The exponential growth of ecommerce and customer demand for fast shipping has forced ecommerce sellers to seek out new, flexible warehousing and logistics solutions in order to stay competitive in a crowded marketplace.

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Thus, innovative ways are flooding the ecommerce landscape to achieve maximum efficiency and making it easier for ecommerce sellers to scale their businesses, handle inventory fluctuation, and fulfil demand rapidly with on-demand warehousing and logistics.

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In this blog, you'll learn what is on-demand warehousing and logistics, the need for on-demand warehousing and logistics, and the benefits of on-demand warehousing and logistics with a tech-enabled 3PL like Eshopbox.

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What is on-demand warehousing and logistics?

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On-demand warehousing and logistics is a service that enables ecommerce sellers to store their inventory and fulfil orders temporarily with ecommerce warehouses that have excess space with them.

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Let’s take an example,

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You run an ecommerce business and process nearly 5-10 orders per day. Given that the order volume isn’t high, you are fulfiling your orders on your own, i.e. self-fulfilment. Suddenly during the festive season, you witnessed a surge in order volume. However, you don’t want to spend a lot of your money on additional storage and manpower as the surge is temporary.

In such a scenario, you can outsource your order fulfilment temporarily to an on-demand warehousing and logistics provider. Once your order volume is as per usual, you can switch back to self-fulfilment.

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Why is on-demand warehousing and logistics needed?

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Ecommerce has been growing at a rapid pace over the years, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, online shopping became a necessity and the only safe option. This accelerated the shift towards the digital world and changed customers' shopping behaviours.

Moreover, ecommerce sellers are now required to provide fast shipping and delivery across the country, more than ever. Here are the reasons why on-demand warehousing and logistics are the need of the hour:

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1. No need to invest in an additional storage facility

Warehouse space is a huge capital investment, which most ecommerce sellers want to avoid. This makes on-demand warehousing and logistics the best option to store inventory and carry out fulfilment temporarily on a contractual basis without incurring huge costs.

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2. Greater flexibility

On-demand warehousing and logistics offer the utmost flexibility to ecommerce sellers as there is no long-term commitment to help them deal with sudden and temporary surges in order volume. This means ecommerce sellers don't have to rent out a warehouse for just a few days as the job is done cost-effectively with on-demand warehousing and logistics.

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3. Expansion of ecommerce space

As ecommerce is rising in India, online businesses are also opening up almost every day. This calls out for more warehousing space and order fulfilment solutions.

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4. Need for faster order fulfilment

Nowadays, online shoppers expect fast order delivery as a standard service. With on-demand warehousing and logistics, ecommerce sellers can provide speedy fulfilment while enhancing customer experiences. Ecommerce sellers can distribute and store their inventory in an on-demand warehousing and logistics provider's network of fulfilment centres across the country to reach their customers faster.

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Now that you know the need for on-demand warehouse and logistics, let's see how it can benefit your ecommerce business.

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Benefits of on-demand warehousing and logistics

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Partnering up with the right partner can help you reap multiple benefits of on-demand warehousing logistics service. A traditional 3PL can offer you additional storage space for your inventory and fulfil your orders according to their bandwidth. On the contrary, a tech-enabled 3PL like Eshopbox, can provide you with scalable storage space and fulfilment capabilities according to your changing business needs, even in a temporary partnership.

Moreover, when it comes to order fulfilment, a tech-enabled 3PL can offer you automated workflows powered by advanced technology with flexible billing, unlike a traditional 3PL.

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Here are the advantages of on-demand warehousing and logistics with a tech-enabled 3PL provider:

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1. Secure storage facility

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To prevent breakage, shrinkage, and theft of your sellable inventory, you need a secure storage facility. On-demand warehousing and logistics providers can provide you with the following:

• Security cameras to monitor operations 24/7
• Multiple sources of power backup
• Access control measures such as bio-metrics, key-cards, and more
• Metal detectors at entrances and exits
• Thoughouly vetted warehouse employees

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Eshopbox's fulfilment centres are equipped with state-of-the-art devices and gadgets to provide utmost security.

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2. On-time order processing

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The following activities are undertaken to ship customer orders:

1. Picking items based on a pick list
2. Finding a box of the right size based on items
3. Choosing an appropriate packaging material
4. Packing the order in an organised manner
5. Printing and scanning labels
6. Scheduling and aligning courier pick-ups

Performing these tasks on a daily basis is extremely labour intensive and time-consuming, especially when order volume is increasing. With an on-demand warehousing and logistics provider, these activities are streamlined by incorporating relevant technology and automation in order processing.

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Eshopbox's automated order fulfilment system with an SLA-driven and streamlined pick and pack process ensures accurate & timely order processing.

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3. Fast delivery speeds

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Customers expect fast delivery as a customary service from ecommerce brands. An on-demand warehousing and logistics provider who has multiple warehouses across all zones in the country can help you split your inventory to reduce transit times and ensure speedy delivery.

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Eshopbox has a distributed network of fulfilment centres spread across India, enabling you to provide fast delivery without worrying about your customer's location.

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4. Lower fulfilment costs

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If you're shipping orders yourself, it is unlikely for you to get access to discounts and negotiated shipping rates due to low order volumes. On the contrary, on-demand warehousing and logistics provider allows you to take advantage of their negotiated shipping rates with courier companies and bulk delivery discounts. Moreover, as stated above, on-demand warehousing and logistics provider enables you to keep inventory closer to customers across the country and consequently reduce shipping costs further.

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Eshopbox's established background and discounted rates with courier companies allow you to reduce fulfilment costs.

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5. Effective management of changes in order volume

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Your inventory levels fluctuate based on seasons, flash-sales, discounts, and more. With on-demand warehousing and logistics, you get access to scalable storage space and only pay for what you use. Additionally, on-demand 3PL providers have a large pool of resources that they allocate according to your current order volume. Therefore, it will allow you to effectively manage fluctuations in sales without having to worry about resource utilisation.

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You can leverage Eshopbox's established fulfilment infrastructure to effectively manage variability in sales while ensuring a branded experience for your customers.

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6. Best-in-class technology

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If you choose to partner with a tech-enabled 3PL like Eshopbox for on-demand warehousing and logistics, you get access to an abundance of tools, periodic inventory reports and key metrics:

• Real-time inventory and orders view to plan
• Inventory forecasts to schedule replenishment
• Zone-based sales data to plan inventory splitting
• Sales performance reports to find out your sales velocity, sell-through, rate, inventory turnover, and many more ecommerce metrics

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Eshopbox enables you to control your business at your fingertips through actionable dashboards, alerts, and notifications.

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Bottom line

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On-demand warehousing and logistics have become buzzwords in the pandemic-ridden world. Adopting on-demand warehousing and logistics service offers several advantages over traditional logistics, with lower operational costs and effective order fulfilment. Thus, making on-demand warehousing and logistics essential for small and medium online businesses to achieve reliable and seamless order fulfilment.