Amazon has made free 2-day shipping the industry standard. But not every ecommerce business has the infrastructure and resources to offer 2-day shipping. As a result, many ecommerce businesses that sell top-notch products are stuck offering slower, overly expensive shipping options. This typically turns away customers who are used to getting products fast, leading to cart abandonment and lost sales.
A 3PL (third-party logistics) provider can expand your shipping capabilities by providing you with the necessary distribution infrastructure. ShipBob is a 3PL with a unique fulfilment model called distributed inventory that can reduce your shipping costs, lower inventory carrying costs, and speed up deliveries by splitting inventory across the country and reducing shipping zones.
It works like this: Instead of storing your products in one Minneapolis fulfilment centre, you store them in multiple fulfilment centres distributed across the United States. By distributing your inventory based on where your customers live, each package has a shorter distance to travel.
That means you can offer 2-day shipping to customers in all corners of the US, not just Minneapolis, without breaking the bank. Read on to learn exactly how ShipBob can do this for your Minneapolis-based ecommerce business.
ShipBob’s fulfilment process
Partner with ShipBob and you get their industry expertise, national distribution infrastructure, and cutting-edge technology at your disposal. Here’s how they can start fulfiling your orders:
1. Connect your store to ShipBob’s technology.
2. Ship your products to ShipBob.
3. ShipBob is automatically notified when orders are placed on your store.
4. A picking list and packing slip are generated automatically.
5. Each order is picked, packed, and shipped from the ShipBob fulfilment centre that’s closest to the customer who ordered it.
The best 3PL ecommerce order fulfilment in Minneapolis
It’s not just the distributed inventory model that makes ShipBob unique from other 3PLs. ShipBob’s technology makes inventory control easy, with built-in inventory management and order management tools, along with best-in-class integrations. Here are some of the services you get with ShipBob.
Order and inventory management
Your ShipBob dashboard is a powerful tool that provides oversight of each step of the retail fulfilment process. You can:
- View orders shipped each day.
- Search for and find specific orders.
- Track shipped orders and automatically send customers tracking info.
- Monitor inventory counts at each fulfilment centre.
- Set inventory minimums, calculate safety stock, and get automatic notifications to reorder.
More on order management and inventory management
Pick/pack/ship
ShipBob’s technology routes orders to the fulfilment centre closest to the customer, then our professionals receive a picking list to prepare and ship the order. The cost of packaging materials is included in your ShipBob quote, and you can also send us your custom-designed packaging materials like branded boxes, poly bags, and inserts.
Customer support
Have a question about fulfilment or a problem that needs fixing? Dedicated support reps keep everything running smoothly, while onsite reps provide quick solutions to logistical problems. Enterprise customers also get an account manager free of charge.
How ShipBob can boost your Minneapolis-based ecommerce business
The enhanced shipping capacity that comes with a 3PL can make a world of difference for your ecommerce business. We’ve helped businesses grow faster, convert more sales, and free up valuable time. Here are some examples.
Use multiple fulfilment warehouses
With access to multiple fulfilment warehouses, rather than a single Minneapolis fulfilment warehouse, you can spread out your inventory and reduce shipping costs. Health and wellness brand Synchro switched from ShipBob to a different 3PL and immediately saw their shipping costs skyrocket. After switching back to ShipBob, they started using 2 fulfilment centres and saw a big reduction in shipping costs while also shipping to customers faster.
Free up time and resources
ShipBob not only handles tasks like warehousing, picking, packing and shipping, but as a professional order fulfilment solution, we can process shipments faster and at scale. That means both time savings AND cost savings. Packaged food company I Heart Keenwah saved countless hours of manual labour after partnering with ShipBob, and they’ve remained a client (and continued to grow) for several years.
Convert more sales (and prevent shoppers from going elsewhere)
Faster deliveries and cheaper shipping options results in more sales. Weighted blanket company My Calm Blanket partnerd with ShipBob, and the ecommerce company quickly achieved an 18% reduction in cart abandonment just from offering 2-day shipping through ShipBob.
How ShipBob integrates with your tech stack and business
Ecommerce stores
ShipBob is integrated with the best ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, Ebay, Amazon, BigCommerce, Squarespace, WooCommerce, and more. Integrate ShipBob with these platforms in minutes with no coding required!
Shipping
ShipBob partners with major couriers like USPS, DHL, FedEx, and UPS to earn you the best shipping rates and bulk shipping discounts. Connect ShipBob to platforms like ShipStation and Freightos for even more streamlined and efficient shipping.
Apps
ShipBob is integrated with platforms like Gorgias, Klaviyo, and Loop Returns, so connecting fulfilment to other tools has never been easier.
Packaging
Unboxing is a huge part of creating a unique, memorable brand experience. Set your brand apart with custom-designed packaging from our partners Packlane, Arka, and noissue.
Are you ready for a 3PL?
Ecommerce businesses tend to face the same bottlenecks when it comes to shipping and fulfilment. Order volume grows rapidly, but scaling fulfilment requires manpower, infrastructure, and resources that aren’t available. Chaos often ensues, which can include fulfilment errors and delayed shipments. With a 3PL, you can avoid all of this and effortlessly scale ecommerce fulfilment. Here are some clues that you may be ready to take the leap:
- You want a better order and inventory management system.
- You want to enhance your shipping capabilities but don’t know how.
- You have one Minneapolis fulfilment centre, but your customers live across the US.
- You are tired of spending time packing boxes and shipping packages.
- You can’t keep up with demand and your business is growing fast.
Ready to get started with a 3PL? Request a quote from ShipBob.
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Leverage our network of fulfillment centers to strategically split and manage your inventory to reduce shipping costs and transit times.