How a 3PL Can Simplify Your Amazon FBM Operation

Overwhelmed with your Amazon FBM fulfillment tasks but want to avoid FBA services? Consider outsourcing fulfillment to a 3PL warehouse.

E-commerce businesses who sell on Amazon often choose to keep fulfillment duties in house with a Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) strategy. Rather than hand off fulfillment services to an Amazon facility, the merchant controls fulfillment on their own. It’s a sound approach for merchants who prefer to keep close control of their brand development and want to avoid the costs of the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program. But even with its advantages, FBM can become unwieldy for growing businesses.

If your business is struggling with fulfillment duties, you may want to consider hiring some help. Outsourcing FBM to a 3PL can keep the strategy’s advantages while freeing up time and energy to focus on your business.

Why Choose FBM Over FBA in the First Place?

Choosing a Fulfilled by Merchant approach for your Amazon sales can bring considerable advantages.

• Branding: You’ll have the ability to package and prep your merchandise in a way that supports your individual brand. Rather than going out in an Amazon box, your products will reach consumers’ doors with packaging that points directly to your brand. This kind of control is ideal for building an identity and familiarity with consumers.
• Compliance: Amazon’s FBA program has strict compliance rules that require specific preparations. Going with a FBM solution bypasses the compliance prep stage, simplifying your fulfillment operation.
• Cost and Margins: Choosing a FBM approach can simply be more affordable for some shippers. You can bypass the fees of Amazon fulfillment services and avoid the potential penalties of compliance mistakes. Done correctly, it can leave room for higher profit margins.

Third-Party FBM Solutions

Outsourcing fulfillment to a third-party logistics provider is a helpful third option for many businesses. Taking on the responsibilities of Amazon order fulfillment can often prove a tougher task than some e-commerce operations expect. Working with a 3PL can help retain FBM flexibility while freeing up time and energy to focus on other parts of your business.

A quality 3PL can store your inventory at a warehouse location, package and prep products for shipping after orders are received, and hand off items to parcel carriers in a timely manner. Operations like these can tailor custom-fit fulfillment strategies for Amazon orders, instead of the one-size-fits-all approach of the FBA program. And 3PL fulfillment services typically run more affordable rates that retain the cost benefits of FBM.

Reach Out to Scarbrough Warehousing to Learn More About FBM

Scarbrough Warehousing offers FBM services to help businesses of all varieties streamline their Amazon order fulfillment methods. Our warehousing teams can establish an individualized fulfillment strategy that supports your branding and helps deliver Amazon orders on time and in full. Reach out today to find out more.