Bizz Lise

Amazon.com Inc's China arm has registered as an ocean freight forwarder, according to the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, a move that will give it more control over shipping products from Chinese factories to U.S. shoppers.  Amazon, new freight forwarder Its new status as a freight forwarder, or “ non-vessel operating common carrier ,” gives Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, a foothold in the $350 billion a year ocean freight business. It will not operate ships but subcontract that work. Amazon  is already negotiating a deal to  lease 20 jets to start an air-delivery service  in the United States. The retailer  bought truck trailers to add shipping capacity  and started a program last year that uses a  f leet of on-demand drivers to deliver packages . More than 10.000 parcels in a single container More than 10,000 parcels can fit in a single container, so the price for the ocean freight leg could be as low as $0.135 ...

In general, outsourcing your order fulfillment offers the following advantages.

The following article gives you an insight on the pro's and con's of outsourcing ecommerce fulfillment. Strangely the arguments pro are also the arguments contra for outsourcing this activity. It's all about know- how, convenience, speed shipment and saving on cost for logistics. So basicly it's up to you and your company to determine what to do. Either which way you go make a good analysis of your situation, your business and your customers. Good luck

There are several reasons why traditional warehouses are not best suited to e-commerce logistics.  Firstly, the choice of online consumers is no longer limited to the products available in the shop. Consumers want to be able to order any product at any moment in any quantity. As a consequence, there is a shift in supply-chain thinking from “push” to “pull”. In a push model, suppliers “push” their products to consumers through the distribution channel. In the pull model, consumers create the demand and suppliers respond.

A successful transition to outsourcing with a 3PL is a process that depends on a variety of factors that differ from business to business. The decision to outsource will depend on the company's operation plans, goals, product lines, expansion, acquisitions, etc. Before making this decision, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study and document the advantages, challenges and cost benefits of outsourcing.