{"id":1009,"date":"2020-10-23T09:31:52","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T09:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/warehousing-and-distribution-services\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T14:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T14:07:07","slug":"warehousing-and-distribution-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/warehousing-and-distribution-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Warehousing and Distribution Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How Outsourcing Warehousing and Distribution Services Can Enable Growth<\/h1>\n\n\n\nRequest a Quote<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Finding the right warehousing and distribution solution for your ecommerce business is essential to promoting its long-term growth. However, many business owners quickly hit a wall when it comes to logistics: either they are fulfilling orders themselves but <\/span>can\u2019t keep up with order volume<\/span>, or they are juggling multiple storage and shipping services, adding unnecessary complexity to the fulfilment process. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both cases, ecommerce businesses oftentimes need more support with order fulfilment<\/a> \u2014 and that\u2019s where a third-party logistics<\/a> (3PL) company comes in. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outsourcing fulfilment<\/a> to a tech-enabled <\/span>3PL<\/span> might seem intimidating at first, but fast-growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands<\/a> rely on their 3PL partner to set them up for future growth. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are you warehousing and distributing your inventory?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ecommerce businesses can take a variety of approaches to warehousing<\/a> and distribution, and it all depends on your ecommerce supply chain<\/a> and the challenges you\u2019re facing. To scale efficiently, it\u2019s important to think through how your current logistics operations<\/a> will hold up as you start to see higher volumes of monthly orders. Here are the three common ways ecommerce businesses approach fulfilment<\/span> and inventory management<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Startups typically begin by handling warehousing and distribution themselves, pick, pack, and ship orders without the help of a fulfilment provider. But while <\/span>self-fulfilment<\/span><\/a> is cost-effective in the short term, it can be a challenge to keep up with as you grow (plus, there are hidden costs to self-fulfilment<\/a>). As you grow, self-fulfilling orders in-house will only slow you down, taking up too much of your time and energy. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With multiple logistics partners<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To grow your business, you need the right partners on your side to manage your supply chain<\/a>. But if you have one partner for warehousing and a different partner for distribution, you could be paying twice as much for slower service.<\/span>Lack of synchrony between warehouse and distribution services can result in miscommunication and delays that waste your time and can also increase <\/span>logistics costs<\/span><\/a>. It also doubles the time needed to learn and track information on different technology platforms. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a 3PL partner (third-party logistics service)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

3PLs have become the gold-standard in warehousing and distribution due to fast turnaround times and lower fulfilment costs<\/a>. To compete with established brands and marketplaces like Amazon, 3PLs like ShipBob offer the infrastructure optimise your supply chain<\/a>. Instead of storing inventory in a rented warehouse in a single location, you can take advantage of a 3PL\u2019s distributed fulfilment network with multiple locations. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of that, you can sync your store to a 3PL\u2019s technology so you can automate fulfilment and track inventory<\/a> and orders in real-time across fulfilment centres from one single dashboard.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do warehousing and distribution encompass?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before settling on a warehousing and distribution approach, business owners need to consider all the hidden responsibilities involved in warehousing and distribution that takes time away from product development, customer relationships, and marketing. Here are just some of the many key tasks involved in the <\/span>warehousing and <\/span>fulfilment process<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Receiving, storing and warehousing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first step is receiving inventory from the manufacturer or supplier and storing inventory properly for easy picking.\u00a0Inventory then needs to be physically stored in an organised place until orders come in. From here, you\u2019ll have to consistently control inventory<\/a> to avoid deadstock<\/a> and stockouts<\/a>, and find ways to optimise inventory storage<\/a> and keep carrying costs<\/a> down. With a 3PL, you don\u2019t have to worry about time-consuming warehouse management<\/a> tasks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When an order comes in, you need technology (like a warehouse management system<\/a>) to help process orders so you can quickly pick items. Most 3PLs have a technology platform that integrates with your ecommerce website and <\/span>pushes orders directly to a fulfilment warehouse<\/span><\/a>. Then a team of workers is given a <\/span>picking list<\/span><\/a> and goes through your inventory and assembles that order.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Packing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The finished order must then be packed in a container for shipping. Partnering with a 3PL helps to avoid <\/span>common packing mistakes<\/span><\/a>and also gives you the option to use their <\/span>standard packaging options or use <\/span>custom branded packaging<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distributing and shipping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finally, a packaged order needs to be labelled, shipped, and tracked to its final destination. Instead of shipping orders yourself, a 3PL like ShipBob partners with major shipping couriers to offer negotiated rates for their merchants. That way, your orders are shipped through the most cost-effective shipping route available without any effort on your end. Once orders are shipped, you can view order status in real-time from one single dashboard. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of outsourcing your warehousing and distribution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Outsourcing your warehousing and distribution needs is an investment that can yield a variety of returns for your business, all of which ultimately bolster your bottom line and increase your business\u2019 profitability with time. Here are a few of the top benefits you can expect when you partner with a 3PL. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost savings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you outsource warehousing and distribution to a 3PL, you no longer bear the hidden costs of inbound and outbound logistics<\/a> processes that eat away at your profits, such as warehousing rent, inventory management, labour, and shipping.\u00a0Instead, you can allocate your budget toward achieving more strategic growth and development objectives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time savings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Managing warehouse operations and <\/span>order filling<\/span><\/a> steals hours of time better spent elsewhere, increasing your opportunity cost. Without having to worry about the details of receiving, storing, warehouse picking strategies<\/a>, packing, and shipping, you are free to spend your time on more important endeavors, such as marketing, product development, and ensuring customer satisfaction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More expertise in logistics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Businesses often fear that <\/span>outsourcing fulfilment<\/span><\/a> will impact quality control or increase shipping rates, but 3PLs are the fulfilment experts. The right tech-enabled 3PL offer not only a robust fulfilment solution but also the support and resources needed to help you scale quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faster processing and shipping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A 3PL\u2019s expertise translates into optimised order processing and quicker <\/span>ecommerce shipping<\/span><\/a>. Modernized 3PLs will typically have an intuitive software system that integrates with your website to streamline and automate order processing<\/a>, and some even distribute your inventory between various distribution centres to <\/span>reduce shipping costs<\/span><\/a> and enable 2-day shipping<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ShipBob as a warehousing and distribution partner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To maximise the benefits of outsourcing your warehousing and order <\/a><\/span>management<\/span>, you\u2019ll need to choose the right partner: The one that offers a combination of technology, support, and a growing fulfilment distribution network to enable your unique business to scale. ShipBob is a 3PL that partners with thousands of businesses. W<\/span>e go above and beyond for our merchants by offering these key services to foster our partners\u2019 growth.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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