low volume shipping is understanding your costs.  Order fulfillment companies are notorious for having complex invoices, charging hourly rates for some services and transaction based fees for others.  So how can a vendor know the actual fulfillment cost for each item sold?  Alternative Logistics solves this problem with its optional, item based pricing for start-ups.  Instead of paying receiving fees, storage fees and many other fees, you can pay one simple fee per item shipped.  We share the risk with our clients — if your products don’t sell, you don’t pay.  And you will understand exactly your fulfillment cost for each item shipped.

So whatever phase you are in, contact us for a quote.  We’re ready to partner with you to help you attain the growth you expect.