From rising transportation costs to increasingly shorter order fulfillment timelines, manufacturers and retailers face a constantly expanding list of logistical challenges. Fortunately, today’s third-party logistics (3PL) providers are experts not only in end-to-end supply chain logistics coordination and management but in technology integration and warehousing and distribution support, as well. With their support, smaller companies have adapted to today’s marketplace with creative shipping strategies that generate value throughout the supply chain.

An effective, dynamic 3PL can help manufacturers and retailers streamline their supply chains and minimize the waste created during warehousing and distribution. If you’re looking to revamp your shipping program, we’ll outline some of the ways in which a 3PL can introduce value into it, and your warehousing and distribution strategies in particular.

1. Omnichannel Fulfillment Support

Providing a seamless experience across a wide variety of distribution channels is one of the greatest challenges that modern retailers face. Keeping up with rising consumer expectations and high-tech competitors requires a truly omnichannel approach, and many older, more traditional companies are simply not equipped to do this effectively on their own.

A company that sells its products to a big-box retailer such as Wal-Mart, for example, must ensure that it’s packaging, product labeling, and shipping operations all adhere to the retailer’s strict standards. This task is complicated enough if the company has contracts with multiple retailers, but since these orders require unique return labels, printed catalogs, and specialized instructions or messages, it becomes even more complicated when the company starts sending products directly to consumers.

Keeping all of these protocols straight can become overwhelming, but a 3PL can rely on its cutting-edge logistics software to efficiently manage each channel, greatly reducing pressure on the retailer as it distributes its goods.

2. Built-In Technology Integration

In the current marketplace, retailers need to integrate their warehouse management system (WMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, and transportation management system (TMS) to ensure that order data moves seamlessly through the supply chain without getting lost. While many companies lack the funds and expertise needed to install this infrastructure, many 3PLs can integrate their own WMS into a customer’s existing systems, connecting every program in the customer’s supply chain and helping retailers achieve a panoramic view of their product’s journey from the manufacturer to the customer. As a result, the customer can effectively track its inventory throughout the warehouse and at every stage of distribution.

3. “Last Mile” Configurations

The ability to respond to last-minute demands gives companies an upper hand over less agile competitors. While this often forces companies to delay final product configurations until the last possible touchpoint, a 3PL can make this restraint much more manageable. A big-box retailer, for example, might want an item delivered in a five-pack, while a second big-box retailer might want to sell it in a three-pack.

While a reliable, attractive supplier needs to accommodate these preferences, doing so on a company-wide scale can become cumbersome. By letting a 3PL handle final-stage kitting and packaging operations like these, a company can substantially reduce the complexity of its upstream warehousing and distribution center activities. As a result, it can focus on creating the best products it can without having to worry about the minutiae of every order.

4. Driving Additional Value in the “Amazon Age”

It’s certainly no secret that selling through Amazon is a non-negotiable requirement for any retailer looking to remain competitive in the eCommerce market. With more than 310 million active users (65 million of which are Prime subscribers), companies can sell directly to a massive captive audience without having to take on the operational and manufacturing overhead that was once associated with that kind of reach.

The company’s Fulfillment by Amazon program is what makes it all possible. In a nutshell, Amazon will store your products, fulfill customers’ online orders, and handle any and all customer service-related issues — all you have to do is send them your merchandise. Of course, in order to maximize the amount of value you’re getting out of this arrangement, your cargo needs to be shipped to the fulfillment centers in the most efficient way possible. Some 3PLs can help identify opportunities for additional savings within the Fulfillment by Amazon program, streamlining the packaging and transportation process to increase your ROI.

Finding the Right Third-Party Logistics Partner

Primary Freight has the tools and expertise necessary to provide companies with all of the above benefits — and many more. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team is committed to crafting innovative, outside-the-box logistics solutions, and customized technology configurations in order to ensure the success and satisfaction of each and every one of our partners.

If you’d like to learn more about what makes Primary Freight an ideal shipping and logistics partner, give us a call today at (800) 635-0013.

According to Forrester, e-commerce will continue to enjoy strong growth in the coming years, with U.S. online retail sales increasing from $373 billion in 2016 to more than $520 billion in 2020. Much of this growth will be generated by retailers like Amazon that understand the unique draws of e-commerce for the average consumer.

In addition to fair pricing, today’s consumers place a high premium on convenience, with many willing to pay for a more expensive product in exchange for a shorter fulfillment timeline. This consumer preference has already been borne out in the marketplace, as retailers and manufacturers that offer expedited shipping have grown 1.6 times faster on average than their competitors.

This prioritization of convenience has helped drive a resurgence of global air freight markets, with the first half of 2017 seeing the most rapid expansion of air freight since 2010. Indeed, as of earlier this year, e-commerce shipments accounted for nearly 20% of all global air cargo volume, confirming the substantial power of e-commerce over the global air freight market.

Making Air Freight More User-Friendly

With such a significant segment of their business dependent on e-commerce, air freight carriers have had little choice but to optimize their operations for a digital marketplace. According to e-commerce consultant Dr. Michael Hanke, this has forced shipping companies to concentrate less on the minutiae of the supply chain and more on the consumer.

“Customers have never had access to more information than today,” Dr. Hanke points out, “and with the next best website only one mouse click away, suppliers in the air cargo value chain need to be more mindful than ever of their price levels and quality of service.”

This is especially true in light of the fact that, generally speaking, air freight remains considerably more expensive than ocean freight. While some of this additional cost is passed on to the end consumer, retailers and manufacturers still need reliable and cost-effective air freight services in order to minimize their own financial risk.

Adapting to New Demands

More often than not, the most successful air freight companies have quickly adapted to the ship-it-now demands of modern consumers by increased operational agility and flexibility. Many of these adjustments have come on the operational management side of the equation – more efficient multi-vendor order consolidation, expanded inland transport pickup and delivery services, more effective customs brokerage, and so on – but many air freight companies have chosen to update their actual fleets, as well.

According to ACMG’s 2017 Freighter Forecast, the number of narrow-body air freighters in service worldwide will increase from 656 at the end of 2016 to 1,178 in 2036, at which point narrow-body freighters will account for nearly 45% of all cargo planes in service. These smaller aircraft enable air freight companies to compress their delivery timelines by reducing the volume of cargo needed to constitute a full load, among other things. If a retailer needs a modest order shipped at a moment’s notice, they can contract the services of a narrow-body freighter without having to worry about wasting costly cargo space or waiting for multi-vendor consolidation, making a narrow-body fleet the perfect solution for the challenges presented by always-on, convenience-first e-commerce.

Finding Value

While e-commerce giants like Amazon may have the resources to build their own air freight operations from the ground up, the vast majority of e-commerce retailers rely on air freight forwarders — also known as indirect air carriers (IAC) — to fulfill their air shipping needs.

An ideal IAC has extensive experience with a variety of operational services and is well-versed in local and international regulations governing air transportation. What matters most, though, is that an IAC has a demonstrated track record of delivering shipments on-time and undamaged.

At Primary Freight, we’ve spent nearly two decades learning everything there is to know about air freight, and have developed a great deal of expertise in agile, e-commerce-optimized operations. Our comprehensive assortment of air freight services ensures that your cargo is delivered securely, on-time, and in the most cost-effective way possible.

If you’re interested in learning more about our air freight services and our award-winning customer service, give us a call at (800) 635-0013 today.