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Apparel Fulfillment Services

As an online retailer, partnering with the right apparel fulfillment partner is key to your success in the retail apparel market.

Your goal is to consistently and repeatedly exceed your customers’ expectations with your apparel and their experience interacting with your brand. 

You have a unique set of challenges, from how quickly seasons and fashion trends change to high SKU counts. 

The proper order fulfillment services partner will expand the distribution, packing, and shipping capabilities of your business. 

Kable Product Services excels in apparel fulfillment. We are here to help elevate your brand and be your proactive apparel fulfillment partner in providing a superior customer experience.

Apparel

Benefits of 3PL apparel fulfillment services

A competent merchandise fulfillment partner will elevate your brand and overall customer experience by providing exceptional fulfilment service that would be challenging to keep in-house.

Look for a 3PL apparel fulfillment partner with a streamlined and efficient process for achieving accurate and on-time shipments. On-time shipments contribute to your brand’s reputation as well as repeat business.

In addition, choosing an apparel fulfillment partner that understands your goals and helps you think of creative, cost-effective ways to meet them is valuable. For example, are business reviews performed regularly?  Are performance metrics discussed regularly?

You also want to make decisions based on data.

Ask potential 3PL providers what kind of reporting you can expect from them and how often.

Inventory and warehouse management

Your 3PL merchandise fulfillment partner should be scalable, reputable, have category experience, and also centrally located.

A prime warehouse location means quicker shipping times for your customers, and how a 3PL provider manages its inventory and warehouse systems should determine if they are a good fit for your business.

You need a clothing fulfillment service that can handle high SKU counts and balance them with fill rates to keep inventory manageable. A reputable apparel fulfillment service will be able to help keep your inventory balanced, so the ratio of orders to items on-hand makes sense.

SKU

High volume of SKUs

Apparel sales come with many variables, thus creating high SKU counts.

The necessity of offering different sizes for the same item can cause high SKU counts, and balance is key to maintaining an online apparel business with satisfactory ROI.

You need a clothing 3PL proficient in handling a high volume of SKUs.

Accuracy and stability are non-negotiable factors in inventory management; fully aligned inventory systems are crucial to your ability to scale your business.

Kable Product Services is a 3PL partner with processes and technology built around managing high SKU counts, including quickly pivoting when SKUs change due to fashion or seasonal trends.

Location marker

Centrally located shipping

Satisfied customers are repeat customers.

One of the ways to ensure customer satisfaction is to ensure they receive their apparel order promptly and accurately.

Kable’s central location is an added benefit to our valued customers, as one to two-day shipping times are standard for most zip codes in the United States. Plus, we can parcel rate shop carriers to ensure the most cost-effective ship method is utilized.

Line Chart

Accurate reporting

Once fulfillment is in motion, you want to be able to track the status of the order.

Your 3PL clothing fulfillment partner should have tools for fast communication, like an online portal to access orders and change them before packing.

Having a dedicated Account Management Team with industry knowledge is also critical when selecting an apparel fulfillment partner.

You should also access overall statistics about order volume and shipping accuracy. Here’s a list of some metrics you should keep in mind when looking at reports:

  • Perfect order percentage: how accurate is order fulfillment?
  • Rate of return: how often do customers return products?
  • Inventory accuracy: how closely does actual inventory match expected inventory?
  • On-time shipping percentage: how many orders ship out on time?
  • Receiving and inbound PO accuracy: are your manufacturers shipping inbound POs on time and are there consistent variances?

Some of these metrics might be reported directly by your clothing 3PL partner, while you might need to calculate others.

You should also consider other metrics, depending on the issues that are most pertinent to your business.

Suppose you’re getting a high rate of return shipments. In that case, your fulfillment team should be able to give you the ability to analyze if the same customers are returning products frequently, if products are arriving late or damaged, or if there is a product labeling issue.

Apparel Returns

Apparel returns and restocking

One of the most important tasks a 3PL fulfillment service can do for your eCommerce business is efficiently handle returns and restocking.

Ask potential partners about the mechanics of their return process. Experienced apparel fulfillment services are happy to answer questions like, do they inspect an item for damages before restocking? Do they offer product refurbishing or rework?

Can they repackage clothing if necessary? Are there hidden fees? Inquire about their returns and restocking policies.

At Kable Product Services, we handle all returns processing.

Aligning your expectations with your 3PL provider upfront reduces your distribution costs and improves your customers’ experience with your brand.

Automation

Efficient and consistent order processing

Your 3PL apparel distribution partner should fully integrate with your shopping cart, CRM, and ERP systems.

This process enables them to seamlessly process each order and quickly get it out the warehouse doors.

System integration allows for faster order fulfillment and less wait times. These are vital to enhancing your customer service.

When choosing a 3PL partner, get familiar with their integrations; ask them what systems they use and whether they will work with your existing software.

Clothes

Types of apparel we warehouse and ship

At Kable Product Services, we can warehouse and ship any apparel that does not require hanger storage.

Whether you supply hats, jackets, dresses, shoes, or even costumes —we’ve got you covered!

stack-knitted-sweaters

Scalability for seasonality

As an eCommerce apparel retailer, you know demand isn’t just a flat line from month to month.

Your inventory fluctuates with seasonality, and Kable can handle the influx of demand for storing your increased products to increase order volume.

That’s why you need scalability in apparel fulfillment services.

Scalability means that you (your 3PL partner) can handle a particular product’s lowest and highest volumes.

You can stock and scale items differently depending on seasonal demand or item configuration.

To understand your order volume lows and highs for each SKU, review your trends across multiple seasons and look for patterns in the data.

Accurate packaging

B2B apparel fulfillment

These types of orders are regular, scheduled, and usually involve large quantities of each product, often times requiring special labeling and include other compliance needs.

With B2B fulfillment, it’s essential to have a streamlined packaging and shipping process. You want your packaging to be as efficient as possible, not wasting space, and you’ll want to have a smooth and effective strategy in place to get your customers restocked quickly and accurately.

Otherwise, you not only risk lost profits, but you also risk losing a good relationship with your physical retail clients.

B2C apparel fulfillment

In contrast with B2B fulfillment, B2C fulfillment goes directly to the customer. These orders are usually placed online in much smaller quantities than your B2B clients.

It is essential to track orders for B2C apparel fulfillment, just as you would for big orders from retail clients.

You want every customer to have a good experience with your brand—even if they’re ordering online.

To deliver quick, accurate and efficient product fulfillment for B2C orders, ensure your 3PL has the capacity to accommodate orders of any size.

Choose a partner that exceeds expectations regarding accessibility, shipping capacity, location, and managing variable order volume and size levels.

Value-added apparel fulfillment services

The best fulfillment partners are committed to understanding the process of packing and shipping clothing to customers.

When it comes to the online apparel retail experience, customers want a personalized and convenient connection with your brand—and a good 3PL can deliver, with custom packaging, unique labeling, and kitting services.

Custom packaging

Personalizing the first impression is a smart way to prove that you are established and confident in your brand and message.

It allows customers to start their brand experience before opening your box. A good 3PL will be able to accommodate your custom packaging requirements.

Gift wrapping, special package void fill, and personalization give your brand that extra touch and add to the overall customer experience.

Labeling

Custom packaging is only part of the experience.

For added value, consider labeling products or boxes.  This seemingly small gesture can add to your customer’s unboxing experience.

Your 3PL will follow your standards for packaging to ensure accurate brand representation and excellent customer experience from “add to cart” to delivery.

Kitting

You may have a variety of apparel items that go well together.

Packaging similar items together like a t-shirt, button-down shirt, and tie is part of the kitting process.

These items each have their own SKU. This process allows you to take individual products and combine them into a new product without going back to the manufacturer or requiring customers to buy items separately.

They could be bundled into a kit and assigned a new SKU —enabling you to quickly make new SKUs out of your existing inventory.

Whatever type of bundling needs you might have Kable Product Services can combine multiple products and SKUs into an order for you with our kitting services.

3PL Apparel Fulfillment with Kable Product Services

When it comes to apparel logistics, Kable Product Services has you covered.

Kable Product Services provides the flexibility to accommodate large and small amounts of SKUs, and we can scale depending on the season.

We are known to be one of the best clothing fulfillment companies, offering value-added apparel fulfillment services ranging from custom packaging to labeling and kitting.

When you choose us as your 3PL apparel fulfillment partner, you’re getting our years of expertise in the apparel fulfillment industry, ensuring a better proactive fulfillment experience for you and your customers.

The right apparel fulfillment service partner will relieve the strain on your people and processes while enhancing your brand and allowing for effortless scalability.

We hope this information helps you better understand the world of clothing distribution and gives you the knowledge you need to choose the best fashion fulfillment partner for your company’s needs.

Speak with one of our industry experts by calling (800) 596-0030 or fill out our form to receive a customized quote.

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