While Amazon is a popular method online businesses use to fulfill orders, it’s not the only one available. There are numerous alternatives that you can use to give your fulfillment operations a boost.
Jacob Lee
November 23, 2020
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Many businesses that sell on Amazon also use the company for their order fulfillment. Despite the popularity of Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), there are many downsides that cause businesses to look for another solution. Fortunately, you can explore a variety of alternatives to Amazon fulfillment.
Many businesses seek out alternatives to Amazon fulfillment so they can have better control over their inventory, use their own branding, and eliminate extra fees.
Common alternatives to FBA include Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM), Seller-Fulfilled Prime (SFP), and 3PL Providers.
In this article, we’ll explain the reasons business look for an alternative to Amazon fulfillment and discuss the solutions you can use.
Why You Need An Alternative To FBA
Is Amazon a gigantic online marketplace visited by millions? Yes, and perhaps it’s why you started off with FBA. However, you’ve now learned that you can get the benefits of having products on this marketplace without going all in on their fulfillment services.
Companies that use Amazon for their fulfillment may consider using another provider for a variety of reasons including:
Inventory Control: Amazon fulfillment centers are not meant for long-term storage. They will also charge a low-inventory-level fee if your product levels are lower than your relative sales volume. Changing fulfillment providers can give you more control over your inventory.
Branding Problems: Amazon uses boxes and shipping tape that have their branding all over it. This can be problematic for businesses that want to giver their buyers a better brand experience during the shipping process.
Extra Fees: The FBA pay structure is complex and full of various fees. This includes expenses for picking, packing, shipping, and storage. Alternatives to FBA can help businesses remove these expenses.
Incorrect Shipments: Amazon often consolidates small orders that go to the same destination. As a result, it’s possible for wrong items to be sent. Businesses may want to find an alternative to FBA to reduce these mistakes.
If any of the reasons we listed are causing you to become dissatisfied with Amazon fulfillment, then you should definitely make a change.
What Are the Best Solutions To Amazon Fulfillment?
There are numerous alternatives to FBA that you can use. In the following sections, we’ll provide details on how each method works.
Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)
FBM allows you to handle every aspect of the fulfillment process. When an order comes through, Amazon will give you the shipping information. From there, your business will be responsible for retrieving the items and sending them to the customer.
The benefits of using FBM include:
Customizable fulfillment options: Set your own shipping rates, capacity limits, and transit times for the orders you fulfill.
More control over inventory: You’ll be able to keep as much inventory as you want, without being charged the low-inventory-level fee. You can also access Veeqo, an Amazon company, to automate your inventory management.
Simplified return and refund process: Processing returns and issuing refunds on your own is faster than relying on Amazon to do it for you.
While FBM is a great alternative to FBA, it’s particularly useful in the following of scenarios:
When you sell heavy, oversized, or high-value items
If your inventory turnover is low
When special storage solutions are required, such as temperature control.
Overall, FBM will give you better flexibility in your fulfillment operations than FBA.
Looking for a solution to store and ship your products seamlessly? Let R+L Global Logistics be your fulfillment and distribution partner.
SFP lets you fulfill orders yourself, while still providing one and two-day shipping for your customers. You’ll also be able to display the Prime badge on the product listings you fulfill from your warehouse. Before you can enroll in SFP, you’ll need to pre-qualify and pass a 30-day trial.
To pre-qualify for SFP, you should have a default U.S. shipping address and an Amazon Professional selling account.
You’ll also need to meet the following metrics over the past 90 days:
Successful fulfillment of at least 100 packages
Cancellation rates lower than 2.5%
Valid tracking with accuracy that’s greater than 95%
A late shipment rate lower than 4%
Once you’ve been pre-qualified, you’ll have to pass a 30-day trial that requires you to satisfy a variety of metrics.
Ship 100 or more packages
Provide an on-time delivery rate of at least 93.5%
Provide valid tracking with an accuracy of at least 99%
Have a seller-initiated cancellation rate lower than 0.5%
During the 30-day trial, your business will be expected to meet certain delivery speeds for specific package sizes. I’ve provided a graphic with these metrics.
You’ll have to maintain Amazon’s performance requirements once you enroll in SFP. While SFP has many benefits, you’ll have to pay more money to provide one and two-day shipping. These expenses can add up if your sales aren’t able to cover your shipping costs.
Using a 3PL is a great way to outsource your fulfillment operations. A 3PL can give you a variety of benefits that Amazon is unable to provide.
This includes:
Better for small and medium-sized businesses: Amazon is a very competitive place to sell products. This can be challenging for small and medium-sized businesses. A better option would be to sell your items from your website and let a 3PL handle the fulfillment process.
Long-term storage options: Unlike Amazon, many 3PLs offer long-term storage options for your products. Therefore, you won’t have to continuously meet Amazon’s inventory-level requirements.
More inventory control: 3PLs are very flexible when it comes to how much inventory they allow you to store. This lets you adjust your storage levels as sales fluctuate throughout the year.
More storage options: Amazon can be lacking regarding their storage solutions. 3PLs can offer more options, such as palletized and temperature-controlled storage. Most 3PLs won’t impose weight or size restrictions on your freight.
You can still participate in Amazon’s FBM and SFP program when you hire a 3PL. The only difference is the 3PL will fulfill orders on your behalf.
Fulfillment and Distribution Is the Amazon Alternative You’ve Been Waiting for
If you’re looking for a reliable 3PL, Fulfillment and Distribution is ready to be your provider. Our facilities offer a variety of warehousing services, such as long-term storage and distribution.
In addition to these services, you can also talk to one of our warehousing specialists during a consulting session to discuss which of our services is right for you. With Fulfillment and Distribution, you’ll be able to reach more customers thanks to our vast network of warehouses.
We need a bit more information to help you! Please share some additional details about your fulfillment and distribution needs. Our goal is to be the source of all information you need about warehousing, distribution and fulfillment.
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