Christmas is the time of year when most retailers see their sales increase, which is great, but with the increase in sales also comes an increase in workload for staff! By Christmas Eve, employees can be left exhausted, worn out and in need of a really good rest!
Have you ever thought about using a fulfilment house for helping your business cope with an increase in sales and the subsequent extra work that it entails?
Fulfilment houses can perform many functions for your business, which can take the pressure off your staff so they can function efficiently and effectively.
So what exactly can a fulfilment house help with?
Before we answer that, here are some primary functions that fulfilment houses perform and that could help your business:
- Inventory Management – instead of keeping your component stock on your premises, fulfilment houses will store your stock, thereby freeing up your own business space.
They will manage your stock and keep you updated regularly
- Picking and Packing – they will take over the process of picking and packing products to fulfil customer orders for you. This will free up time for your staff and your business can focus more on growth than packing orders.
- Shipping – finally, when the product is picked and packed, fulfilment houses can be responsible for order despatch and customer returns.
Although these functions are pretty standard to the fulfilment sector, they generally work with you to develop the right package for you.
Perhaps your Christmas Hamper product is flying out the door but it has a myriad of components that need to be assembled before it can be shipped. Well, this is where a fulfilment house can help you. They will take all the components and essentially ‘build’ your product to your exact specification, pack it and ship it to your customer.
Another scenario could be that you’ve got a Christmas flyer to be inserted into 20,000 local magazines. Well, a fulfilment house would take over this process for you, so you don’t have to take your employees away from their daily activities.
There are many procedures that fulfilment houses can undertake on your behalf, from gift wrapping to labelling, stapling and glueing!
Here are a few to consider:
Assembling gift sets and hampers
Labelling envelopes and direct mail
Inserting flyers or magazines into other publications
Wrapping and boxing products
Kit building
Product reworking and assembly
Dispatch products on your behalf
Storage and warehousing of your products
Order fulfilment
E-Commerce fulfilment
Direct Mail Services
The main point really is that a fulfilment house can do pretty much what you want them to do. They’re experienced in inventory management, piece work and despatch systems.
If you’re thinking that your business could do with extra resource at Christmas time, then employing a professional, trusted fulfilment house could be the solution you’re looking for!
Do your homework though – not all fulfilment houses are the same! Reliability and efficiency are key when selecting your perfect fulfilment partner. You want to be able to feel confident that they’re going to give the best service to both you and your customers – after all, it’s your reputation in their hands, so make sure they’ll uphold your business ethics and customer service policies.
If you’d like to know more about how a fulfilment house can help you and your business over the Christmas period, or indeed throughout the year, then take a look at our services here or simply give us a call on 03300 563980 for a no obligation chat about how we can help.
