Third-party logistics warehouses are the focal point of today’s modern global supply and fulfillment chain—with ecommerce directly at the center. As ecommerce and omnichannel fulfillment dramatically changes the logistics ecosystem, the need to partner and integrate with supply chain technologies is more important than ever.
Extensiv is very excited to announce the newest member of our 3PL Intelligence Ecosystem: ShipStation, a leading platform for ecommerce shippers and part of the Stamps.com family of businesses. This integration sends orders from ShipStation to Extensiv’s WMS, Extensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager, for fulfillment and tracking numbers that will be sent back to ShipStation 3PL to update the order source. Combining the best-in-class multi-carrier shipping solution with the best-in-class warehouse management system positions customers to capitalize on the complex realities of the ecommerce world. The new partnership continues to drive Extensiv’s dedication to offering comprehensive solutions used by more than 10,000 logistics professionals.
As discussed in the 2020 State of the Third-Party Logistics Industry Report, ecommerce fulfillment remains a significant opportunity for 3PLs around the world. Not only is the ecommerce market growing at nearly 15% a year, but ecommerce customers generate more transactions and more opportunities to ship on the 3PL’s own carrier accounts. Together, these three forces serve as the best opportunity for third-party warehouses to generate stronger profit margins.
Some warehouses are already capitalizing on this trend. According to Logistics Management, the 3PL industry is expected to surpass $4 trillion dollars in revenue this year. With this growth comes challenges. Processes previously executed without much thought don’t always scale. Processes that don’t scale have costs that manifest themselves in a variety of ways:
- Lost customers: 84% of consumers say they won’t return to a brand after just one poor delivery experience, and warehouse customers are not likely to be forgiving on this front
- Diminished capacity: Inefficient processes limit the amount of orders a warehouse can process in a single day
- Chargebacks: Mistakes or missing SLAs can lead to chargebacks, which can eat up profit margin quickly
Like any business, a warehouse’s growth often necessitates a corresponding expansion in their technology stack. Most small 3PLs operate on a single system, which works to a point. This is often a shipping platform like ShipStation, which is a leading shipping solution that provides a variety of features:
- Order Management: Allows warehouses to organize and manage ecommerce orders easily and effectively
- Branding: Allows the merchant to extend their identity to their shipping solution
- Reporting: Dive deep into orders, product, or shipments to gain visibility into those parts of your business
- Efficient Operations: Optimize your warehouse, workers, and workflows with best practices
- 3PL Billing: Generate revenue off of storage and reduce billing time to hours, not weeks
- Paperless Warehouse: Automate routine workflows and reduce manual entry with paperless workflows
- Unified Small Parcel Shipping Suite: Quickly generates discounted shipping labels for all of a warehouse’s online orders
- Complete Visibility: Gain insights on pick-to-pack and other key processes in the warehouse as well as customer reporting
Together, ShipStation and Extensiv allow 3PL warehouses to scale their operations effectively to meet the increasing demand for high-volume shipping, serve customers effectively, and grow their businesses.
