Fulfillment Service Shortlist
Here’s the list of the best tools that I’ll cover in this article.
According to Insider Intelligence, worldwide ecommerce sales are expected to reach $5 trillion in 2022. That’s a lot of products—and a lot of products to ship. Small to mid-sized ecommerce businesses often don’t have the capacity to own their own warehouse and handle order fulfillment on the scale their growing customer base demands. If you find yourself in this predicament, consider leveraging a fulfillment company to pick up this slack.
The best fulfillment services will be able to offer personalized ecommerce order fulfillment solutions, clean integration with your sales channels, and all-inclusive warehouse logistics. Simply put: they can store, pick, pack, ship, and track the products you are selling in your online store.
In this article, I’ll go over some of the best efulfillment service options and outline what makes them great, what each does best according to my own honest review, and how much they cost.
What are Fulfillment Services?
Fulfillment services are third-party logistics providers that handle the storage, picking, packing, and shipping of products on behalf of businesses. These companies specialize in managing the supply chain process, from receiving inventory to delivering products to customers.
Fulfillment services can store products in their own warehouses or in a shared space, allowing businesses to outsource the entire process of order fulfillment. They use specialized software to manage orders, track inventory levels, and optimize shipping routes. By outsourcing fulfillment to a specialized provider, businesses can save time and resources, reduce shipping costs, and improve the accuracy and speed of order processing.
How I Selected the Best Fulfillment Services
If you're wondering how I selected the best fulfillment services, here's where I'll break it all down for you. First of all, I started with fulfillment services that have high customer review and satisfaction ratings. Then, using my experience in ecommerce management, I discerned what key criteria were most important for fulfillment services and compared how each of them stacked up against the rest.
I empathize with how much time it takes to source the right company for a job. I do this work so that you don't have to. I've been using fulfillment services for years so you can trust me to do the heavy lifting and compile all the facts you need to make your final decision.
If you have more general questions about fulfillment strategy, you can skip to our FAQ at the bottom of the page. Or, you can jump right to the best fulfillment services overviews if you're ready to start comparing.
Comparison Criteria
After careful consideration, I've determined that these are the most important criteria when selecting the best fulfillment services. Here's a brief list outlining the whats and whys of my selection.
Customer Service:
Customer experience is crucial when choosing a fulfillment service company because it can directly impact the customer's experience with your business. The fulfillment service is responsible for delivering your products to your customers, and any mistakes or delays can result in dissatisfied customers. A company with excellent customer service can help resolve any issues quickly and efficiently, ensuring that customers receive their orders on time and in good condition.
Fulfillment Centers:
Ecommerce companies like Amazon have set a precedent for lightning-fast deliveries, so customers expect quick deliveries. So, you’ve got to ensure that your fulfillment service provider has fulfillment centers close to your customers. Different fulfillment services may have different reach, so you need to choose accordingly.
Services Offered:
While some services are a must-have (like owning and operating distribution centers, basic order processing, and so on), others are just really, really nice to have. Or they are case-specific. For example, I might evaluate a service for their dropshipping, labeling, inserts, subscription boxes, or two-day shipping...all while knowing that each of these things is important to a particular customer niche and may not be needed across the board. I try to review a variety of ecommerce fulfillment company options to cover all of these bases.
Integrations:
I look for a fulfillment provider that can integrate with your online selling platform of choice, be it a Shopify store, Amazon, or social media. Although fulfillment services are a third-party provider, their data and updates need to feed into your store backend in real-time in order for everything to run smoothly.
Pricing:
I look for fulfillment companies with flexible pricing plans to suit every need; scalability and transparency are key!
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Overviews Of The 10 Best Fulfillment Services
Here’s a brief description of each fulfillment service solution to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
ShipBob
Best for personalized unboxing experiences
ShipBob handles everything from your inventory to order fulfillment. So, all you’ve got to do is send your products to one of its fulfillment centers, and the platform will ensure your orders are fulfilled on time.
The best part is that you can offer 2-day express shipping and increase your average order value and conversion rate with the software’s distributed inventory. This feature strategically splits inventories across different locations so your customers get their inventories from the warehouse closest to them. Additionally, the feature also reduces shipping costs and brings more savings to your bottom line.
Users prefer ShipBob for its intuitive interface, efficient shipping process, and speed to scale. In other words, they can go global by outsourcing fulfillment while simultaneously maintaining complete control over the process.
ShipBob offers customized pricing upon request.
ShipStation
Best for multiple storefronts
Shipstation integrates with over 200 ecommerce tools like carriers, fulfillment services, inventory platforms, and online marketplaces to streamline your order fulfillment process. The platform is extremely useful for shop owners who sell their products on multiple platforms and use multiple carrier providers to fulfill their orders.
It lets shop owners view all orders from a single platform and offers instant discounts without volume requirements for selected carriers. Users love it because it lets them switch shipping providers effortlessly. Additionally, the intuitive features allow even the least tech-savvy users to automate order management and ship orders on time.
The best part is that their services scale as the store grows, and the support is on-point, so you get a team that helps you grow from day one.
Shipstation’s pricing starts at $9/month and goes up to $159/month for the most complex store requirements.
ShipMonk
Best for small to mid-sized businesses
ShipMonk helps small to medium-sized businesses achieve sustainable and scalable growth by handling everything from inventory management to order fulfillment. The platform offers 65+ API integrations that allow store owners to manage inventory and fulfill orders from a single platform.
It also forecasts stockouts so store owners can restock products beforehand and eliminate an overstock problem. Additionally, users can calculate shipping prices easily and offer customers attractive international shipping rates to improve their bottom line.
ShipMonk offers customized pricing upon request.
Fulfillment by Amazon
Best for leveraging Amazon fulfillment centers globally
Amazon FBA helps third-party sellers automate their order fulfillment and shipping. In other words, Amazon takes full responsibility for picking, packing, and shipping the products. The best part is that store owners get access to Amazon’s 24×7 customer service, and it also processes returns.
Apart from these benefits, store-owners also love that Amazon offers customized, pocket-friendly solutions according to the products they sell. For instance, shop owners who sell small products like makeup brushes can enroll in the FBA Small and Light program.
Amazon FBA offers customized pricing upon request.
ShipHero
Best for rate shopping
ShipHero is great for ecommerce brands that maintain their own warehouse and rely on third-party logistics (3PL) to fulfill their orders. The software syncs inventory across multiple stores and has tools to optimize warehouse management which in turn helps the brand scale fulfillment.
Users love the software’s SKU kits feature as it allows them to improve picking efficiency by allowing them to track the locations of various products in the warehouse. It also comes with various order automation rules (adding boxes for necklaces) and billing options you can apply to your customers to help you fulfill orders on time.
The software is also relatively easy to use, and shop owners claim that it doesn’t take more than 15 minutes to train new warehouse employees and get the ball rolling.
Shiphero’s pricing plans start at $499/month, and if you want to throw in an extra set of tools for 3PL the pricing jumps to $1,995/month.
Saltbox
Best for small-sized subscription businesses
Starting a subscription business is tough work because it involves high customer acquisition and marketing costs. When you add order fulfillment to the mix, it can quickly transform your subscription-based business into a logistics company, and that’s not good for your bottom line.
This is where Saltbox comes in. Its flexible logistics solutions help subscription businesses scale up and down as needed. Their users get labor on demand and warehouse space at reasonable rates, which is otherwise difficult for small business owners. Another thing users love about Saltbox, apart from its flexibility, is that it also lets them offer same-day delivery. This allows them to compete against big players and retain customers.
Saltbox offers customized pricing upon request.
Bolt
Best sustainable 3PL option
If you’re big on going green to save the planet while fulfilling orders, Bolt should be your go-to partner. It ships inventory to fulfillment centers closest to your customers to reduce the carbon footprint and ensure that there’s no compromise on timely deliveries.
Additionally, their technology offers better visibility into inventory, order status, and shipment tracking by giving access to delivery proof complete with photos and signatures and real-time execution timing and delivery status.
It also offers reverse logistics options that help store owners give unsold items a second life through furniture banks. Customers also love Bolt’s transparency in reporting and high delivery accuracy rate as it helps them improve their brand reputation and increase their orders.
Bolt offers customized pricing upon request.
OWD
Best for electronic data interchange (EDI) compliance
If you’re planning on selling through marketplaces like Walmart, staying EDI compliant is mandatory. This is where OWD comes in handy. Its Omni-Fill solution creates kits and package items, helps store owners adhere to compliance with EDI integrations, and ensures that orders are shipped correctly and on time. But that’s not all.
Users prefer OWD for their customer support and the ability to scale alongside their business without burning a hole in their pocket.
OWD offers customized pricing upon request.
eShipper
Best for Canadian shipping services
If you’re an ecommerce store owner who sells on multiple channels, eShipper is your best retail fulfillment option. Once you connect your store to its portal and send your products to its warehouses, eShipper will take care of inventory management and shipping products to customers on time.
They also offer customized shipping solutions that enable you to offer same-day delivery or overnight shipping. If you’ve got additional requirements like storing food products, the platform has cold storage options that can scale according to your needs.
Additionally, eShipper’s in-house Amazon experts will help fulfill orders upon arrival if you want to sell on Amazon. And store owners don’t have to book an appointment to get their inventory to Amazon fulfillment centers as eShipper’s experts also work with Amazon-approved LTL carriers.
eShipper offers customized pricing upon request.
Shipfusion
Best for inventory management help
If you sell nutraceuticals or food products online, Shipfusion has you covered with its FDA-compliant supply chain storage and end-to-end order fulfillment. The platform also integrates with multiple ecommerce marketplaces, and its developers ensure that you get accurate data to fuel your decision-making process.
Apart from winning at technical aspects of the order fulfillment process, Shipfusion also wins at exceptional customer service, which is why customers love it. The platform assigns a dedicated account manager who works with the company and helps them scale in addition to helping them with order fulfillment problems.
Shipfusion offers customized pricing upon request.
The 10 Best Fulfillment Services Summary
| Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  ShipBob Best for personalized unboxing experiences | Free demo | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 2 | ShipStation Best for multiple storefronts | Not available | From $9/month | Visit Website |
| 3 | ShipMonk Best for small to mid-sized businesses | Not available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 4 |  Fulfillment by Amazon Best for leveraging Amazon fulfillment centers globally | Not available | From $39.99/month | Visit Website |
| 5 |  ShipHero Best for rate shopping | 30-day free trial | From $499/month | Visit Website |
| 6 |  Saltbox Best for small-sized subscription businesses | Not available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 7 |  Bolt Best sustainable 3PL option | Free demo | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 8 |  OWD Best for electronic data interchange (EDI) compliance | Not available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 9 |  eShipper Best for Canadian shipping services | Not available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 10 |  Shipfusion Best for inventory management help | Not available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
Other Options
Here are a few more that didn’t make the top list.
- Shipwire - Global fulfillment and 3PL services for brands and retailers.
- Fulfillment Warehouse - Fulfillment service located near LAX with 150,000 square foot warehouse plus extra off-site storage.
- Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) - Network of fulfillment centers managed by Shopify with ~2 day shipping to most of the USA.
- Deliverr - Fulfillment company with next day Delivery on qualifying Google, Shopify, and Facebook Ads.
- Rakuten Super Logistics - Order fulfillment and 3PL experts powered by a US nationwide fulfillment center network.
- Falcon Fulfillment - Fulfillment service company with 2 day shipping available in 48 US states (via ground shipping).
- Simpl Fulfillment - Ecommerce order fulfillment company that prides themselves on intuitively and ease-of-use.
- Ruby Has - 3PL provider that recently joined with ShipMonk.
- Red Stag Fulfillment - Cloud-based order fulfillment for B2B and B2C ecommerce companies with an 100% order accuracy guarantee.
- Whiplash - Nationwide omnichannel fulfillment provider for ecommerce, retail, and wholesale.
- eFulfillment Service - Orders from Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Buy on Google, and more, in one centralized dashboard.
- FedEx Fulfillment - Modular and scalable fulfillment solution with hub-based warehousing for both forward and reverse logistics.
- Fulfillment.com - High volume worldwide ecommerce fulfillment services with pre-negotiated volume discounts.
- Fulfillment Bridge - Global all-in-one fulfillment logistics service provider with solutions for everything from crowdfunding to Amazon sales.
You can also check out our list of the best ecommerce shipping software if that’s more in line with what you need.
People Also Ask
Here are a smattering of questions I wanted to get the jump on answering while we're on the topic of fulfillment services.
What are the Benefits of Using a Fulfillment Service?
Using a fulfillment service can provide several benefits for businesses. Firstly, it allows businesses to outsource the time-consuming and complex process of storing, picking, packing, and shipping products to a specialized third-party service. This frees up business owners' time and resources, allowing them to focus on other aspects of their business, such as marketing, product development, and customer service.
Secondly, fulfillment services often have larger and more efficient warehouses, allowing businesses to scale their operations and handle a higher volume of orders. Thirdly, fulfillment services can often negotiate better shipping rates with carriers, reducing shipping costs for businesses. Lastly, outsourcing fulfillment can improve the accuracy and speed of order processing, leading to faster delivery times, fewer errors, and ultimately, happier customers.
What are Fulfillment Services' Key Functions?
I’ve listed a few factors that’ll help you choose the right fulfillment service for you.
- Order Management: It’s important to choose a provider who streamlines and automates the receiving, tracking, and fulfillment of orders as it helps you scale by ensuring that orders are shipped and delivered without delays.
- Logistics: ecommerce logistics refers to all the steps that happen after a customer places the order. It includes everything from the chain of suppliers to the delivery and return of packages. You want to ensure that your fulfillment service provider comes with a strong logistics management service as it directly impacts your brand reputation, loyalty, and sales.
- Inventory management: A good fulfillment service updates inventory in real-time and makes accurate inventory forecasts, so ecommerce business owners can restock inventory and avoid overselling problems.
- Scalable shipping: Supply and demand drive all businesses. So you want to partner with a fulfillment service provider that has ties with shipping providers that can scale up and down depending on the order volume. Obviously, stuff like delivery times (two-day delivery, anyone?), storage fees, and returns management are considerations here.
- Transparency and visibility: Trust is the most important factor in building long-term customer relationships and scaling your business. And the best way to build trust with consumers is to choose a fulfillment partner who gives you complete visibility into their fulfillment process, delivers products on time, and allows consumers to track their shipment in real-time.
What's Next?
Okay, this is a bit of a cheat question. But I genuinely want to shout out a few of our fulfillment strategy content so bear with me. If you're looking into fulfillment services, you might also like:
- A Guide To The Global Order Fulfillment Process
- Order Fulfillment Strategy: Ecommerce Dropshipping Guide (Pros And Cons)
- 10 Best Order Fulfillment Software
What Do You Think About This List?
An efulfillment service can be the “missing link” in your supply chain between you and your customers. They are a key part of scaling up, satisfying customers, and honing your B2C or B2B efficiency.
Now it’s your turn: Let us know what you think! Who do you think is the best order fulfillment service? What fulfillment services have you tried—and what do you think of them? Is there an ecommerce fulfillment solution that you think we missed on this list? Let us know in the comments.
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