If you are thinking of opening an e-commerce store or you already have a small business e-commerce store then you must be worried about the pressure to deliver those orders on time. It is worth noting that setting up your business, growing it and getting orders is just one part of the story. You also need to deliver these orders and they need to be on time otherwise your reputation as a small business could be ruined.
Nowadays, you don’t need to handle everything on your own as there are now small business fulfillment services available that handle the shipping and delivery part of the process so you need to only worry about the other end.
We also recommend you to get a small business fulfillment service for your e-commerce business as you don’t need to have a headache of fulfillment at an early stage and you would also know that having a warehouse rented or owning one is a huge challenge so why bother about it in the early stages of your business.
A fulfillment service is a service that handles all the tasks related to order processing and shipping as well as selecting the optimal location and everything so that you don’t need to worry about those things and you can instead focus on growing your business even further.
10 Best Small Business Fulfillment Services in 2023
While the major e-commerce businesses will have their own fulfillment centers as well as they have a lot of people taking care of the order processing and delivery, this is not available for small businesses.
Therefore, in this article, we are going to introduce you to the 10 Best Small Business Fulfillment Service Providers around the world that get the job done and will help you grow your small business.
1. ShipBob
ShipBob is the first small business fulfillment service for e-commerce on our list and the reason is that it is one of the best services for e-commerce fulfillment out there with a very high satisfaction rating from the customers. ShipBob has warehouses located all around the world which is the reason why they can ship your products from anywhere and deliver them to your customers as soon as the order gets placed on your website.
One thing that ShipBob has going for it is the awesome interface as well as easy to set up procedure which makes things quite fun and efficient. Once your order is placed and ShipBob checks your inventory, they can then dispatch your order to the customer and it will get delivered with minimum shipping times as well as reduced costs too.
Talking about the pricing, ShipBob’s pricing page does not reflect the exact prices as per orders but it does tell you to fill a form and request pricing and we are sure that they would get back to you as soon as possible. One thing that ShipBob does very well is it has a self-service Growth plan that is available for customers who have under 400 orders per month as well.
2. Simpl
Simpl also provides you the full small business fulfillment services that you need to manage your orders, handle deliveries as well as get the idea of how much stock is left in your warehouse and much more.
Simpl is very easy to use and it also provides excellent logistics and order fulfillment solutions to get things done. The pricing page on Simpl is also very similar to ShipBob where they tell you to mention the order quantity every month and they give you a customized quote.
However, we did like the fact that Simpl claims to provide all-in order fees starting at just $6 per order and they also have a flat fee per every order based on the weight of your package so you don’t need to keep guessing about what the price per order would be.
3. ShipMonk
ShipMonk is next on our list of the best small business fulfillment services in the e-commerce market right now. Compared to ShipBob and Simpl, ShipMonk has one major advantage which is that it integrates with Amazon which means you can take advantage of Amazon’s fulfillment services and have the advantage of your orders being fulfilled by Amazon itself. You can also take advantage of being an Amazon Prime seller which, as we already know, is a major boost for getting orders.
ShipMonk is quite easy to use and provides an intuitive system based on four modules that are used to manage inventory, orders, shipping and warehousing. As far as pricing is concerned, ShipMonk charges $3 per first pickup of the order if the order quantity is less than 500 orders per month and the price goes down as the orders increase.
4. Saltbox
Saltbox is one of the best small business fulfillment service and it is mainly designed for startups and businesses that don’t have a lot of orders right now but are growing. There are no minimum monthly orders or onboarding fees when you join Saltbox and the only thing that you need to do is ship your inventory to Saltbox and they will take care of the rest.
Saltbox offers fulfillment services as well as workspace and warehousing services which means that you have everything covered at one destination, and it is attractive because of the fact that it provides discounted shipping rates for UPS, FedEx, and DHL as well.
5. Whitebox
Whitebox is a fulfillment service that is different compared to the rest as it does charge you an onboarding fee of $3000 per month but it eliminates all the fees and costs that are associated with other platforms and it gives you a great idea of how you need to manage your business with its excellent customer support, stock maintenance, quality control and everything else.
One thing that Whitebox does not provide or is not clear from their website is full-on fulfillment services that the others provide which means that you can’t just ship your packages to their warehouse and they will handle the rest. Instead, they provide you the software and tools that are needed to optimize the shipping and handling process.
6. Shopify Fulfillment Network
Shopify Fulfillment Network is relatively new and launched by Shopify very recently and this will be the first time that Shopify enters the physical e-commerce space after already giving a platform for e-commerce owners to have their own stores and get sales. While Shopify’s Fulfillment Network is new, it is worth noting that it does have a huge brand name behind it which means that a lot of trust can be put on it right from the beginning.
The best part about Shopify Fulfillment Network is also that it can take as less as 10 orders per day to as much as thousands of orders per day which means that you can have a business of any size and still you can make use of the platform. We need to mention that Shopify does not store your inventory in their own warehouses but they did via its 3PL network of fulfillment centers that are available across the US and Canada.
7. Fulfillment by Amazon
Fulfillment by Amazon is one of the best fulfillment services for small businesses but the only area where you might find its shortcomings is that you need to sell your products via Amazon only. There is no way that you can use Fulfillment by Amazon but not sell your products via Amazon. This is a limitation but it can be seen as an advantage as well.
The fees of orders for Fulfillment by Amazon are based on weight and size which means that you can reduce the fees if you sell smaller items that are relatively lighter in weight. As we already know, Amazon’s shipping network is one of the best in the world which means that your customers will be fully satisfied with the delivery process.
8. FedEx Fulfillment
FedEx fulfillment is a small business fulfillment service that you can trust not only because of the brand name associated with it but also because of the service it provides and the customer feedback it has gathered over the years. Customers also receive shipping discounts if they choose FedEx which is a win-win for both ends of the spectrum but the only thing you need to be aware of is that it has a minimum monthly order limit of 400.
9. ShipWire
ShipWire is an excellent choice if you are going to select it for your small business fulfillment because it handles all the delivery as well as allows businesses to sell directly to customers and even integrates quite easily with Walmart and Target as well. ShipWire currently has 120 warehouses across 45 different countries which means that you can order from just about anywhere and will get your order delivered on time.
ShipWire’s website says that they already have more than 10M+ square foot of warehouse space and they deliver to 164 different countries across the globe which means that you choose this fulfillment service if your store is available all over the world. It also handles reverse logistics for your orders which means that customers don’t have to worry about returning the orders as well.
10. ShipHero
ShipHero is different from other small business fulfillment services as it charges the customers differently as compared to others. First of all, there are no set-up charges which means you can join ShipHero for free and also there is no fees per orders but the fees are divided on picking, packing and postage and storage fees are extra. You can start at 5.29$ per order and the storage charges start at $0.65 per cubic foot.
There is a warehousing software provided by ShipHero as well and you need to pay $1850 per month to use it but it could be well worth the time and effort needed to sort the inventory and manage it. ShipHero also provides its fully automated network of company-owned fulfillment centers in the US.
