When Is The Right Time To Outsource Your Fulfilment?
When is the right time to make the change? Is my business too small? Will I ever feel comfortable outsourcing?
These are just some of the questions that flood the minds of small business owners when they are faced with the decision of outsourcing their fulfilment. So don’t worry, you’re not alone.
The UK e-commerce market is growing at an astonishing rate. It was recently estimated to be worth a staggering £120 billion, with a forecast growth of 35% in 2023. Shocking isn’t it?
Meeting the logistical and fulfilment demands of your growing customer base is imperative for success, whether you’re an established e-commerce business or a beginner at the start of your business journey.
Ensuring that your operation is running smoothly is essential for the foundation of any e-commerce business looking to scale up. But at what point should you bite the bullet and hand over the reins?
Below we walk you through a few of the key indicators that suggest you should begin to think about making the change. Having experience with the process, we have aimed to cover the obvious and the slightly more inconspicuous indicators that we picked up on when outsourcing the fulfilment of our own e-commerce business, Silver Mushroom Ltd.
The Pros and Cons of NOT Outsourcing
As you’re reading this blog we can guess that you may currently take care of your fulfilment and operations in-house. This may be from your own unit or even from your house and there are undeniable advantages to taking this approach for your growing business.
You have complete control over your entire operation, you have your eyes on your stock at all times, and the biggie - you have total control over your resources and costs. Sure, this sounds great, but it goes without saying that every single growing e-commerce business will eventually outgrow these advantages. Once you reach this point, you quickly feel the strain, stress and headaches of what was once an idyllic, in-house operation.
Once your orders begin to flow and your business picks up the pace, you’ll very quickly feel your time slipping away. What once felt like productive working days will soon be gone in a flash, with an unticked to-do list left haunting you each night. Aside from the obvious stress and time constraints, you will find yourself wrapped up in the day-to-day runnings, with little or no time to focus on planning your next strategic business moves. This may sound negative but it’s a story as true as time. We’ve been there and we felt it. Worry not, however. There are ways you can avoid this demeaning experience.
Key Indicators That Suggest NOW Is The Time To Outsource
#1. Customer Satisfaction Is Slipping Away
Are your once glowing customer reviews diminishing before your eyes?
Irritated and dissatisfied customers are a key red flag to keep your eyes peeled for. As your business grows and your time is spent packing orders, organising your stock and trying to keep on top of your customer services, your SLA (service level agreement) will begin to dip. In short, you’re too busy to manage your customers’ expectations.
According to a recent study by Zendesk, over 80% of consumers say they would rather do business with a competitor after more than one bad experience. We don’t know about you, but we’d rather not take our chances on losing that all important repeat custom.
#2. Fulfilment Is Eating Up 90% Of Your Time
The most famous entrepreneurs in the world have become so successful because they are always looking for ways to improve, change and grow their businesses. They are at the ‘helm of their ship’ making the crucial decisions that steer the business in the right direction. They are not down in the hull working on the ‘maintenance’.
All of this strategising and researching takes time and a lot of energy. Put simply, why lose endless hours, days and weeks packing your orders and managing your inventory, when you can hand this over to a dedicated and trustworthy fulfilment partner?
#3. Returns Are Becoming Unmanageable
Not only are returns disheartening, they can cause major stress and disruption to your stock. As your e-commerce business grows and your orders increase, unfortunately so will your number of returns. Determining the condition your stock is returned in, allocating it back into your inventory and issuing refunds are just some of the headaches you will likely have experienced when dealing with your e-commerce returns.
Getting your returns process running smoothly means that 9 out of 10 shoppers will buy from you again. Shoppers don’t want to be printing labels or waiting around for their refunds, so it is imperative that you offer fuss free returns to keep your customers happy and coming back to repeat purchase from your store.
What Size Should My Business Be Before I Outsource?
There are many articles out there that state you should have been trading for X amount of months and should be receiving X or more orders per month. Fulfilment companies that have a standard approach to their clients businesses will need their clients to fit in a specific bracket in order for the whole process to work.
Whilst we appreciate this, at CK Fulfilment we know that no two businesses are the same. Therefore your fulfilment and operations should be unique to your business.
By offering our bespoke tailored service, we don’t require you to be reaching monthly order targets or to have years’ worth of trading history. We have clients that have partnered with us from the very beginning of their business journey. One in particular even launched her new business with us, and other clients have partnered with us at a time that simply felt right for them and their business.
We simply suggest that if the three indicators discussed above ring a bell with you, then you should consider outsourcing, no matter where you are at in your business journey.
What Should I Expect After Outsourcing My Operation To CK Fulfilment?
#1. You’ll Get Your Time Back
One of the first things we expect you to enjoy after partnering and onboarding with us is to get your time back. Whether this is to turn your focus to strategic business growth to drive forwards, or to simply enjoy a healthier work-life balance and enjoy more time with loved ones, we want to help you to grow your business in a controlled, efficient and stress free way.
#2. You’ll Have Total Transparency and Control
One of the worries many business owners have about outsourcing is losing control their business and stock. We will never shut the door on our clients. We believe complete transparency on your stock, orders and even pricing is non-negotiable and should always be readily available for our clients. We encourage you to come down to our HQ in Preston, Lancashire and meet our experienced team to see where and how your stock will be stored, picked and packed.
Our cloud-based software gives you complete visibility of your stock and orders, anytime, anywhere. Direct integration with all major e-commerce platforms and marketplaces means your orders will be captured in real time and dispatched in a timely manner that works for your business.
Stock integrity is crucial for any business but particularly for a start-up, who may not hold as much stock as a more mature business. We’re committed to performing regular cycle counts, smart counts and general auditing, to ensure your inventory remains in shape, allowing you peace of mind to concentrate on growing your successful business.
#3. You’ll Receive Unlimited Resource
A key benefit of outsourcing your operation to us is that you receive the luxury of having resource ‘on demand’. Rather than having to hire part-time or agency staff to help you during peak or promotional seasons, you can depend on our experienced staff to pull their socks up, eat their Weetabix and work together as a team to upkeep your SLA (service level agreement) and keep your business flowing smoothy, even through the busy periods. This means you won’t have to work around the clock during peak season, you can run exciting sales and launch new ranges or products without worrying about keeping up with fulfilling your orders.
#4. You’ll Save Money On Shipping and Packaging
An advantage many business owners are pleasantly surprised by when outsourcing their operations is the money they are able to save on shipping and packaging costs. Whilst there are some great prices out there available to small businesses, our ‘volume determined’ prices offer an attractive solution that small businesses often simply don’t have the volumes to benefit from. This enables a little more cash to be freed up and allocated where it’s needed most within your business. In short, the more you grow the more you save.
We could write 100 different points on the benefits of outsourcing to our CK team, but we’d rather chat to you in person, over a cup of coffee or two. If you are ready to take the next step for your business, drop us a line via the enquiry form below or give us a call on 01772 356673 and we can begin building a bespoke plan to help you grow and surpass your business goals.