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Top Tips for Building a Business Plan for an Online Clothing Store

eCommerce Clothing Store Business Plan

Everyone wears clothing of one type or another, making it an attractive offering for an online store. That doesn’t mean you can partner with a fulfillment warehouse, then just sit back and watch the sales roll in. Use these helpful questions to craft a business plan that will establish your framework for success.

1. How viable is your business?

Clothing is a broad category with countless competitors in the field. Look for a niche, such as vintage clothing or children’s products, that will let you focus on a particular market.

2. Establish a mission.

What do you hope to accomplish with your clothing store? What sets your business apart from others? Your mission statement should tell people exactly who you are and what makes you different from your competitors.

3. Use a SWOT analysis.

SWOT is an acronym for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.” This analysis helps you determine what qualities you should emphasize and what measures you need to take to overcome the competition.

4. Determine your business structure.

Business laws set forth several different options, such as sole proprietorship or limited liability company (LLV), for operating a business. Each option has implications for liability, taxes, and other important factors. Consult an attorney to decide which choice is best for you.

5. Keep it simple.

Don’t fall into the trap of using lots of jargon, technical terms, and buzzwords to make your plan sound “intelligent.” Stick with simple, everyday language that can be easily understood by any potential reader.

Make Our Fulfillment Warehouse Part of Your Business Plan

We have extensive experience working alongside eCommerce retailers selling just about any type of product. Let us put our knowledge and capabilities to work for you. Contact us at Medallion Fulfillment & Logistics to learn more.

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Warehousing or Fulfillment Service – Understanding Your Needs

Medallion Fulfillment for Third Party Fulfillment Needs.

As the operator of a virtual storefront, your eCommerce business needs storage for your products and a way to fulfill orders. Which will better satisfy your needs: a warehouse or a fulfillment company? Take a closer look at how each one works.

Difference Between Warehouse and Fulfillment Center

• Warehouses are widely used by both eCommerce shops and brick-and-mortar stores. These large facilities provide storage for a company’s inventory until it’s sold. Individual SKUs (stock keeping units) are kept on shelves or in storage bins and containers to facilitate order-picking.

• On the other hand, a fulfillment center is a more comprehensive operation. In addition to storing product, a fulfillment center generally handles the entire process, from inventory management to order filling and shipping. These centers are sometimes referred to as a third-party logistics provider, or 3PL.

Benefits of a Fulfillment Company

• In business, larger volume means better pricing. A fulfillment center manages a number of customers, allowing them to receive more advantageous pricing on supplies and transportation than you could ever obtain on your own.

• Are you finding it difficult to keep up with the ever-increasing number of orders? Is it taking too long for customers to receive their products? Fulfillment centers have streamlined processes that can be scaled to accommodate company growth.

• Order fulfillment involves many moving parts. Managing this side of your business on your own is cumbersome and time-consuming. When you partner with a fulfillment warehouse, it frees you up to spend your time and energy growing your business.

A Fulfillment Company Invested in Your Success

At Medallion Fulfillment & Logistics, your success means our success. We have a variety of services, including start-up and Amazon replenishment warehousing, that can be tailored to fit your individual needs. Contact us today for more information.

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Improve Your eCommerce Business With a Fulfillment Company

Fulfillment Company Shaking Hands with a eCommerce Business Owner

Keeping customers satisfied is how you help your eCommerce business thrive. That means being able to fulfill orders quickly and get them shipped to customers as soon as possible. Handling this on your own can become a big problem as your company grows. Partnering with a fulfillment company can help keep your eCommerce business running smoothly.

What Do Fulfillment Companies Do?

These companies deal with every step of the fulfillment process. That includes receiving inventory, managing it, fulfilling orders, and handling returns. Fulfilling orders involves picking products that were purchased, packing them, and shipping them to customers. All of these tasks can take up a lot of your time as a business owner. With a fulfillment partner, you won’t have to worry about taking care of the fulfillment process.

Benefits of Hiring a Fulfillment Partner

Working with a fulfillment business can free up a lot of your time. These businesses can take several tasks off your shoulders, so you can focus on marketing your eCommerce business and taking care of other tasks. Other benefits include boosting customer satisfaction, turning more consumers into your loyal customer base, and increasing brand awareness to draw more customers. An experienced fulfillment business can help you earn a reputation for getting orders to customers as quickly as possible.

How to Find a Fulfillment Business

When you’re looking into potential fulfillment partners, how do you know which one to choose? Look for a business that can provide fast and reliable shipping speeds. Your ideal fulfillment partner should also offer years of industry experience, scalability, data and analytics reporting, and the latest technologies to improve the fulfillment process.

Ready to start working with a fulfillment company to help your business thrive? Contact Medallion Fulfillment and Logistics to get more details on our services.

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Expert Tips on Growing Your eCommerce Business with Paid Advertising

Visualization of Paid Advertising Concept for eCommerce and Fulfillment Warehouses

When you’re trying to grow your eCommerce business, advertising your brand is essential. Paid advertising provides a highly effective way to reach a wide audience through social media, websites, search engines, and other online platforms.

Keep in mind that as your business grows, you should consider partnering with a fulfillment warehouse to ensure prompt and efficient order fulfillment. While searching for the right fulfillment partner, follow these tips on making the most of paid advertising.

Explore Different Types of Paid Advertising

You might find that one type works better for you, or you might find success from using multiple types. Becoming familiar with all of your options can help you choose the right ones for reaching your targeted audience. Different types of paid advertising include paid search, paid social, native advertising, podcast advertising, and print ads.

Consider Your Marketing Funnel When Targeting Users

You’ll want to think about the search intent of users. For example, top-of-funnel searches typically include reviews or the best places to buy a product. For these, you’ll need to have the right keywords to target users. Middle-of-funnel searches, such as comparing different brands or products, typically require different keywords.

Boost Organic Posts on Social Media

When using paid advertising on Facebook or other social media platforms, you’ll want to boost existing posts. This allows you to reach a wider audience using video ads, image ads, carousel ads, or other types of ads.

Use Best Practices for Native Ads

These are ads that blend in more on websites compared to display banners. Create landing pages, offer clear messaging, and come up with eye-catching headlines to grab users’ attention.

Partnering with a fulfillment warehouse is a smart step to take while growing your eCommerce business. Contact Medallion Fulfillment and Logistics to learn more about services.

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Amazon Takes The Throne as the Largest Shipping Company in the USA

Fulfillment Warehouse

Move over, UPS. After overtaking FedEx in 2020 to take over the #2 spot, Amazon turned on the afterburners to pass Big Brown and become the top private parcel carrier in the United States. Our fulfillment warehouse staff takes a look at how this came to pass and what it may mean for the future.

Road to the Top

Only seven years ago, then-FedEx CEO Fred Smith all but laughed at the idea that Amazon could be a serious rival, referring to the idea as “fantastical.” At that point, Amazon was far in the rear-view mirror of industry leaders UPS and FedEx.

Determined to control all aspects of their business, Amazon turned their attention (and funds) toward significantly expanding their logistics network. This process was helped along the way by the pandemic, when the house-bound public increased the already significant amount of their online shopping.

Estimates are that Amazon will post final numbers of 5.9 billion deliveries in 2023, followed by UPS with 5.3 billion and FedEx with just over 5 billion. While Amazon’s number includes only packages they shipped end-to-end, number for the other two include parcels that were turned over to USPS for last-mile delivery.

What’s Next?

  • In order to more efficiently serve specific geographical areas, Amazon has announced the creation of Amazon Hub Delivery, in which the company will pay small businesses to take over last-mile delivery service.
  • Some retailers, motivated by Amazon’s success, are considering ways to handle their own deliveries.
  • FedEx and UPS are pivoting from total volume of deliveries to focus on more profitable parcels.

A Fulfillment Warehouse and Shipping Provider? We Do It All

Thanks to strong relationships with most common carriers, Medallion Fulfillment & Logistics can handle all your shipping needs with the most cost-effective and efficient methods. Contact us to learn more.