With the growing trends of vitamin and supplement sales, the health and wellness industry is growing extremely fast. A lot of that growth has been driven by ecommerce sales. With new vitamins and supplements coming out all the time, a lot of ecommerce sellers are asking about supplement fulfillment.
Let’s talk about the supplement and vitamin market. The growth is great news for you. The bad news, you have competitors and there’s no shortage of them. Think about it, supplements and vitamins are everywhere. You can buy them from retailers, pharmacies and countless drug store chains across the nation.
You may think, why does that matter? With so many options for customers, you need to stand out from the competition. Even more important, you need to figure out how you can go above and beyond to earn their business for life. Excellent customer service is the key.
One of the best ways to ensure your online supplement store offers customers the best possible service is by partnering with an experienced (3PL) third-party-logistics provider. A 3PL supplement fulfillment company like Thill has decades of experience in this exact industry and knows how to provide the right fulfillment solutions for your customers to meet their expectations at every level.
The Right Supplement And Vitamin 3PL
We know it can be tough to find the right 3PL order fulfillment company to help you but there’s a few key areas they need to be experienced in.
- Automating Order Fulfillment For Your Ecommerce Store
- Tracking Real-Time Data You Can Leverage
- A High Level Of Customer Service
- Meeting Customer Expectations
We’re going to break down each one so you understand exactly what to look for.
Automation Order Fulfillment For Your Ecommerce Store
The last thing you want to do is manually have to fulfill your orders and send them to your 3PL. You need a 3PL partner that has technology you can leverage right away. This means your orders will automatically be sent to the fulfillment center you partner with and they have the ability to integrate with your ecommerce store or marketplace.
Here at Thill, our order management software does just that, giving you vital real-time data you can analyze, interpret and base decisions off of. Our OMS integrates with;
With so many competitors out there, your supplement fulfillment partner must be able to help you automate your fulfillment process.
With the right 3PL technology, they will be able to help you with shipping carriers, inventory levels, order processing and shipping option maps. The 3PL will be able to send you notifications and alerts for a number of different things, such as reordering, low inventory and shipped products.
Tracking Real-Time Data You Can Leverage
Here at Thill, our technology allows you to track real-time data that will be vital to your decision making. It allows you to track multichannel sales, inventory updates and industry trends. With the supplement industry growing as it is, picking up on the trends can be a huge advantage to your company.
While trends are important, so is tracking the sales of your vitamin and supplement store. The right 3PL company will have the technology that allows you to pull reports that showcase your performance and allows you to accurately forecast inventory.
A High level Of Customer Service
There’s no question that customer service is vital to the success of your business. If you don’t have a seamless fulfillment process in place, it can lead to a lot of bad reviews and bad complaints, both which you don’t want.
While your vitamin and supplement business may not be at the point where you need to outsource fulfillment, things can change overnight. If you’re not prepared, a big jump in sales can be the downfall of your growing ecommerce business.
What about product returns? If you don’t have a team to handle product returns, it can stain your business for years to come. Doing your research now and considering hiring a vitamin and supplement fulfillment is the right move to make at this stage.
Meeting Customer Expectations
Don’t think shipping times matter to customers? You know they do, right? Customers expect affordable shipping and fast shipping. Delivery speed and cost are important to all ecommerce businesses and online sellers.
One way you can give your customers faster shipping is with distributed inventory. If you can choose to partner with a 3PL that has multiple fulfillment centers, it can help you reach your customers quicker and it can reduce your shipping cost.
Thill’s clients and partners are able to get their products to customers quickly because we have warehouses and fulfillment centers placed strategically throughout the United States. Thill also works with major shipping carriers to help you offer competitive shipping options to surpass your competition.
Choosing The Right Supplement Fulfillment 3PL Provider
Now, it’s up to you to do your due diligence. For your supplement business, choosing a 3PL with supplement industry experience is important. Choosing a 3PL company that has years of experience is equally important. Having a partner like Thill who has resources in place for the supplement industry is priceless.
If you want to talk to one of our fulfillment experts, you can reach us during business hours at 1-920-967-9201 or reach out via our contact form. We’d love the opportunity to talk about your specific fulfillment needs and our experience working with other supplement companies.
