SMART businesses know marketplaces are the heart of e-commerce, but they can be cumbersome: Sellers must juggle multiple logins, the labor and logistics of packing, shipping and tracking sales and managing inventory. Then comes updating all the marketplace listings, which can take hours.
Enter the rollout of UPS (NYSE: UPS) eFulfillment offering small- and medium-sized businesses worldwide streamlined fulfillment and shipping services to consumers in the US and Canada.
The solution supports purchases and orders from 21 different marketplaces and web stores, including eBay, Wal-Mart, Etsy and Amazon, including Prime.
The new platform augments UPS’s suite of custom e-commerce solutions designed to support small and medium-sized businesses.
“With small and medium enterprises comprising 99.6 percent of Philippine
businesses, e-commerce has emerged as a gateway to access new markets and opportunities. 1 Greater accessibility and demand often bring about opportunities; but operations can also grow increasingly complex. UPS eFulfillment offers a streamlined platform for managing inventory, orders, and costs -- simplifying how you do business, while still making sure you meet consumer expectations,” said Chris Buono, UPS Philippines managing director.
Signing up is as easy as enrolling via a quick onboarding process and
listing products. UPS, which is currently offering a risk free 60-day trial, handles storing the merchandise, packaging products once a sale is made and shipping from warehouses strategically located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky and Bloomington, California.
Inventory stored in other locations, such as an existing warehouse, can be added to the platform to ensure dynamic updates as sales occur allowing for fulfillment efficiencies. Merchants select when the package needs to be delivered.
UPS eFulfillment can be used by merchants around the world who want to list on US marketplaces and sell to customers in the US and in Canada. However, their inventory for sale needs to be stored in warehouses located in the US.
According to the UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper study, shopping on marketplaces is almost universal. More than 96 percent of US online shoppers report making a purchase at a marketplace. With this in mind, smart sellers try to sell on as many marketplaces as possible to access the widest swath of potential customers.
This eFulfillment service offers merchants the flexibility and speed needed to meet customer needs at a good value. The pricing is bundled, giving sellers a clear picture of fulfillment costs. Tracking and billing are integrated, helping reduce the time and effort it takes a business owner to keep up with the status and cost of shipments.
Finally, sellers can quickly and dynamically update listings on multiple sites. (PR)