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.
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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.
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:
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 CCG17,00€ - 13,00€ / month |
Storage per box (4/8/16)1,30€ - 3,00€ / month |
Base price0,75€ - 1,60€ / order |
Pick0,15€ - 0,50€ / pick |
Packing material0,20€ - 1,20€ / order |
ShippingVaries depending on method |
Store connectionUp to 20.000€* |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No fixed costs and long-term rentals, billing only according to actual use of space and services
Selection from a comprehensive network reduces transport times and costs, specialized locations enable economies of scale
Fast and smooth connection without high initial investment for each new location in your logistics network
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