No selection/Other Amazon FBA Fashion & Accessories Electronics Machinery Food/Beverages Beauty & Care Furniture Packing material Construction materials Textiles Print & Media Sports and leisure equipment DIY & hardware store Pharma & Healthcare

How much does fulfillment cost?

Fulfillment prices are dependent on several factors that are often difficult for retailers to estimate when looking for an external fulfillment service provider. We've compiled some information for you on this page to make the different expenses involved in fulfillment more tangible and to give you an initial overview of what external fulfillment costs might be coming your way.

Table of contents

  1. What are fulfillment costs dependent on?
  2. What are typical fulfillment prices?
  3. Partial costs in fulfillment simply explained
  4. FAQ
  5. Sustainably optimize fulfillment costs

What do fulfillment costs depend on?

Fulfillment refers to the execution of all activities involved in a customer order and related to the processing of orders. Prices for fulfillment thus consist of the costs for goods receipt, storage, picking, services and shipping. The more complex the supply chain, the higher the price.

Warehousing1 has identified the following day-to-day business factors that directly impact fulfillment costs for retailers:

  • Product attributes such as the category of goods, size and weight
  • Order attributes such as the number of items and SKUs per order
  • Shipping method: express or standard, European or worldwide
  • Additional services such as enclosing a flyer or taking over returns management

What are typical prices for fulfillment?

Based on the insights we have gained in the logistics industry and e-commerce over the past few years, we have compiled an overview of typical market prices for fulfillment here. The amounts in the following price list are by no means binding and are intended only as a guide.

Storage per EPAL CCG1

7,00€ - 13,00€ / month

Storage per box (4/8/16)

1,30€ - 3,00€ / month

Base price

0,75€ - 1,60€ / order

Pick

0,15€ - 0,50€ / pick

Packing material

0,20€ - 1,20€ / order

Shipping

Varies depending on method

Store connection

Up to 20.000€*

* cost effcient with WH1+

The partial costs in fulfillment simply explained

Goods receipt

The prices for fulfillment here depend primarily on how the products are delivered by the company. Palletized goods are often easier to handle than non-palletized ones. Single-variety cartons can be made available for picking as is, while mixed ones must first be sorted. This means more or less work for the warehouse operator, which is reflected in the final price for fulfillment.

Storage

The final fulfillment price depends primarily on the type of merchandise and the type of storage required as a result. Do you have temperature sensitive items such as medications or food? Then a cold storage facility will be necessary, and its higher energy costs will be reflected in fulfillment prices. If there are a large number of SKUs for your project, storage, as well as putaway and retrieval, will be more complex, more space-intensive, and therefore more expensive as well.

Picking

The price for picking depends on the number of picks required, as each removal of a SKU from the warehouse represents effort, time and costs for the warehouse keeper. The more different SKUs and thus items to be picked, the higher the costs for Pick & Pack. After the simple composition of the orders, there is the possibility to use additional services for fulfillment.

Special services & extras

For the fulfillment customer, special services result in additional costs, but these can add a great deal of value and are therefore well worth it. Depending on the provider, different value-added services are possible: from the simple insertion of a flyer with a discount code, to packaging in tissue paper, to the complete takeover of returns management.

Shipping

Generally, the cost of shipping depends on the size and weight of the package and thus the nature of your products. For small items such as jewelry or books (up to 1 kg and 5 cm in height) there is the possibility of cheap shipping as merchandise mail. For oversized goods like furniture, the shipping cost will be correspondingly higher. Some fulfillment service providers can offer you partially advantageous shipping conditions, which they negotiated with the corresponding shipping service provider beforehand.

FAQ

What are fulfillment costs?

Fulfillment costs are all the expenses that are generated during the processing of an order. They depend on numerous factors and vary from service provider to service provider.

What are fulfillment costs made up of?

Fulfillment costs consist of expenses for warehousing, pick and pack, in addition to shipping. Moreover, costs for value added services (VAS), such as the return management, may be added on top.

How much does it cost to connect a store system to a warehouse management system (WMS)?

In some cases, a store connection can cost up to 20,000€ - depending on its complexity. Yet some interfaces, such as between JTL and Shopify, may already exist and can thus be implemented easily and cost-effectively.

How can you optimize fulfillment costs?

To optimize costs for external fulfillment, it is important to compare offers from different fulfillment service providers. In this regard, costs and service quality should always be weighed up.

Optimize fulfillment costs sustainably

Flexible contracts

No fixed costs and long-term rentals, billing only according to actual use of space and services

Ideal implementation

Selection from a comprehensive network reduces transport times and costs, specialized locations enable economies of scale

Scalable integrations

Fast and smooth connection without high initial investment for each new location in your logistics network

Talk to a logistics expert now.

Would you like to start right away or do you still have questions regarding the cooperation? Simply fill out the contact form now to receive a personal response within 24 hours.


Email: [email protected]

Phone: +49 30 629 3898 0


I am looking for a logistics solution ↗

I am a logistics service provider ↗

en English