So you’re a West Coast-based ecommerce business looking for retail fulfilment services. Using a single West Coast fulfilment centre may seem like the best move, but it depends on where your customer base is located and your monthly order volume.
If all of your customers are on the West Coast, then a single warehouse may suffice. But if your customer base is spread across the US, then you should consider distributed inventory.
Distributed inventory is the practice of storing your products in different locations, rather than a single West Coast fulfilment warehouse. By spreading out your inventory to where your customers live can reduce the distance each package must travel or shipping zones. That means lower inventory carrying costs and faster deliveries.
ShipBob is a third-party logistics company or 3PL with network of strategically located fulfilment centres across the US including a couple on the West Coast. Partner with ShipBob, and you can distribute your inventory optimally based on your historical customer data. Our technology automatically routes orders to the closest fulfilment centre, and our ecommerce fulfilment professionals handle everything else.
Read on to see what we can do for your ecommerce business.
Hear from a ShipBob customer on the West Coast
ShipBob helps hundreds of brands based in the West Coast ship from its fulfilment centre on the West Coast and all over the United States. Hear from one LA-based company.
West Coast fulfilment centres
ShipBob’s strategically placed fulfilment centres allow us to serve more than just one city, state, or region. That being said, ShipBob has a fulfilment centre located on the West Coast in the greater Los Angeles area.
ShipBob’s fulfilment services
Fulfilment with ShipBob is a straightforward process:
1. Connect ShipBob’s technology to your ecommerce platform.
2. Ship your products to our fulfilment centres.
3. ShipBob is notified and automatically generates picking lists and packing slips, when an order is placed at your ecommerce store.
4. The order is prepared and shipped to the customer, along with ecommerce order tracking information.
Here are some features you get when you partner with ShipBob.
Track your inventory in real-time
Warehousing and inventory tracking can be a nightmare when you’re handling inventory control in-house. ShipBob’s technology makes it simple. You can see your inventory levels at each fulfilment centre in real-time, calculate your safety stock, and set reorder points so you are notified when you need to replenish stock.
Manage orders
ShipBob handles all aspects or the order fulfilment process, and we give you control and visibility into each step from your ShipBob dashboard including full order management. View any outstanding orders, track their progress, and use the search function to find specific orders.
Request branded packaging
3PLs often list the cost of boxes and packaging materials as a separate line item in your pricing. Not ShipBob. Standard packing materials like plain brown boxes are included in your quote, and you can even use your own custom-branded packaging.
ShipBob: the best solution for West Coast order fulfilment
ShipBob is an order fulfilment company built for DTC ecommerce businesses. That means integrations with top ecommerce platforms and technology to makes each stage of the fulfilment process more efficient and cohesive. Here’s what we can do for your business.
Use multiple fulfilment centres
ShipBob has a national network of fulfilment centres, including one West Coast fulfilment centre in California. Access to multiple fulfilment centres means you can ship at a low cost to customers on the West Coast and everywhere else in the US.
BAKblade, a men’s grooming company, partnered with ShipBob and started using all of ShipBob’s fulfilment centres to store inventory and ship their products. This allowed them to offer 2-day shipping to all of their customers. As a result, they have grown 291% since partnering with ShipBob several years ago.
Free up time to focus on other priorities
ShipBob can make your life easier and your business more efficient, so you don’t have to pour energy into shipping and logistics. Sunglasses company Rainbow OPTX partnered with ShipBob and saved over 120 hours of manual labour each week packing boxes. With more time to focus on business strategy, their business grew by 115%.
Spend less money on shipping
ShipBob has helped countless ecommerce businesses reduce shipping costs and pass the savings along to their customers. Synchro, a health and wellness company, saw a significant reduction in shipping costs after partnering with ShipBob. At the same time, using two fulfilment centres, including one on the West Coast, they were able to offer 2-day ground shipping to 80% of their entire customer base.
Integrating ShipBob with your platform
When you partner with ShipBob, you partner with many of the top solutions in ecommerce, from ecommerce stores to packaging solutions.
Ecommerce platforms
Connect ShipBob’s technology to your ecommerce platform with no coding necessary. BigCommerce, Amazon, Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, and more — we have built-in integrations with all of them!
Shipping platforms
Partnerships with major shipping carriers like DHL, UPS, FedEx, and USPS let us provide superior rates and service. Also, integrations with shipping platforms like ShipStation and Freightos help further optimise your shipping and logistics costs.
Packaging
A unique unboxing experience can enrich the customer experience and foster brand loyalty. Work with ShipBob’s partners Arka, noissue, and Packlane to create custom-branded packaging that ShipBob uses to pack your orders.
Is it the right time for your business to outsource order fulfilment?
3PLs provide ecommerce businesses with ready-made infrastructure, manpower, and specialized knowledge of shipping and logistics. With these resources at your disposal you can make your shipping more efficient and cost-effective with minimal input and hassle. A 3PL can benefit you if:
- Building a distribution infrastructure is too costly and complicated for your business
- Shipping costs are too high and you are struggling to offer fast delivery options
- Lack of fast and/or affordable shipping options is leading customers to abandon their carts or purchase less
- Fulfiling orders is eating up too much of your time or budget
Ready to get started with a 3PL? Request a quote from ShipBob.
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