As a webshop owner, you can outsource your logistics process or part of it to a fulfilment company. The choice between running your own warehouse or using a fulfilment service is very personal. Some webshop owners outsource tasks to fully focus on growth, while others prefer to maintain control over all processes to better ensure quality.

In this blog, we’ll provide some guidance to help you decide whether outsourcing your logistics to a fulfilment company suits you and your webshop.

What does a fulfilment company do?

A fulfilment company takes over the process after an order has been placed in your webshop. This includes picking, packing, and shipping products. They also manage your inventory in their warehouse. Your suppliers can deliver products directly to the fulfilment partner’s warehouse, and their staff ensures everything is stored in your allocated space.

Fulfilment companies now offer a wide range of services, including:

• Full order handling, from picking to shipping
• Inventory management
• Receiving and preparing purchase orders from your supplier
• Handling and processing returns
• Customer service
• Flexible delivery options such as same-day delivery and evening delivery
• Assembly of bundled products
• Product personalization
• Special packaging for orders

Some fulfilment companies even offer marketing and product photography services. Most services are offered in standard packages, but many providers are flexible and can adapt to your specific needs.

When is outsourcing valuable?

Outsourcing can be a smart move if you want minimal involvement in order fulfilment. It also helps if you do not yet have a warehouse, as it allows you to scale without large upfront investments.

Most fulfilment companies charge variable fees based on the number of orders shipped and the cubic meters of space you use in their warehouse. This can be more cost-effective than the fixed costs of running your own warehouse.

If your webshop is growing rapidly, you might find yourself constantly outgrowing your warehouse. Moving and upgrading facilities repeatedly is expensive. With a fulfilment partner, scaling is usually easier because they have the necessary space. You also avoid the burden of hiring and training warehouse staff.

It also allows you to experiment more easily with services such as “order before 11:30 pm, delivered tomorrow.” Fulfilment companies can offer these delivery options at competitive prices because their staff work late hours for multiple webshops.

Pricing can include packaging materials, goods receipt, order processing, inventory management, and more. This provides transparency and helps you determine if outsourcing is financially viable.

Fulfilment companies often have better shipping rates due to their high volumes. If you have international ambitions, some fulfilment companies collaborate with global carriers.

To make your webshop profitable and scalable, it is essential to keep your inventory at a healthy level. Too much stock harms your cash flow, and too little stock means missing out on potential revenue.

To strike the right balance, it is important to know how to purchase strategically. In this blog, we’ll explain how to do that and what to pay attention to.

Prevent low stock and missed sales

A product might be in high demand, but if it is often sold out, you miss out on sales and the opportunity to gain loyal customers. Over time, this can become quite costly.

Here are some common reasons a product is out of stock:

• Inventory levels in your system do not match reality
• You are purchasing too little
• Manual processes like analyzing purchasing data are slowing you down
• Incorrect estimations of supplier lead times
• Seasonal or trend-based influences are not taken into account

If products are regularly sold out, it is a good idea to dive into these areas to prevent missed sales in the future.

Avoid excess inventory

The other extreme is over-purchasing every product. This increases the risk of holding unsellable stock in the long run. Too much inventory ties up cash and limits your growth. It also takes up valuable warehouse space.

To determine the ideal stock level per product, conduct a product-level analysis. Key aspects to consider:

• The average inventory value of a product. Calculate this over a longer period (e.g. the last 3 months) and compare it to the product's revenue.
• The cost of holding stock. Consider storage space, interest, risk, and more.
• The inventory turnover rate. This is the average amount of time products remain in your warehouse. Calculate it by dividing your inventory by the cost of goods sold, and multiply by 365. Example: (300 products / €9,900 cost of goods sold) × 365 days = 11.06 days turnover time.
• The lead time from your supplier. Faster delivery allows for a lower turnover rate.

With these insights, you can determine the optimal order quantity and frequency for each product. Avoid ordering too frequently, as it increases the number of repetitive tasks like receiving and preparing orders. Try to find the ideal balance.

A tidy warehouse is the foundation of a pleasant workplace and an efficient logistics process. But over time, things can get a bit messy, especially after a busy season. That’s why we recommend doing a deep clean so you can get back to working as efficiently as possible. In this blog, we’ll share how to approach it and what to keep in mind.

Counting your stock

Even if you always keep your inventory up to date, discrepancies can still occur. After all, people make mistakes. A deep clean is the perfect moment to double-check the stock of every product. This helps you avoid selling items you don’t actually have, and you might even find products you thought were out of stock.

To make counting easier, use the Picqer app. It allows you to check inventory levels for each product at any location.

Product locations

To stay organized, it’s essential that all products are assigned a location. Items from purchase orders should be given a location in your warehouse as soon as possible. If that didn’t happen during busy times, the cleanup is your chance to catch up.

In addition to assigning locations, it can also be helpful to remove certain products. For example, if a product hasn’t sold in a long time, it may be time to say goodbye. This frees up shelf space and keeps your focus on your most important products. It also helps tidy up your webshop by making the offering more focused and clear for customers.

You should store your fast-moving products as close to the packing table as possible. To identify these, run an ABC analysis in Picqer. Place A-label products nearest to the packing area, B-label products slightly further away, and C-label products in the remaining spots.

The holiday season is a time of warmth and celebration, but also a busy period for online retailers. Shoppers are on the hunt for the perfect gifts, and the number of daily orders can reach a peak.

This surge in holiday orders brings logistical challenges, both for webshops and shipping carriers. Fortunately, you can prepare in advance to manage the rush. That’s why we’ve created a checklist to help you get ready.

Organize your warehouse

Processing a large number of orders in a short time is only possible with a well-organized warehouse. As the holiday rush can ramp up quickly, it’s wise to prepare your warehouse now.

Place bestsellers in accessible locations

Most webshops have popular products, also known as “bestsellers.” Since you’ll pick these items more frequently, it’s best to place them near the packing tables. During the holidays, other products might also become popular as gift items. Move those closer to the packing area as well to reduce walking time.

Schedule more pickers and set up extra packing tables

Chances are you’ll need more staff in the warehouse during the holidays. It might even make sense to set up additional packing stations. Now is the time to plan for this and make the necessary arrangements so you’re not caught off guard later.

Ensure there’s enough walking space

More people working in the warehouse means more foot traffic. Crowded aisles or blocked pathways create delays and stress. Keep pathways clear and provide ample walking space for smooth operations.

Adjust your processes

Things tend to operate differently during the holidays. By analyzing and adapting your processes, you can maintain a calm and productive environment.

Eliminate exceptions

To streamline order processing during peak times, consider temporarily skipping non-critical tasks. For example, pause return processing or certain purchase orders. Fewer concurrent processes help maintain clarity and focus. You can catch up after the rush subsides.

Diversify your shipping options

Shipping carriers are often overwhelmed during the holidays. Be sure you have the ability to ship with multiple carriers. If one reaches capacity, you’ll have a backup option. This can be managed through direct contracts or by using a shipping platform that offers multiple carrier options.

Encourage early purchases

Spreading out orders reduces the risk of delays. Promote early shopping by highlighting the benefits on your webshop, like avoiding stock shortages or ensuring timely delivery. You can also send out newsletters to existing customers with holiday reminders.

WHITE Digital Agency, one of the largest Dutch partners of Craft CMS, has developed a Picqer integration for Craft Commerce. After a successful test phase, the Picqer plugin is now available. With this integration, webshops using Craft Commerce can import orders into Picqer in real time and process them more easily and efficiently. This gives webshop owners more control over their warehouse.

What is Craft Commerce?

Craft Commerce is the e-commerce extension for Craft CMS. It offers a powerful e-commerce platform built on a highly user-friendly and flexible CMS. It uses a custom storefront approach, allowing you to fully tailor the experience to your product range. The robust and clean interface enables you to configure advanced functionality on the frontend with ease.

About WHITE Digital Agency

WHITE Digital Agency has been operating as a digital agency since 1999 and is based in the Brainport region of Eindhoven. As a certified Craft Enterprise Partner and Craft Commerce specialist, they have extensive experience with complex projects using this content management system. With Craft Commerce, they offer a user-friendly e-commerce platform where rich content and product management seamlessly come together.

Get started

Connect your Craft Commerce webshop to Picqer today. Curious how the integration works? Visit the Craft Commerce integration page to get started.