Ecommerce Fulfillment: What’s the Best Location?

One of the most significant advantages of using an ecommerce fulfillment company is saving money on pure shipping costs. This is done in several ways.

The first, and most obvious way, is that your Canadian ecommerce fulfillment expert has a large volume with shippers such as UPS, FedEx, Canada Post, etc. As its client, you can take full advantage of the deep discounts afforded by such volumes.

The second way, which is often more difficult to gauge, is by picking the best location for your fulfillment center. Traditionally, you would want your ecommerce drop-shipper to have its warehouse close to the majority of your own customers; this would allow you to cut shipping costs by reducing the physical distance your orders have to cover to reach their destination.

While this approach remains valid, it has been undercut by the emergence of major shipping hubs. Located in major cities in Canada (an elsewhere), these hubs are the focus of the transport company’s operations, and having your warehouse located as close as possible to one of them can cut your fees almost as much as having it close to your customers.

This is where other factors come into effect: customer service, your relationship with your account manager, the quality of systems and shopping cart integration, as well as the other fees charged by your 3PL in addition to pure shipping costs.

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