May 26, 2023
Using the Fulfill 3PL Finder service, CROSSNET saved $500,000 in orders that were backlogged with their previous 3PL.
3PL Finder Matchmaking Service
The World's Fastest Growing Backyard Game
In November 2022, CROSSNET decided to outsource their warehouse operations to third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to cut costs. They focused on competitive pricing, but overlooked essential aspects like communication, experience with retail orders, and access to the actual product handlers.
CROSSNET’s busiest season is from March to May, and their ordering process consists of two styles: pre-buys (12 months advance orders for inventory planning) and traditional ordering (large initial orders followed by replenishment orders as stock runs low).
However, they encountered two main problems:
In response to their challenges, CROSSNET identified the following solutions for future partnerships with third-party logistics providers (3PLs):
CROSSNET found an ideal partner in Fulfill.com.
They praised the company for saving them in a crucial time and helping them to retain key customers.
Fulfill.com was able to understand CROSSNET's specific needs and connect them with a fulfillment center that was best equipped to serve them.
The partnership with Fulfill.com allowed CROSSNET to avoid further negative experiences with 3PLs, and instead choose their next fulfillment center with confidence.
Want to know the nuances of finding a great 3PL for your growing business? Read the Fulfill article titled: "How To Guide: Finding A Great 3PL For Your Growing Business"
This has been an in-depth analysis of how Fulfill was able to help Chris Meade and the CROSSNET team. Let's finish the case study with a quote from Chris Meade from his newsletter "Crossed Commerce" (check out the write up here):
"The last five months have been some of the most stressful and aggravating months of my life. I won’t name-drop, but we moved to a 3PL (a third-party logistics warehouse partner) earlier this year and it ended up becoming the worst decision in company’s history.
They almost bankrupted us and led us to lose our biggest clients.
I had been preaching to you all for months about how us moving to a 3PL from our own warehouse was going to save us the monthly rent overhead, the headcount and access to better rates.
In theory, this all works, but it doesn’t when your 3PL takes three weeks to ship B2B orders, doesn’t have phone or email access to any team members working at the facility that has your inventory, and worst of all can’t track inventory if their life depended on it.
I’m sending this a few days later than normal but am thankfully in a much better headspace because my old friend Joe Spisak saved the day and found us the most hands-on, helpful, and amazing 3PL that specializes in big-box retail orders. These guys just shipped nearly 10,000 packages in the past 48 hours.
Long story short for those that don’t know Joe, he created this card game Dicey that we used to fulfill back in the day at the old warehouse we used to run. He went on to build his own 3PL called Shipdaddy and then graduated to build Fulfill.com.
It’s the sickest business model but essentially they match make you with one of 600 vetted 3PL’s based on your requirements and industry. They then take a cut of each order shipped from the 3PL (no extra cost out of our pocket). I wish we would have worked with them because it was completely free and when we tried to play matchmaker we screwed ourselves by picking one of the big, established 3PL’s that legit just treated us like another number and gave us a hotline number that led to somewhere in Pakistan."
We hope you enjoyed the case study! If you want to learn more about how to play CROSSNET you can check out their "how to play" tutorial video here:
"Fulfill is THE solution to your “bad 3PL” problem. They use a custom matchmaking process to connect you with the best fulfillment centers in your niche. If you’re a global brand or just starting out on your eCom journey, Fulfill.com has made it efficient to accurately and reliably find the fulfillment centers you need to scale. Whether it’s saving on fulfillment costs, working with tenured operators, accessing niche capabilities, or most likely - a combination of many factors - they work to understand your specific fulfillment needs and then introduce you to the fulfillment centers best positioned to service them."
