Competitive 3PL Pricing Tailored for Your Fulfillment Needs
How does 3pl pricing work?
Pricing Tailored for You
Since fulfillment pricing is as unique as our clients, you won’t see a rate card on our website.
a2b Fulfillment specializes in building customized, professional, and scalable fulfillment solutions that fit your specific needs and goals. We begin by understanding your company, products, and order characteristics.
Our team of experts analyzes this information and then develops a highly customized 3PL pricing model solution tailored to you, along with associated fulfillment pricing. With this process, we can show you how our proposed solution will add value to your supply chain. Our goal is to present you with competitive, transparent, and sustainable fulfillment center pricing.
But don’t worry, this process is streamlined and can be accomplished quickly.
Why Customized Fulfillment Pricing is Beneficial?
Most 3PLs provide customized pricing since product characteristics and client goals vary. For example, pricing fulfillment for large and heavy products will require a different solution from small and light items. Orders that contain multiple lines/SKU’s are different from single item orders. There are countless other examples. By “boxing-in” a 3PL to provide a standard rate card (no pun intended), pricing is constructed as a worst-case scenario to protect the 3PL and, as a result, you will not get the best rate. Order fulfillment is a science and an experienced 3PL will need to understand the details to provide a fair price for both sides.
Fulfillment Costs to Expect
Common fulfillment pricing will include:
Standard Fulfillment Costs
All 3PL pricing models will include these basic costs:
- Onboarding – The one-time Onboarding or setup fee covers the time and resources needed to implement your onboarding quickly, effectively, and accurately in the least amount of time. You should expect several onboarding calls to outline and review your project plan and all tasks, responsibilities, and requirements. You and your 3PL must have a clear direction for successful and efficient onboarding.
- Inventory receiving – Initial inventory receiving is a huge project. This requires a dedicated warehouse inbound receiving team. This initial inbound inventory not only requires your 3PL to do preparation, but it also requires additional inventory quality control. Inbound receiving costs are usually on a per-unit or per-pallet basis.
- Storage – Inventory storage or warehousing fees are the amount you pay on a monthly basis for storing your inventory. These fees can range from per-SKU/unit or a fixed fee.
- Pick and Pack – These fees are associated with the order fulfillment process, which begins when an order is placed.
- Kitting – Kitting and other value-added service fees vary depending on the project. Kitting refers to the way products are assembled or prepared for shipping.
- Packaging – Packaging costs can vary depending on your needs. If you use standard packaging, these costs are usually fixed. At a2b, we partner with PackSize, which ensures that your packaging is right-sized. This means that your standard packaging will be the smallest available, saving you on shipping costs. But standard packaging is not for every business. Custom packaging (branded packaging) is vital for the consumer experience. Packaging costs will vary for custom packaging.
- Shipping – Shipping is by far the most expensive of all costs. 3PLs ship millions of packages a year. a2b has relationships and contracts with many carriers, and we negotiate discounted pricing. By outsourcing to a 3PL, you can leverage the volume discounts they receive. These savings are passed on to you.
Keep in mind, if you are comparing costs to an in-house operation, you will need to think about the following:
- Labor costs, including insurance, HR, and onboarding/turnover.
- Lease cost, duration, and facility utilization(an outsourced model will be more of a pay-for-what-you-use model).
- Software and IT systems.
- Warehouse racking, forklifts, and other equipment.
Benefits of 3PL
- 3PLs can help businesses save money and time.
- Leverage the 3PL’s automation and technology including robotics, WMS, and BI reporting.
- 3PLs easily responds to a scaling business. They have the capabilities to grow your business and handle any seasonal consumer demands.
- Free up your internal resources, so you can spend more time on product development, marketing, and strategic growth.
Why Choose a2b
For nearly 25 years, a2b has been a top 3PL for several reasons:
- Excellent customer service.
- Competitive pricing.
- Heavy investments into automation, robotics, and technology.
- Robust AI-driven reporting.
We don’t see boxes. We see people. a2b recognizes that each order represents a person. We know how important your brand reputation is, and as your 3PL partner, we will do everything we can to provide you with premier order fulfillment. We know that as the operational arm of your business, we don’t just process packages, we fulfill your brand promise.
Get Custom Pricing
What are some of the factors that affect pricing?
Some of the factors that affect pricing are:
- SKU count
- Number of orders per week DTC and B2B
- Number of unique items on an average order
- Number of units on an average order
- Average order weight
- Number of pallets in storage and how fast they turn
- Which facilities will we deploy
- What Value-Add services will you leverage
How Does a2b’s Fulfillment Pricing process work?
We’ll begin this process by having a brief call to ensure that we’re a good fit for one another. Once complete, we’ll ask several questions aimed at understanding your item and order characteristics. Shortly after receiving this information from you, typically in just a few days, we’ll present you with a customized solution and pricing.
Other 3PLs have rate cards, why doesn’t a2b?
While rate cards are certainly convenient, this model may not be in your best interest. 3PLs that provide standard pricing are making assumptions that often lead to pricing adjustments in the future. Or, these assumptions may be overly conservative, resulting in higher costs to you. By understanding the full scope of your needs, we’ll be able to identify opportunities to add value, all while providing you with pricing that is based on fact.
What Are Fulfillment Costs?
Order fulfillment costs are the sum of the total charges and expenses that start with receiving inventory, product storage, order processing, picking, packing, and shipping inventory. Value-added services such as kitting, assembly, and returns management are usually additional costs.
Common fulfillment costs include:
- Order fees
- Pick and pack fees
- Warehouse receiving
- Storing and managing inventory
- Standard or custom packaging
- Kitting (if applicable)
- Return management and processing
- Shipping fees
a2b Fulfillment’s pricing is transparent with no hidden costs. We offer unparalleled cost reporting that allows you to see charges in detail.
Is Outsourcing Fulfillment Cost Effective?
Companies that outsource order fulfillment typically save costs. The biggest reason is that many costs are transformed from being fixed to variable. While most 3PLs have reasonable minimums, the cost structure is largely variable where you pay for what you use. This includes storage billed by the pallet or bin occupied, fulfillment fees for each order shipped, etc. Compare this to operating your own facility where you pay a fixed rent each month, pay employees, even when things are slow, and more.
Furthermore, you will likely never be able to replicate the same level of efficiency as an experienced 3PL. a2b, for example, utilizes advanced technology, automation, and robotics to make fulfillment extremely efficient. These savings are passed along to you.
And finally, by outsourcing you leverage the 3PL’s discounted carrier rates. The savings in this category alone can often pay for the fulfillment service itself.
a2b Fulfillment isn’t a partner for everyone – we are not the lowest-cost 3PL. We provide high-quality, professional order fulfillment services, advanced technology, and valuable expertise.
After 20+ years in business, we know where we excel. a2b Fulfillment is unique among order fulfillment companies. We are equipped to handle high-touch, customized fulfillment services at high volumes. Our facilities are designed to process both DTC and B2B orders as well as a portfolio of value-added services.
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We don’t see boxes.
We see people.
Fulfilling Brand promises, for 23 years and counting.