ShipStation fulfillment program provides parcel shippers with vetted options

ShipStation, an Austin Texas, based provider of Web-based e-commerce shipping services, recently announced it has rolled out a new offering, entitled the ShipStation Fulfillment Program, which it said provides parcel shippers with vetted options for outsourcing parcel fulfillment.

ShipStation said parcel shippers can access the program through a page on the company’s Web site, where they are then matched up with fulfillment brokers based on their needs. Vendor partners in the program are picked on specific criteria, including customer base, industry reputation ratings, and specialized service offerings, according to ShipStation.

Vendors currently part of the program include: 

• Ruby Has Fulfillment
• Kiddly Marketing & Fulfillment
• Ship-Right Solutions
• ShipCalm
• IFS 360
• Ingram Micro Commerce & Fulfillment
• Direct Shot Distributing

ShipStation said that these vendors provide various specialty services, including geographic coverage, verticals, and product niches, including subscription boxes, sensitive products, children’s products, and temperature-controlled services. And it added that these fulfillment providers are “sensitive to the pricing needs of the growing online merchant and will aggressively price as part of this program.”

When asked what led to the development of this fulfillment program, Krish Iyer, ShipStation director of strategic partnerships, told LM that as e-commerce merchants grow rapidly, their needs for enhanced shipping options change. 

“Fulfillment then becomes a natural evolution in that process,” he said. “Customers have been requesting it for some time, and many 3PL's/Fulfillment providers use ShipStation as their parcel manifesting solution already due to the number of integrations into e-commerce selling platforms and the diversity of carrier options.  So, it came from a confluence of merchants requesting it, identifying the market need and the fact that so many of our users already are fulfillment providers.”  

As for how ShipStation previously handled fulfillment processes for customers in the past before the rollout of this offering, Iyer said that the company has many 3PL's/fulfillment providers that use ShipStation for their parcel manifesting/shipment processing, adding there were already some great native fulfillment offerings within ShipStation like Shipwire [a function which picks, packs and ships customer orders].

“What we found is that our merchants really wanted to have a larger list of ‘vetted’ options that they could trust,” he said.  “Location became a factor as well—most merchants want to reduce transit times to their customers, so finding fulfillment providers with warehouse locations that are closer to their customers and can reduce transit times (and shipping costs) then became important. The ShipStation merchant experience is something we take seriously—finding fulfillment providers who cater to their specific product needs became critical components of a program strategy.  We believe that there is a fulfillment provider that matches well with every growing merchant—and understands their unique needs.”  

Iyer cited the following as the biggest customer benefits of this program, including: managing growth for selling on multiple channels/marketplaces and providing the ability for e-commerce merchants to grow to more selling channels, platforms and marketplaces; Trust in the ability to work with well-respected fulfillment providers who will speak the merchant's language and understand their business needs so that the merchant can concentrate on their core competencies; and Improving efficiencies, customer experience and reduce costs with the help of a fulfillment provider who can professionally manage shipping complexities while pinpointing areas of cost efficiency and transit time improvement.

Looking ahead, Iyer said ShipStation will add more providers to the program to have a diversity of fulfillment partners around the U.S. (and outside of the US).  More providers who cater to specific products and industries are areas of focus, he said, adding that fulfillment providers who will help an SMB merchant grow are the best fits for our program.