{"id":2104,"date":"2022-02-03T12:27:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T17:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/hybrid-fulfillment\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T16:35:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T16:35:35","slug":"hybrid-fulfillment","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/hybrid-fulfillment\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Hybrid Order Fulfilment?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Table of Contents<\/p>

** Minutes<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

What is hybrid fulfilment?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What types of fulfilment are there?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of a hybrid fulfilment model<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is a hybrid fulfilment approach right for me?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How ShipBob enables growth through fulfilment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid fulfilment FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s face it \u2014 there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to fulfilment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on whether a business sells across multiple channels, offers a subscription box service<\/a>, or ships to customers across the world \u2014 order fulfilment requires deliberate supply chain planning<\/a> and execution to meet ever-changing market demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To establish an agile supply chain<\/a>, one of the biggest trends we\u2019re seeing in fulfilment is the idea of going \u201chybrid\u201d in order to meet customer expectations, stay competitive, optimise costs, and reduce risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at what hybrid fulfilment is, how businesses can benefit from it, and whether it\u2019s a good option for you. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is hybrid fulfilment?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid fulfilment refers to a flexible and diverse approach to filling orders, which may use a combination of different fulfilment models, including in-house fulfilment<\/a>, dropshipping<\/a>, and\/or third-party logistics<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This type of fulfilment model offers ecommerce businesses in both direct-to-consumer<\/a> and B2B ecommerce<\/a> more freedom in how they  manage their supply chain<\/a> and order types. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as businesses adapt to hybrid work environments, ensuring secure connections through VPNs<\/a>, hybrid fulfilment strategies have evolved to cater to the needs of hybrid consumers, offering brands enhanced flexibility and diverse options for order delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What types of fulfilment are there?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today, ecommerce businesses have more options on how to manage fulfilment than ever before. <\/span>Here is an overview of the three most common fulfilment types.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-house fulfilment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In-house fulfilment<\/span><\/a> is when a business handles the entire fulfilment processes on its own, from warehousing<\/a> and inventory management to picking, packing, and shipping. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses that choose to fulfil orders in house hire staff and purchase equipment and space needed to fulfil orders efficiently (whether it\u2019s in their own home or leasing a warehouse). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-house fulfilment is a great option for businesses that want complete control over their logistics operations and have the means to manage it all themselves without compromising the customer experience. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dropshipping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With <\/span>dropshipping<\/span><\/a>, a business\u2019s supplier or manufacturer sends orders directly to the end customer. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fulfilment method gives merchants to freedom to focus their time and energy on other parts of their business without needing to worry about inventory management<\/a> or shipping orders themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though competitive and lacking some quality control and oversight, t\u2019s a pretty hands-free approach that works well for businesses that are just starting out or don\u2019t have the resources to handle inventory on their own.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third-party fulfilment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Third-party fulfilment<\/a> relies on a <\/span>third-party logistics provider<\/span><\/a> (3PL) to take charge of fulfilment. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A business\u2019s 3PL partner handles every aspect of the retail fulfilment<\/a> process: warehouse receiving<\/a>, inventory management, storage, picking<\/a> and packing, and shipping. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outsourcing fulfilment<\/a> to a third-party enables fast-growing brands in both the direct-to-consumer and B2B space to fully delegate<\/a> the fulfilment process to experts. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid order fulfilment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid order fulfilment<\/a> involves using all or some of the above fulfilment approaches rather than solely relying on one.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This approach offers more flexibility to ecommerce businesses and enables a more resilient supply chain<\/a> to meet ever-changing market demands while also enabling growth.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a global ecommerce business might stick with in-house fulfilment for local shipments, rely on a 3PL to take care of international shipping<\/a>, and work with a dropshipper for specific items in their product catalogue <\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid fulfilment is a great option for businesses that are growing fast, offer a diverse range of products, serve a multitude of markets with different expectations, and require a custom fulfilment solution to meet the needs of the business and its customers (e.g., outsourcing fulfilment of fast-moving products and fulfilling rarely orders SKUs themselves, only fulfilling regional orders themselves, etc.).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“Customer service is one of our biggest priorities and that was falling behind, so we decided to move toward a hybrid fulfilment model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wanted to outsource international fulfilment to alleviate the pressure put on our in-house team (and high costs and long transit times for our customers), while dialing in on making our own warehouse more efficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met with ShipBob and felt like they would be a good partner because they could offer all of the solutions we needed.” <\/p>\nJourdan Davis, Operations Manager at Pit Viper <\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of a hybrid fulfilment model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The hybrid fulfilment model has become a popular approach for growing ecommerce businesses due to the flexibility and customisation it offers. Since there are different fulfilment strategies to choose from, you can easily change directions and have something to fall back on. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing to go \u201chybrid\u201d with your fulfilment strategy offers freedom to test out new products, processes, and channels without too much risk.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the ability to choose between multiple fulfilment options, a hybrid approach also has the potential to be more cost-effective if established well; you will need to be strategic about which products get shipped using each method. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you\u2019re planning to introduce a new line of products, dropshipping may be more cost-effective since you won\u2019t have to stock large amounts of inventory and rack up carrying costs<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or if you\u2019re selling large and heavy items<\/a> but lacking the facilities and resources to fulfil them, outsourcing to a 3PL will help you save on storage, labour, and equipment costs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is a hybrid fulfilment approach right for me?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid fulfilment is always an option for ecommerce businesses. But there are a lot of moving parts involved since you have to manage or at least oversee multiple fulfilment operations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing your inventory across different locations and ensuring orders are fulfilled on time through all these different approaches can be challenging and time-consuming. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, supply chain technology<\/a> makes it easier to manage it all by centralising important, real-time data. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the right strategy, resources, and technology, a hybrid fulfilment model can give your business the flexibility you need to grow. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This option is ideal for you if:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n