You want to grow your business. Consumers want to buy your products. With an established brand, proven concept, and growing customer base, the stars are aligned for you to succeed on a larger scale. However, your infrastructure and facilities might not be as ready for growth as you are. Business-to-consumer (B2C) brands often find that partnering with a third-party logistics provider (3PL) is the key to unlocking the efficiency they need to balance business expansion, cost controls, and most importantly, customer experience.
Customized warehousing and distribution are especially powerful for B2C companies because these facets focus on continuously adding value throughout the supply chain. With a 3PL like Customized Distribution Services (CDS), you can envision your goals and leave it to us to identify and implement the right solutions.
Warehousing And Distribution Have Changed
Once seen simply as storage facilities, warehouses have evolved into dynamic hubs known as distribution centers, with many value-added services that extend far beyond product storage. For example, many of our B2C clients entrust kitting and assembly to our team as part of their contract. Kitting is the process of taking multiple individual units and making them into an end consumer unit.
Consider a client who makes dog collars. The product has various components including electronics, bands, accessories, and batteries. These items arrive at our facilities in multiple shipments and containers. We combine the individual items to create the final product that customers receive, helping our client to keep the manufacturing process condensed. This in turn enables them to meet the demands of today’s consumers who expect to receive their products quickly. Reducing manufacturing time is a win for everyone on all sides.
There’s Warehousing, And Then There’s Advanced Warehousing
All warehouses aren’t created equal. Advanced warehousing is engineered not just for product storage, but also for product movement, with the emphasis on efficiency. While technology plays a major role in physically driving that efficiency, your 3PL must understand your needs at a granular level and set the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) accordingly. Then, we must measure our performance against the established KPIs, constantly. This involves examining when orders come in, tracking fulfillment times, providing detailed reports, and ensuring compliance. Learn more about CDS distribution centers and explore our locations.
When “Just In Time” Is A Good Thing
E-commerce retailers selling directly to consumers (D2C) face distinct challenges when scaling. One of those challenges is inventory management. It’s difficult to stock significantly more inventory without incurring significantly higher warehousing costs. This is where just-in-time (JIT) systems comes into play. Getting something “just in time” may not seem ideal in other contexts, but for inventory management, it’s a game-changer. The core advantage of JIT is that it allows your business to avoid carrying excess inventory and overpaying for warehouse space.
Picture a sock company offering ten different SKUs. The brand is a popular holiday stocking stuffer. To determine how much warehouse space is needed to support the company’s growth goals, we must carefully analyze their sales volume as well as seasonal trends. Our JIT approach allows for a flexible warehousing footprint while efficiently managing demand, scaling up for the fast-paced holiday sales, back down shortly after, and expanding overall as the customer base grows.
Seasonality and fluctuations in demand are extremely common roadblocks for B2C and D2C companies. While addressing them for your business, we can also creatively solve them by leveraging our broader operations. For instance, if one client’s peak sales window is in January and another client’s peak season is in June, we can create operational synergy to benefit both clients. Read more about our inventory management and e-commerce services, which also include product planning, order allocation, shipping, and more.
More Products Call For Stronger Systems And Smarter Processes
SKU diversity, which refers to the range of unique product variants a company offers, presents both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, having more SKUs allows you to spread costs across a wider range of products. On the other hand, managing many SKUs can make warehousing more complex.
At CDS, we’re able to handle a wide range of SKUs efficiently and reliably. Using advanced software and a highly skilled workforce, we optimize storage and retrieval processes to minimize the complexities associated with a diverse product range. This optimization not only enhances operational efficiency but also ensures that customers receive precisely what they order.
In the digital age, data is king. We provide our clients with customizable, real-time data insights that help to strengthen our partnership, assess our performance, and keep our KPIs always front of mind. Imagine having instant visibility into current inventory levels, order statuses, and more, at any given time of any day. You’ll be able to grow with confidence.
Benefits Beyond The Warehouse
In addition to warehousing and distribution, optimizing transportation is a crucial aspect of logistics. CDS collaborates closely with shipping partners to benefit our clients. By optimizing shipping routes, comparing parcel shipping options, and implementing cost-effective shipping solutions, we can often help our clients save on transportation expenses. These cost savings ultimately contribute to enhancing the bottom line.
Efficiency Enables Growth
When you have ambitious goals for your business, it’s time to streamline your logistics. Customized warehousing and distribution solutions serve as the foundation for your entire supply chain, so it’s worth taking the time to reimagine and realign your operations with a 3PL partner like CDS. We understand the evolving needs of B2C brands today. From kitting and assembly services to inventory management, data analytics, and additional value-added services, we’re here to unlock efficiency for your business and drive success for your brand. Contact us to speak with one of our B2C supply chain experts.