There’s a new acronym circling the web in the ecommerce realm: it’s EFP. According to an EcommerceTimes.com article by Mark Ayotte, EFPs or ecommerce fulfillment providers, “take the ‘friction’ out of order fulfillment.” As an all-in-one integrated ecommerce solution, ShopVisible falls under the category beautifully. Here are three reasons online merchants should think about switching to an EFP in the near future.
1. With EFPs, orders are automated, integrated into one system, and built for scalability.
As the article explains in a nice example, “a consumer will buy merchandise at a Web site. This triggers an order that is sent electronically to an EFP who processes the order. A shipper such as FedEx or UPS is then automatically notified. Upon shipment of the order, an automated notification is sent to the consumer and to the merchant. There is almost no human intervention.”
The EFP can automatically update inventory information, and retailers can receive notification when they are running low on a certain product. The retailer can view current inventory status at all times and stay up to date on what’s available and what’s selling. The best part for online business aiming to grow– EFPs are built for scalability. They can handle ten orders one day and a thousand orders the next day. ShopVisible’s client, Dormanex, experienced huge surge of activity within the first few months of their site launch, and order numbers for their sleeping aid soared exponentially. With an EFP like ShopVisible, they’ve been able to manage that growth easily with a fully functioning site and efficient order process.
2. They cut cost. Big time.
When business owners can control order data, inventory, accounting, analytics and shipping all in one integrated solution, they can reduce costs dramatically. “EFPs are taking cost out of order fulfillment. The cost of the EFP is covered by shipping and handling charges that consumers pay…EFPs are built from the ground up to make order fulfillment as efficient as possible. It would be nearly impossible for a retailer to match an EFP’s level of efficiency with an in-house fulfillment operation.” ShopVisible continues to preach the value of a fully integrated all-in-one solution that includes the benefits of order fulfillment. Online merchants focus on one dashboard and one platform, and never have to juggle different aspects of their business on separate applications. ShopVisible technology works for business owners– so business owners don’t have to spend time making their technology work.
3. They can be used for a variety of business models.
EFPs can be adapted to any type of business model and multiple channels like Amazon and eBay. ShopVisible services clients who are drop shippers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and more, may of whom also use alternative channels.
ShopVisible is an ecommerce solution headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
