9 Best eCommerce fulfillment solutions & services in 2024

eCommerce fulfillment services refer to a type of service offered by a 3rd-party company to fulfill online orders on behalf of an eCommerce merchant. The top eCommerce fulfillment companies help online retailers manage the entire order processing and supply chain. It often encompasses managing inventory, picking and packing the items, shipping them to the end customers, and handling returns.

Fulfillment by Amazon, Shopify Fulfillment Network, ShipMonk are some of the popular service providers. And we’ll talk about them in detail in the following part.

An online business owner can choose whether to fulfill eCommerce orders in-house or hand over the fulfillment to a 3rd-party service provider. Each fulfillment strategy can yield distinct benefits that suit different business requirements.

Self-fulfillment utilizes in-house facilities, labor, and technology. It’s easy to implement and cost-saving as retailers process orders themselves. In-house eCommerce fulfillment gives sellers complete control over the fulfillment process, packages, branding, and customer services.

Forwarding fulfillment to a 3rd-party logistics company enables online retailers to harness their facilities, technology, and expertise to fulfill orders. These fulfillment services for eCommerce reduce operating costs, accelerate delivery speed, simplify retail operations, and scale up with the business growth.

Opting for an appropriate fulfillment solution requires the assessment of certain aspects of your business. Take into consideration the following factors to decide whether you should fulfill orders yourself using self-fulfillment software or cooperate with a fulfillment service provider.

Order volume

The number of orders plays a key role in choosing your go-to fulfillment solution. Startups or businesses with low order volumes can fulfill orders in-house to minimize additional costs.

However, when sales increase to the points that exceed your ability to handle orders internally, you can risk processing orders inaccurately and slowly. Therefore, businesses with rapidly growing sales or large order quantities might consider employing one of the best eCommerce fulfillment services for efficiency, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness.

Customer locations

Considering where the majority of your customers place orders is worthwhile. If your customer base is in areas far away from your business facilities, using 3rd-party fulfillment services will help reach your customers quickly without huge costs.

The network of eCommerce fulfillment centers and warehouses enables the service providers to transport products from the locations closest to the customers. In this way, you can shorten the delivery time while keeping the costs down, thus satisfying customers.

Product types

The type of support you require from an eCommerce fulfillment solution provider depends on what kind of product you sell. Some products need simple packaging while others may demand more special handling techniques and storage. Besides, the product characteristics also affect shipping costs.

For example, if you’re selling heavy and bulky items, switching to a fulfillment service may be beneficial. The fulfillment company can help you handle the item properly with secure packaging materials and lower shipping costs as they can get discounts for bulk shipping.

Sales channels

Selling on many channels like eCommerce platforms, websites, or social media has become a norm to attract more customers and boost sales. If this is your case, you should consider choosing a fulfillment service provider to help you fulfill your omnichannel orders.

Oftentimes, these eCommerce order fulfillment services can assist you in meeting different expectations and requirements about delivery speed, cost, and more to satisfy customers. Otherwise, if your revenue comes from one channel only, it’ll be enough to fulfill orders yourself with the support from suitable software.

If you choose in-house fulfillment after reviewing your business context, you’ll need workable software to automate and simplify the process. We’ve singled out the best solutions for self-fulfillment by consulting our experts, looking into the key features, and customer reviews about each solution.

1. Magestore Order Fulfillment: Best for Magento small and medium omnichannel merchants

As one of the best eCommerce fulfillment solutions for Magento (now Adobe Commerce), the Magestore Order Fulfillment module facilitates cross-channel order management and efficient order processing. The software allows sellers to deliver fulfillment requests to different warehouses when there’s a sale and recommends the best warehouses to fulfill the orders. With Magestore Order Management, you can also supervise the full order fulfillment process from a single place.

Magestore’s eCommerce order fulfillment software speeds up your fulfillment work with 2-step barcode scanning which ensures you pick the correct items quickly. Besides, you can assign different tasks of the fulfillment process to different employees to reduce processing time and increase accuracy.

Highlight features

• Automate order processing with 5 steps: Verify, Fulfill, Pick, Pack, and Deliver
• Manage orders across online and offline channels and update inventory status in real time
• Manage order fulfillment from a centralized system
• Provide a quick view of sales orders with 6 types of visual charts: Orders by status, Orders by day, Orders by carriers, Verified orders by day, Picked request by day, and Packed request by day
• Check inventory from different warehouses to route order fulfillment efficiently
• Support 2-step barcode scanning to ensure order accuracy and speed
• Assist order fulfillment from multiple warehouses
• Manage and locate orders by batch, status, and customized tags
• Optimize the fulfillment process with 4 insightful reports, including Fulfillment by staff, Fulfillment by staff (Daily), Fulfillment by warehouse, Fulfillment by warehouse (Daily)
• Allow assigning each order processing step to each staff for easier tracking staff performance
• Handle product returns and exchanges and allow customers to oversee the whole process
• Seamlessly work with various shipping carriers to provide more shipping choices for your customers

Pricing

Magestore Order Management software comes with custom pricing. Contact the Magestore team to get a quote based on your business needs and states.

2. Zoho Inventory: Best for small online businesses

Zoho Inventory comes with many features that help business owners optimize their eCommerce order fulfillment. This eCommerce fulfillment system supports creating packing slips and shipping labels with ease, at the same time finding real-time shipping costs for each shipment. What’s more, sellers can also consolidate all unfulfilled orders from the same customers into a package for convenient shipping.

With Zoho Inventory, online merchants can track packages after shipping and keep customers updated. There’s also no difficulty in watching the stock quantities across sales channels, setting reorder levels, reminders, and preferred vendors to timely re-stock.

Highlight features

• Manage multichannel orders in a single platform
• Allow users to easily and quickly create packing slips and shipping labels
• Find real-time shipping expenses for each package
• Track packages after shipping and deliver real-time updates to customers
• Support dropshipping in case of stockouts
• Enable merging all unfulfilled orders of a customer for single shipping
• Automatically keep inventory levels consistent through sales channels
• Track products through different stages with serial numbers
• Enable setting re-order levels, notifying, and choosing vendors for replenishment
• Support bundling items to sell as a single unit
• Keep close tabs on batches and expiration dates of products
• Integrate with many shipping carriers

Pricing

The prices of Zoho Inventory are charged per organization per month with 4 following plans.

3. Linnworks: Best for small and medium online businesses

Linnworks removes much of your manual work by automating many order eCommerce fulfillment processes. Besides centralized management of orders, Linnworks automatically routes orders for efficient fulfillment and compares shipping carriers to define the cheapest services for orders.

This eCommerce fulfillment software keeps you informed of stock levels across sales channels, warehouses, and bin locations in real time. If you’re using fulfillment services, Linnworks enables you to track inventory at their fulfillment centers for timely stock replenishment.

Highlight features

• Manage inventory from bin locations and warehouses in real time
• Manage orders from numerous sales channels in a single place
• Allow creating and editing any orders on the same page
• Attach tags to orders for easy and fast identification
• Automatically allocate orders to the right batches for shipping
• Support tracking inventory levels at 3PL fulfillment centers and demand forecast
• Use rules to route orders to optimize the order fulfillment process
• Compare shipping costs among carriers to find the cheapest service for orders
• Generate complete reports on key business metrics

Pricing

Linnworks hasn’t published the prices yet.

4. ShipBob: Best for startups or small businesses

ShipBob, a global eCommerce fulfillment platform, offers comprehensive fulfillment software for online merchants that perform in-house fulfillment or use the services of a 3rd-party service provider. The software enables users to set up reorder points and distribute the inventory between ShipBob’s fulfillment centers based on historical data. With ShipBob’s software, you can automate the returns process and keep track of all return information.

The software can integrate with different eCommerce platforms to streamline the order fulfillment process. The detailed reports delivered by the software, which provide pivotal data like sales on each channel, expenses, and demand forecast, give you insights to make informed decisions for business improvements.

Highlight features

• Track inventory levels, and notify when the stocks run low for replenishment
• Support stock allocation between warehouses based on historical order data
• Oversee orders from purchasing to delivery
• Filter orders using the tracking number, order type, order date, and more
• Provide detailed reporting to make business decisions
• Automate the returns process and allow users to track all returns
• Integrate with different eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce

Pricing

You need to contact ShipBob for pricing details.

If you’re looking for a 3rd-party service provider to help you fulfill online orders, take a look at the best eCommerce fulfillment solutions below.

1. Shopify Fulfillment Network: Best for large Shopify businesses with high sales volumes

Shopify Fulfillment Network owns many eCommerce fulfillment warehouses that ensure your customers get products as soon as possible. Partnering with many major shipping carriers, Shopify Fulfillment Networks can help you deliver items to customers within 2 days at affordable costs. The services can fulfill orders from multiple sales channels and deal with order surges during peak seasons. Besides, it allows custom packing slips with your own logos or discount codes.

When it comes to business growth, Shopify Fulfillment Network is willing to give you practical advice on logistics and shipping. It also helps track your inventory in real time and handle returns effectively.

Highlight services

• Support fast and affordable delivery with their wide fulfillment center network
• Ship inventory from overseas to Shopify’s fulfillment centers
• Provide experts’ advice on logistics and shipping for business growth
• Deliver packaged and labeled stocks directly to one location within the network
• Fulfill orders across sales channels integrated with Shopify stores
• Handle flash sale fulfillment during peak periods quickly
• Support order fulfillment for subscription business
• Offer custom packing slips with logos or discount codes
• Support real-time inventory tracking and dynamic routing
• Assist fast and seamless returns with return rules

Pricing

Shopify Fulfillment Network charges a single fee per unit for fulfillment.

• Set-up fees: Free
• Receiving, picking, and packing fees: Included in a single fulfillment price per unit
• Storage fees:
  • 6-month free storage
  • $2.25/ cubic foot storage for products not sold within 6 months
  • Storage costs are calculated daily.

2. ShipNetwork: Best for large businesses with high order volumes

With fulfillment centers for eCommerce in strategic locations across the U.S., ShipNetwork offers 1-day fulfillment and 1–2 day ground shipping within the U.S. without increasing costs. The service provider also guarantees 100% of order accuracy thanks to their 3-point inspection process.

In addition, using the services by ShipNetwork lets you give customized experiences to your subscription customers with custom packing and delivery. ShipNetwork also has temperature-controlled fulfillment centers in the U.S. to serve some special product types.

Highlight services

• Guarantee 100% order accuracy with 3-point inspection
• Support 1-day delivery and 1–2 day U.S. ground delivery
• Offer sellers multiple shipping options with different costs and time
• Simplify the return process, manage, and handle returns efficiently
• Assist subscription fulfillment services with custom packing and delivery
• Bundle different items into a single unit for shipping
• Supply temperature-controlled order fulfillment centers in the U.S.
• Support lot tracking to manage and fulfill products by expiration dates

Pricing

You need to contact ShipNetwork for pricing details.

3. Fulfillment by Amazon: Best for online businesses selling on Amazon

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) offers you a comprehensive solution to storing, picking, packing, shipping, and answering your customers’ queries. Amazon has numerous warehouses worldwide, which helps expand your business reach to customers around the globe. Using Fulfillment by Amazon enables you to provide your customers with Amazon Prime two-day delivery free of charge.

In addition, Amazon develops many tools to manage your inventory effectively, from stock optimization to replenishments based on demand forecast, sales history, seasonality, and your own inputs. This eCommerce fulfillment solution provider also allows you to deliver all of your inventory to a single fulfillment center, then they’ll help you distribute the inventory for different locations when there’s a shipment.

If you sell products off Amazon sales channels but still want to fulfill with Amazon warehouses, you can consider their Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) solution.

Highlight services

• Extensive fulfillment network around the world
• Provide many incentives to start using FBA like free shipping and returns
• Offer tools for managing excess inventory and tracking inventory age
• Restock inventory based on sales history, demand forecast, and seasonality
• Support fulfillment across different eCommerce sales channels
• Track orders after shipping until received by customers
• Handle customer inquiries and returns for products
• Offer the inventory placement service that allows sending all stocks to one fulfillment center
• Integrate with multiple eCommerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce

Pricing

FBA charges fulfillment costs for each unit, including picking, packing, shipping, handling, customer service, and product returns. The costs are calculated based on the weights and dimensions of the products.

• Set-up fees: Free
• Receiving fees: Not published
• Monthly storage fees:
  • For non-dangerous goods:

• • For dangerous goods:

Some sellers have to pay storage utilization fees besides the above base monthly costs.

• Picking and packing fees: Included in the fulfillment costs of each unit. We recommend you check it carefully to fully understand the pricing.

4. ShipMonk: Best for fast-growing online businesses

Considered one of the best fulfillment companies for fast-growing businesses, ShipMonk brings customers top-notch fulfillment services that can scale in conjunction with their growth. ShipMonk combines their best eCommerce warehouses, equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, and powerful software to support rapid fulfillment to customers while ensuring high-quality standards and cost savings.

ShipMonk speeds up picking orders with their automated mobile robots and automatically sorting packages for faster carrier pickups. It’s also customizable and adaptable enough to keep up with the rapid expansion of your business.

Highlight services

• Can fulfill 10o,000+ orders a day and support shipping to 200+ countries
• Enable cost-effective shipping with ShipMonk’s Virtual Carrier Network
• Support inventory management, including stock level forecast or bundle creation
• Offer customizable packaging to help deliver a unique unboxing experience
• Provide many options for reverse logistics to control costs like returning to stock, donating, disposing, reworking, and returning to vendors
• Automatically route your inventory to optimal storage areas
• Let users record, track, and address claims on the claims portal
• Integrate with many eCommerce platforms

Pricing

• Set-up fees: Free
• Receiving fees: Contact for a quote
• Monthly storage fees:

• Picking and packing fees: The actual amount you have to pay depends on the monthly number of orders that needs fulfilling.

For example, the picking fees for 3 levels of monthly order quantity are as follows.

table

Refer to their pricing plan to estimate how much you need to pay based on the actual order volume of your business each month.

5. Red Stag Fulfillment: Best for new sellers with special packing or handling needs

Red Stag Fulfillment is a company that provides eCommerce fulfillment services USA. Founded by eCommerce operators who understand clearly what online stores need to drive brand loyalty, Red Stag Fulfillment makes solid pledges for inventory and order accuracy. The company promises to minimize stock loss and damages, and give you complete visibility into inventory during each phase. On top of that, Red Stag Fulfillment also offers same-day eCommerce order fulfillment services so that your customers can receive their items as fast as possible.

Highlight services

• Support order, inventory, and warehousing monitoring
• Reduce a considerable amount of inventory loss or damage by minimizing supplier errors, receiving errors, employee theft, improper handling, and expired stocks
• Consolidate as many items as possible into a package to lower shipping costs
• Provide same-day eCommerce shipping and fulfillment
• Deliver real-time and mobile reports on fulfillment operations
• Monitor return processes and handle return requirements in no more than 2 days
• Support custom packaging to protect items from damages

Pricing

Red Stag fulfillment pricing is as follows.

• Set-up fees: Free
• Receiving fees: $14.25/pallet or $6/non-pallet package
• Monthly storage fees: $0.75 per cubic foot, based on the daily inventory average for items stored no more than 180 days
• Picking and packing fees: $1.80 – $2.25 per package, and $0.32 per item after the first item in each order

Geared towards Magento merchants, Magestore Order Fulfillment possesses many outstanding features to assist SME business owners in dealing with a high quantity of orders smoothly and accurately. With multiple charts and insightful reports, retailers can optimize order fulfillment operations, thus delivering the best eCommerce fulfillment experience to customers.

As fulfillment is an inseparable process of retail operations, retailers should streamline the whole operations to get the optimal performance and complete view of business performance. A good way to simplify retail operations is using a full-fledged Magestore Retail Management PWA, which includes inventory, procurement, reporting, and also the Magestore Order Fulfillment modules.

Let’s talk to our experts to get straight to your business pain points and find out the best eCommerce fulfillment solutions for your retail business now.

1. What are the fulfillment strategies for eCommerce?

The fulfillment strategies for eCommerce refer to the methods employed to manage the process of receiving online orders from customers, preparing orders, and delivering products to them as fast as possible.

2. What does a fulfillment company do?

A fulfillment company is a 3rd-party organization that helps business owners fulfill their customer orders, which often includes managing inventory, picking and packing items, shipping products, and handling returns.

3. Is outsourced fulfillment right for you?

It depends on the number of order volumes, product types, customer locations, and other factors. To decide whether outsourced fulfillment is a good fit, retailers should consider different aspects of their business carefully. Please refer back to the section—What to consider before opting for an eCommerce fulfillment solution—we’ve discussed previously.