Target: Partnering with Online Stores
A Contact Point client recently suggested that I talk about this topic in our Contact Point News because of the great success they have had with it as a strategy for business growth. The results of this strategy have far exceeded the results achieved with their own online store, as a stand-alone operation, so it is definitely worth consideration.
So what is the strategy? Once you have your online store ticking away and fulfilling customer orders with ease, you should consider approaching other retail businesses in similar market niches, and offer your services as their fulfillment partner.
What you bring to such a partnership is your staff and system for handling the fulfillment and online marketing aspects of the operation, including the online store. What the partner should bring is a great range of well priced products, an existing customer base who can benefit from the ease of shopping online, and perhaps a marketing strategy for bringing in new products and generating repeat sales.
It can be a marriage made in heaven, where you, as the online fulfillment company get a share of the profits on product sales, and overnight get access to a large customer database who is ready to buy. Simultaneously the partner doesn't have to worry about the logistics involved in picking, packing and shipping, and the provision and management of the online store. This can be particularly attractive to larger companies whose costs in setting up and managing an online store would greatly exceed that of outsourcing to a smaller business dedicated to this task.
We have assisted our previously mentioned client to cost effectively setup numerous new shopping sites designed for each new target audience. As their reputation grows in this capacity, their opportunities to partner with new Vendors continue to expand.
You may be thinking... "all the Vendors for products similar to mine already have fulfillment partners, or they don't want to be online". Don't let that stop you! In the first instance, Vendors will likely have contracts with their fulfillment partners, that expire after a period of time; if the current fulfillment partner is not doing a good job, or not willing to add new functionality, you may have an edge. Vendors that aren't currently online might not have taken the plunge because of the perceived costs, and because it's too hard to do it internally. Nothing ventured nothing gained. If you would like to talk further about the possibilities, feel free to get in touch.
