A major challenge for new entrepreneurs is the unexpected costs of shipping. This not only includes costs associated with shipping products to customers but also the costs of having supplies shipped to you. There are a number of ways to decrease your shipping costs and I have touched on three important ones below. PAY ATTENTION TO EACH PACKAGE: Be sure to adjust your carton sizes to avoid dimensional weight (DIM) and oversize surcharges. FedEx, UPS and USPS have weight minim

If you're currently researching and looking for the best fulfillment provider to meet your business needs, there are certain questions to ask to make sure you've chosen the best partner to deliver your brand promise. One of the most important questions to ask any 3PL provider is if they are equipped to handle large unexpected orders. Along with this question, make sure to ask if that 3PL hires temporary or seasonal workers. If they answer yes, be sure they explain their wareh

Even in the year 2017 it seems that outsourced order fulfillment is still a very misunderstood process. Some direct-to-consumer retailers are all-in and couldn’t imagine running their businesses without help from a 3PL, while others believe that outsourcing their fulfillment to a 3pl will ruin their business entirely. After careful research and observation I have come up with and listed three commonly-believed myths about outsourced fulfillment operations in hopes to alleviat

It shouldn't be a shock that eCommerce sales grew tremendously in the past few years, increasing more than 15% from 2015 to 2016 and from the looks of it, it will only grow even more. Many stores that are still standing are turning toward online to survive which in turn has them partner with a third party fulfillment service to help support their online sales. Below I have listed some of the most important trends that are impacting fulfillment this year. 1: Mobile orders: It'

Why does a central location matter so much? The distance your orders need to travel to get to customers has a direct impact on costs. Longer delivery means more drive time and more expenses to keep the trucks on the road. Your fulfillment center should be as centrally located in the U.S. as possible to minimize your shipping costs. This optimizes the average distance of your shipments, and optimizes your shipping expenses. It’s important to keep in mind when searching for a f

Before starting any business it’s important to define your business values. Why do you stand out from the rest and what makes you excited and proud to do the work you do? Customers, especially potential customers want to know this and hear it over and over again. It’s your values that reflect what your business is and becomes. Expressing that to your customers shows you have passion and commitment to your business. Happy customers are much more eager and willing to share tha

As an ecommece retailer I am sure you have more often than you'd like, lower or offer prices lower than your competitors. Although your customers love this, it's bad for you, the seller. This can leave you with thin gross profit margins sometimes less than your shipping and fulfillment costs. By selling in "multi-unit" sales you can overcome this obstacle all the while still appeasing your customers. In the example below offering a $5 flat rate shipping produces a net incom

Do you have a small business and want to increase your sales? Working with Port City Fulfillment, you can streamline the order process for customers and save your business a lot of money on the infrastructure necessary to get orders shipped out to customers quickly and efficiently. A small business that operates with a small staff can partner with a fulfillment company allowing them to compete with their larger competitors making it easier to get positioned in their industry