Why do publishers outsource fulfillment?
Publishing companies are the same as any other business. At any given time, any business leader needs to be able to delegate tasks so that they can keep their focus on new business growth and generating new ideas. This is true even for the smallest of business owners and publishers. However, if you don’t currently have the talent required in-house, the question becomes: should you hire, or should you outsource? Many publishers, large and small, have found great benefits to outsourcing their product fulfillment services.
There are six primary reasons that publishers outsource order fulfillment services. Today, we are going to talk about the first of those:
Organizationally Driven Reasons
By focusing on what they do best, a publishing house can enhance the overall effectiveness of the organization. Typically, publishers are great at developing content and managing the editorial process. Managing fulfillment services seems to be a secondary thought, and not many publishers can claim to be experts at warehousing.
The real questions to ask are:
- Which would you rather be an expert at: warehousing, or publishing?
- Which skill will make you the most successful publisher?
As you develop book publishing services, it will be necessary to increase flexibility in order to meet the ever-changing business environment. The retail book trade is continuously changing their guidelines on the way books are to be shipped and handled so that the retailer can increase their sales or make their own operations more efficient. Publishers who outsource book order fulfillment to a warehousing leader in the industry have an advantage in that their warehouse will be focused on updating processes immediately to adhere to any new guidelines.
Many publishers who focus on warehouse fulfillment are operationally driven. But, when order fulfillment is outsourced, the publisher can redirect their focus from operations to sales. Many of these publishers find that being sales and marketing driven results in greater success and adds to their bottom line.
Outsourcing book fulfillment is an excellent method for improving customer service offerings and increasing customer satisfaction and shareholder value. When a publisher can deal with an expert in the warehousing industry, such as Ware-Pak, it will improve their end customer’s satisfaction overall.
Thank you for reading! Ware-Pak is interested in hearing from you. Is your business currently outsourcing order fulfillment? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below!
*Ware-Pak is a full service warehouse located in University Park, IL with over 59 years of e-commerce fulfillment experience. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us.