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Amazon offers a lot of winning opportunities for merchants. But you have guessed it right – the access to global shoppers with a solid intent to buy costs a lot, and the Amazon FBA program is one to prove it. According to it, the marketplace takes responsibility for your order storage and shipment. Still, indeed you have to pay for such support. Unfortunately, Amazon FBA fees are pretty high, especially for novice sellers, and that’s why many of them are looking for the best Amazon FBA alternatives to both cut costs and avoid the order processing job.
Below are the fulfillment services you are welcome to consider as alternatives to Amazon FBA and long-term sales channel diversification.
Best Amazon Fulfillment Center Alternatives
ShipBob
It is the most popular service on the best Amazon FBA alternatives list. The goal is to support eCommerce businesses on their growth journey. The company takes responsibility for packaging and delivering the orders to the end customers with a 99.9% satisfaction rate. It serves more than 5000 eCommerce businesses, including but not limited to Amazon FBA sellers, and promises a 13% cost reduction and 120 saved hours per week for your customer service team.
The pricing may seem higher than FBA fees, but in practice, you can apply for a custom package and perfectly tailor the servicing terms to your business needs.
ShipMonk
Being one more popular alternative to Amazon FBA, ShipMonk takes the data-driven approach to eCommerce fulfillment and running this business as a whole. In addition to the fact that the company takes on the order shipment responsibility, their platform perfectly integrates with an eCommerce website, supply chain management solutions, and other necessary software so that you can always stay aware of each stage of order processing.
Also, there is a dedicated subscription package for Amazon sellers. In contrast, the fees are lower than the ones offered by the platform. As one more beneficial perk, the solution provides an instant calculator to quickly determine your savings and benefits when using their services.
FedEx Fulfillment
FedEx is one of the most popular logistics companies worldwide. But when it comes to their eCommerce fulfillment services, there are more questions than answers. For example, they don’t disclose the terms and conditions for fulfillment servicing, and you also have to get in touch with them to find out more about the pricing. Still, partnering with FedEx makes sense because of the top-notch reputation of the provider and the ability to be sure they will ship orders as you expected. Also, you can expect faster and global delivery with FedEx since they have warehouses, fulfillment centers, and servicing points in most countries you can ship Amazon products to.
eFulfilment Service
It is one of the top Amazon FBA alternatives, since the efulfillment service has been here to support eCommerce businesses and help them avoid routine tasks for 20 years. The company’s satisfaction rate is 99.7% – the highest among AMZ FBA alternatives we review in this article. As the name suggests, the company entirely relies on supply chain management and warehouse technology to satisfy both the eCommerce businesses and their end customers.
As for their shipping costs and storage fees, you have to contact the company directly to find them out. eFulfillment also has solutions for startups, international businesses, and marketplaces.
ShipWire
It is an order fulfillment for those who bet on innovative technologies and data-driven eCommerce and supply chain management approaches. The company offers a cloud platform to manage your orders domestically and internationally. There are also opportunities for B2B and B2C retailers, plus dropshipping options.
The fulfillment fees will depend on your solution since the company provides several apps for different business goals. You have to get in touch with the support team to discuss the best terms and conditions that suit your business.
Rakuten Logistics
It is a good choice for those merchants shipping their orders across the United States only. The company promises a 100% delivery, fulfillment, and satisfaction rate. It also allows customers to track their order statuses and partner with globally leading logistic vendors, like UPS and DHL. Furthermore, Rakuten offers different fulfillment services to better tailor the collaboration terms to the business needs, integrates with the most popular eCommerce solutions and promises a sustainable approach to logistics for those businesses that prioritize eco-friendliness. In addition, the pricing is customized depending on the use case.
More Tactics to Consider As an Alternative to Fulfillment by Amazon
There are a lot of fulfillment vendors to choose from. But before making the final decision, make sure you have reviewed and compared all the options available. Below are some additional ideas you can consider as an alternative to using Amazon FBA.
- Fulfillment by Merchant. As the name suggests, this opportunity means you must process and ship your orders independently. Honestly, this is the best option for novice sellers since, in this way, you avoid extra costs and learn to manage the orders on your own. Consider this tactic if you are getting started. When the amount of orders reaches such a level that you need more hands, you will be able to switch to Amazon FBA anytime.
- Seller Fulfilled Prime (SPF). This tactic means making your products Prime-eligible and fulfilling the orders on your own. Indeed, focusing on Prime members makes a lot of sense since many AMZ users choose the marketplace just because of the Prime subscription.
- Dropshipping. Following a dropshipping business model can be a strategy for those who don’t want to deal with an order shipment. In this case, the order delivery is the responsibility of your supplier. As you have guessed, the choice of supplier means a lot in this case.
Why Do You Need Amazon FBA Services Alternatives?
A variety of benefits are available with FBA, such as access to the platform’s colossal fulfillment center network and AMZ Prime badges on product pages. The downside of this method is its fulfillment fees and limitations, which make it not a satisfactory option for many online brands. However, Amazon FBA alternatives allow you to get things that FBA doesn’t provide:
Control your stock
Amazon fulfillment centers aren’t intended to hold stock or be long-term storage. During the active holiday season, AMZ penalizes merchants with a low merchandise turnover rate or whose products have been stored for too long. Managing and understanding your merchandise is crucial to your AMZ selling and shipping strategy.
Add your branding
The platform’s FBA service lets sellers ship their goods in Amazon-branded packages. Thus, the marketplace’s branding is front and center via your shipping – you cannot create your brand experience. It might not be a deal-breaker when you want to develop your company outside of AMZ or redirect clients to a separate site for their next purchases. However, it’s crucial to be aware of this.
Stop paying additional fees
FBA costs on the platform can be variable and complicated. Other than the seller commission, AMZ charges fulfillment expenses as well as inventory storage commissions.
- In addition to picking, packing, and shipping every order, the FBA fulfillment cost includes the entire process.
- Your goods will be stored in AMZ fulfillment centers as part of the FBA storage price.
In both cases, pricing can vary due to many factors, such as seasonality (AMZ storage is more expensive during winter around the holidays) and product categories (for instance, FBA adds $0.40/unit to apparel). A merchant who ignores AMZ’s strict packaging, labeling, and FBA prep rules will be charged extra fees.
Top Amazon FBA Alternatives: Conclusion
Regardless of your order fulfillment approach, remember that you still have to make your products attractive to the shoppers. Gathering social proof is one of the tactics to help you. With the help of SageMailer, you can automatically ask for user feedback and manage it faster and better.
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