10 key questions to ask potential fulfilment partners

When looking to outsource retail fulfilment, finding the right partner is essential for you to deliver in line with customers’ expectations. After all, however great the purchase process is, if customers are let down by the delivery, their experience will be negative and this can be very costly. In fact, 72.5% of people will stop recommending a retailer after a poor delivery experience. To streamline the process, we reveal 10 key questions to ask potential fulfilment partners.

Knowing what to ask will help you to not only find a fulfilment partner to meet your requirements, but one that also understands your business and facilitates potential future growth.

10 questions to ask potential fulfilment partners

These 10 questions will help you to identify the most suitable partners to take care of your fulfilment.

1. Can you integrate with my existing systems?

A fulfilment partner can simplify operations by automatically fulfilling orders as they are placed on your website. However, for this to be seamless, they must have the right technology in place to integrate with your inventory or stock management systems.

Explain your existing processes, find out how potential fulfilment partners can integrate with your systems and request a demonstration wherever possible, to make sure they are compatible.

2. Do you understand my product offering?

Fulfilment is much more than simply shipping packages. The type of products you sell will determine the types of packaging needed to protect them in transit, as well as factors such as refrigeration or shelf life needing planning for if you are selling perishable products.

Make sure the fulfilment company understands the products that you sell, as well as the implications of this, to ensure they can meet your requirements.

3. Is the fulfilment contract long-term?

Before getting into any contract with a fulfilment partner, it is important to understand how long you are tied into using them for. This is particularly important if you realise they are not a good fit and wish to terminate the contract. Having short-term agreements that can be renewed, or operating on a month-by-month basis are the lower risk types of agreements.

4. What is your accuracy rate?

Knowing a potential fulfilment partner’s accuracy rate can help you to understand how reliable they are. Make sure you request the accuracy rate based on the number of orders, rather than the number of boxes, as this can skew the percentages.

5. What happens if there is an issue?

Find out what happens in the case of an error. Points to discuss include how mistakes are rectified and whether the fulfilment provider incurs the cost for the shipping on their own mistakes, as well as retrieval of incorrect items.

6. Will I have a dedicated account manager?

Find out whether you will have a specific account manager or team that is responsible for overseeing your fulfilment operations.

Dedicated account managers are best suited to those that require regular communication or somebody that can act on their behalf within the warehouse. Having a team that is responsible for your fulfilment can work well in scenarios where fulfilment requirements are not particularly complex.

7. What are your minimum and maximum order requirements?

Ask what each fulfilment company’s minimum and maximum order quantities are. Ideally, there will be scope to upgrade or downsize your operations, should demand change. The perfect fulfilment partner will be able to grow alongside your business, increasing the order size as required.

8. Will you insure my stock?

To protect your inventory, your choice of fulfilment partner should have insurance coverage for events such as flood, fire, theft and accidental damage within their facility. Find out which coverage they have, as well as the claims procedures, so you can have peace of mind.

9. Can you give a service guarantee?

Service guarantees are relatively common in the fulfilment industry. Asking for one of these can give reassurance of delivery shipment times, as well as what happens if these expectations are not adhered to.

10. Can you help with customer service?

To streamline customer service and deal with ‘Where is my order?’ enquiries, it is important to know whether or not your fulfilment partner can help with customer service. If they do not, you need close communication, so you can update customers yourself. If they do offer customer service, it is key to make sure they can align with your brand values, handling complaints in a way that you are happy with.

If this is not discussed, it can lead to significant reputational damage, as customers are left feeling ignored.

Overview: Questions to ask potential fulfilment partners

By asking these 10 questions of any potential fulfilment partner, you can make sure they are able to offer the level of service that you require.

This post first featured in the Modern Retail Guide to Fulfilment.