In case you have not noticed, ecommerce is in a perfect storm right now with unprecedented shipping challenges. Three major factors are driving the problem: Ecommerce has been growing fast for years and putting strain on USPS in particular (but also UPS and Fedex). Covid has poured gasoline on that growth. The holiday season (enough […]
Category Archives: Fulfillment
In ecommerce, there are a few things that you learn very quickly when you start examining your shipping costs. First, shipping is expensive, far more expensive than your customers think it is, and far more expensive than you probably think it is. And second, trying to reduce shipping costs (or even just keep them stable) […]
Last week, I started talking about the cash flow problems caused by inventory in growing businesses. I mentioned that I would return to the subject today and talk about inventory ROI (return on investment). If you invest in assets in your business, ROI should be one of the main factors you consider. Let’s look at […]
Cash is the oxygen of a business and is absolutely necessary for growth because cash-starved businesses will always have to make the tradeoff of short term solvency for long term growth. If you manage a business, you need to focus on cash just as much (and possibly more) than you focus on profit. I can […]
There is no “right” way to lay out a warehouse and workflow for ecommerce fulfillment. There are many options available that all vary in levels of efficiency. Your job is to find the most efficient use of your space, understanding that the space itself (and other factors) may limit your efficiency. To give you a […]
When you first start doing fulfillment and are doing maybe ten shipments a day, almost anything will work. You can use rudimentary tools provided by the postal service or UPS to buy and print postage. You can probably just stack your inventory in the corner and root through it to find what you need. You […]
If you have a good product and can sell it online, one of the first decisions you have to make is regarding whether you are going to outsource fulfillment. I want to talk about that decision today and give you some thoughts from my years in that industry. Like any other similar business decision, it […]