How crucial is a warehouse for an e-commerce startup business?

As an e-commerce business, the importance of warehousing cannot be overstated. Having the right warehousing and logistics infrastructure in place can have a major impact on the success and longevity of your business. Here are four reasons why warehousing is important for a new eCommerce business.

1. Leverage shipping and fulfillment partners: If you're just starting out, it's challenging to pick up, pack, and ship orders yourself. Partnering with a third-party logistics provider makes it easier to leverage their established infrastructure and services while they take care of the heavy lifting. Plus, they can often offer competitive rates and fast turnaround times when it comes to shipping your orders to customers.

2. Store Inventory: Any successful eCommerce business needs sufficient storage space to hold its inventory. If you're just starting out, the cost of renting or purchasing a building can be prohibitive, especially when you factor in additional costs such as equipment, staffing, and security. Having a warehouse brings down overhead costs and allows you to keep your inventory safe until it’s needed.

3. Make improvements in customer service: Customers expect their orders to arrive as quickly as possible. Having a warehouse lets you speed up the process as you can pack, pick, and ship orders quickly and efficiently. By improving their overall customer experience, you can build a loyal customer base for your business.

4. Offer returns and exchanges: An eCommerce business needs to have a policy on returns and exchanges, especially if competing with other companies in the industry. Without a warehouse, it can be difficult to coordinate returns, inspect the merchandise, and pause orders until the expected return is received. Investing in warehouse storage means you can offer a fair and professional returns process that can result in customer loyalty.

Having a warehouse is a key component of any successful eCommerce business. From leveraging partner services to offering customers a quality returns process, a warehouse helps to unlock a wide range of benefits. By ensuring that you invest in the right warehouse for your business, you can unlock the potential of your eCommerce venture.

However, many new eCommerce businesses face challenges in finding warehouse space. Fortunately, there are a number of companies, such as Golden Red, that specialize in providing warehouse space for eCommerce businesses. Golden Red understands the needs of a new eCommerce business and provides expert advice on the best warehouse space for their needs. They also comprehensively compare available warehouse spaces, so eCommerce businesses get their perfect option.