How You Benefit from Canadian Fulfillment

Over the last couple of years, third party fulfillment has become increasingly common amongst business owners across North America — and for very good reason too.

If you are an entrepreneur with a Canadian based e-commerce business, then employing the help of a fulfillment company is a great way to accommodate business growth and even increase customer satisfaction.

But what are they, and how can they help you?

What is Canadian Fulfillment?

The concept of third-party fulfillment is a relatively simple one. 

You purchase your products in bulk as normal — however, you don’t get them sent to your normal place of business.

Instead, you get them sent out to a third party. A company that has a very large warehouse, who can store large amounts of your stock. Then, when you receive an order via your website, they ship them to the customer on your behalf.

Now, I certainly appreciate that this might sound like double handling — but nothing could be further from the truth.

Managing Business Growth

If they are implemented at the right time, Canadian fulfillment companies can save you quite a lot of money.

See, most small ecommerce businesses go through very similar periods of growth.  

They start off by buying all their products in bulk, and then storing them at home (or, if they have enough capital, at a small warehouse that they have leased). Then, when an order comes in, they simply ship them out to their customers.

Money comes in, the product goes out, and the business grows.

It is important to note that there is nothing inherently wrong with this process. For small ecommerce entrepreneurs, this is a great way to start out because it comes with very little additional cost. 

But as your business grows, the whole process becomes more challenging.

As you become more popular and your orders increase, you might have to invest in a larger warehouse to store your stock. You might even be forced to hire more staff so you can physically manage the increase in business demand.

All of which comes at an increased cost — taking a chunk out of your profits in the process.

But investing in a Canadian fulfillment company completely eliminates the need to take on more space and more staff by managing this period of growth for you — which can have some huge implications for your business.

The Benefits of Canadian Fulfillment

As the owner of a small ecommerce business, I was a little hesitant to take on a Canadian Fulfillment company, but in the end, I could not be any happier. 

First and foremost, it saved me quite a lot of money. 

I was at exact the growth point mentioned above. But by taking on a Canadian fulfillment company, I started to spend much less money on warehouse storage, and didn’t have to hire any new staff.

Talk about a win-win.

Secondly, it saved me a lot of time. 

I went from spending a huge amount of my workday processing, packing, and shipping orders, to marketing, planning, and building.

Over time, this led to even more business growth.

Lastly, I saw a rather large spike in my customer reviews (not that they were bad in the first place, I want to add).

The fulfillment company I took on has several distribution centres located around Canada. As a result, they could actually pack, process, and get my products to my customers quicker than I ever could.

This improvement in customer satisfaction in a very big way.

The cost of Canadian fulfillment

Now, I don’t want to sound like I am over selling it — obviously investing in a good quality Canadian fulfillment service is not free.

Most fulfillment companies typically charge by the hour, or per unit of product shipped. While this does mean that your expenses increase as your business grows, it does end up saving you quite a bit of money in the long run.

And when you factor in the extra time saved every single day, the benefits become insurmountable.

Summary

If you are a Canadian-based ecommerce business in your early stages, then you should have a third-party Canadian fulfilment company on your radar.

They offer a fantastic service that can save you a lot of money in the long run, while also providing you more time to focus on your business — just make sure you take the time to find a good one.

So, make sure you do your research, and as soon as you hit that growth phase don’t be afraid to pull the trigger — you will never regret it.