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Peak Season Strategy

How 3PLs Can Achieve Rapid Growth, Maintain World-Class Service, and Reduce Costs

By
Ben Steele
September 3, 2024
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As a growing number of consumers demonstrate a preference for eCommerce over traditional in-person shopping, the natural result will be increased demand for 3PLs as retailers take steps to keep up with demand.

So how can 3PLs take advantage of this and achieve rapid growth? Enter Fulfill.com

Companies come to Fulfill.com for the expertise in vetting and finding the right 3PL for their needs.  When your 3PL is added to the Fulfill network, you’ll receive a consistent flow of fulfillment leads and reach to companies looking for fulfillment centers - from startups to enterprise.

But in order to capitalize on these opportunities, 3PLs need the ability to deliver consistent world class service regardless of demand. They also need to be able to do so cost-effectively so they can keep costs low for customers and stay competitive. Being able to deliver on-time and in full faster than anyone else is how you set yourself apart.  This is where Veryable can help.

By tapping into Veryable’s on-demand labor marketplace with thousands of skilled and vetted workers and building a labor pool, you gain the ability to flex labor capacity daily to mirror demand. This means that when Fulfill brings your business a lead, you can quickly adjust your headcount to meet the increased demand and ensure on-time fulfillment. With the traditional staff to averages approach, this simply isn’t possible.

Let’s say you’re in the midst of your peak season and already relying heavily on overtime to keep up when your business lands a new opportunity. Sure, you could try to use more overtime, but this will further erode profit margins, and you’ll be scrambling to get everything out on-time. When employees have to work faster, mistakes are more likely to occur putting the business at risk. Furthermore, this may lead to high turnover as your employees get burnt out from the consistent long hours and unpredictable scheduling. You could also try to hire more employees or source through a staffing agency, but this takes weeks and is far too slow to be able to respond to a rapid increase in demand.  As a last resort you could turn down the business, but you miss out on the revenue now and in the future.

By leveraging Veryable’s on-demand marketplace however, you can avoid this conundrum. With infinite flexible capacity at your disposal and the ability to match headcount to demand on a daily basis, not only will you be able to capitalize on new business opportunities while maintaining industry-leading service, but you’ll be able to maintain a lower, more constant cost per unit. This helps you stay competitive, and frees up time in your week and money in your budget to focus on the things that actually drive your business forward.

Additionally, the live resume shown for all operators on the platform and the meritocratic nature of the rating and review system ensures you can find the workers with the exact skill sets needed to support your operations. Plus with 26% of ops posted for night and weekend shifts, you can find workers whenever you need them, getting your operations 1 step closer to 7-Day shipping..

Fulfill.com

In 2019, Joe Spisak’s ecommerce company had used three fulfillment companies in just 18 months. Frustrated, he began fulfilling in-house, which led to offering fulfillment services to other brands. And that led to Fulfill.com, a marketplace connecting ecommerce brands with third-party fulfillment companies. When your 3PL is added to the Fulfill.com network, they’ll generate, qualify and distribute leads to you as part of their Warehouse Finder matchmaking service for e-commerce brands.

Case Study

Like many high-volume brands with large repeat customer bases, Kiss My Keto relies on 3PLs to keep its business running. After their previous partner couldn't keep pace with the brand's continuous demand, the team at Kiss My Keto began searching for a new 3PL that could support its continued growth.

Partnering with Fulfill helped Kiss My Keto discover the 3PL that matched its exacting needs. Since working with Fulfill-recommended Brandfox, the Kiss My Keto team has seen the following results:

  • 41% reduction in carrier rates for 10+ lbs packages
  • 25% reduction in kitting and shipping costs
  • 15 hours saved during the 3PL vetting process

As Kiss My Keto continues to scale operations across the U.S., they’re confident that product fulfillment will remain smooth as its partnership with Brandfox continues.

Click Here to read the full case study.

Veryable’s On-Demand Labor Marketplace

Veryable’s on-demand marketplace for manufacturing and warehousing labor connects businesses with thousands of skilled and vetted workers at the click of a button, enabling businesses to create a flexible extension of their full-time workforce called a labor pool.

By building a labor pool, businesses gain the ability to scale labor up and down in tandem with demand. Having the ability to match headcount to demand on a daily basis lead to drastic improvements in productivity and efficiency, speed to customer, and cost per unit.

Case Study

3PL provider Customized Distribution Services was dealing with high overtime usage, overreliance on temp and staffing agency labor, and a significant backlog of over 100 trailers in their yard that they struggled to get through.

Building an on-demand labor pool gave management the ability to quickly review a demand forecast, and then adjust headcount accordingly in real-time with zero cost to scale.

In just 6 months they achieved the following results:

  • 36% Reduction in Dwell Time
  • 44% Increase in Inbound Receiving Speed

In the words of the facility general manager Christopher Couture, "Veryable gave the operation more flexibility and has allowed us to be able to react to demand more efficiently". Other operations leaders at CDS have also shared with the Veryable team that without this resource, they wouldn’t have been able to keep up with increased demand.

To read the full case study, click here.

Conclusion

Two of the biggest challenges a 3PL faces is finding new work, and processing that work on-time and within your cost structure.  With Fulfill.com and Veryable you have the opportunity to leverage deep expertise and technology to dramatically change the growth and profitability of your business.

Getting Started With Fulfill.com

Step #1: Apply To Join

Fill out the 3PL application form and the team will review your details. If your 3PL is approved for further review, Fulfill will reach out to discuss your operations in detail.

Step #2: Get Approved

On the introductory call, the Fulfill team will discuss your capabilities, tech-stack, ideal client profile, pricing and SLA's to ensure your 3PL is a good fit for their network, and so that they can tailor leads to your services.

Step #3: Get Approved

Once approved, your 3PL will be published on Fulfill’s external directory where you’ll be connected with the brands looking for your exact fulfillment solutions.

Getting Started With Veryable

To get started with on-demand labor, take 5 minutes to create your free business profile. Our team of operations experts will reach out to you shortly after to answer any questions you may have and ensure that your team is equipped for success.

To learn more, visit our On-Demand Labor for Logistics Homepage

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Ben Steele
Growth Strategist

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