Logistics solutions are the backbone of modern eCommerce. In fact, without logistics services, millions of daily deliveries of online purchases never happen. But what do we mean by “logistics” and why is it so essential to eCommerce? We’ve put together some answers and explanations for these basic questions here.
Main components of the eCommerce logistics chain
The shipping process is a complex multi-step process, with each step reliant on the others. Here are some of the essential components:
- Suppliers: The role of the supplier is to create the product and ship it to fulfilment centers. Suppliers are those who ship inventories to a business destination. They send the product directly to customers if the brand is dropshipping. Otherwise, bulk quantities of products are made and stored in a warehouse.
- Fulfillment centers: eCommerce fulfillment centers are warehouses that hold inventory at strategic locations—close to your end consumer. When a customer makes an order, the fulfilment center packs and ships each product as soon as possible. Your eCommerce business can own or lease this fulfilment center facility, or your 3rd party logistics service provider can operate this.
- Distribution center: Distribution hubs are used by companies that want to maintain a large inventory with hundreds of items. These hubs split inventory between warehouses and transport modes. For example, you can use separate warehouses for DTC and B2B orders as they require different packaging.
- Sorting centers: The purpose of a sorting center is to receive large quantities of orders and then sort them into smaller shipments based on customer orders.
- Shipping carrier: You can use major shipping carriers like USPS, UPS, FedEx, or DHL to get your product from the warehouse to your customer. You can also rely on a private delivery carrier if you need something faster than standard shipping speeds.
Enable your business to grow globally
Having acquired B2C Europe and Visible SCM, we are now expanding our capabilities within Europe, North America and the rest of the world, making it easier and faster for you to enhance your inventory visibility, and ultimately, reach the growth you are aiming for. If you are interested in B2C services like order fulfilment and parcel delivery, and are looking to move your goods with an efficient last-mile carrier, you can rely on us to provide you with the best possible e-commerce experience.
By becoming your e-commerce logistics partner, we are able to connect you with our global network of fulfilment centres and strengthen your end-to-end supply chain management operations.
