Supporting eCommerce start-ups

Between 80% and 90% of eCommerce start-ups fail and no matter how good you think your branding, product offering, and marketing is, these are startling statistics, which underline the critical importance of concentrating on growth and building a scalable, profitable business, that will last.

At the height of the pandemic, the eCommerce market’s growth accelerated for five or even 10 years, with the retail share increasing to an unprecedented 30% during the lockdown and while this has settled back to between 20 and 25%, eCommerce still presents massive opportunities for those with the right strategy and support.

Building a successful eCommerce business takes more than choosing a brand name, finding suppliers, building a site and selling products online.

Too many eCommerce start-ups give little real thought as to how they’ll fulfil all the orders they hope to get, yet the fulfilment of your customer’s order is the human touch in an otherwise digital transaction and that delivery experience creates a lasting impression on them.

The delivery lead time, the quality and eco-credentials of product packaging and the ease of exchanges and returns all contribute to brand perception. If they love it, they’ll be back and repeat sales are the key eCommerce survival.

Most eCommerce start-ups either fulfil orders directly from their suppliers (drop-shipping) or fulfil orders themselves (direct-fulfilment). And while they both seem to offer cost advantages, with drop-shipping you have absolutely no control over the shipping service or packaging and with direct-fulfilment any costs you save, are lost in time and energy, because fulfilment takes a lot of work, particularly when you start to grow.

As sales increase, more and more time has to be devoted to getting customer orders out and fulfilment expenditure increases, as additional space is required to hold inventory and handle machinery acquired. Fixed costs that apply whether they are being used, or sat idle when sales slow.

For your eCommerce business to reach its potential, you need to be free to concentrate on growth – NOT packing parcels and going to the Post Office – with fulfilment solutions that will ramp up to meet spiking demand and scale back when the market calms.

Noatum Logistics’ eSolutions fulfilment centres in the UK, Hong Kong and around the globe are designed for super-efficient eCommerce fulfilment for merchants of all sizes, from start-ups to global fashion brands.

Fulfilment centres are designed to process inbound stock from your suppliers swiftly, so that inventory is visible, integrated with marketplace platforms and available for sale in the shortest possible time.

Because we provide a comprehensive range of eCommerce services, start-ups can pick and choose those services they require at any particular time and adjust their use, in line with demand, so they only pay for what they need, when they need it. So no idle fixed assets.

Our eSolutions consultants can help you to streamline your entire supply chain. From overseas suppliers, we can consolidate orders from multiple sources and regions for cost-effective freight and manage international transport by road, sea or air, deal with customs compliance and regulatory requirements.

We seamlessly integrate our bespoke order fulfilment systems with your sales platforms and all leading marketplaces, to establish a simple and automated fulfilment service process, which allows us to fulfil every one of your customers’ orders quickly and efficiently, delivering via our select courier network, in line with your preferred costing and brand promise.

Uniquely, with Noatum eSolutions PowerViewe platform you have total control and visibility of your inventory – down to SKU level – from the moment it leaves the supplier, along your supply chain, into stock, online sale, order fulfilment, couriers delivery and, when necessary, return.

We provide the most comprehensive range of eSolutions, to support eCommerce start-ups, allowing them to select the most appropriate solution at any particular time, and adjust their use in line with demand.

And because they only pay for services when they need them, cost always reflects use and avoids waste, which means it is simple to ramp up when demand spikes, without impacting any impact on cash flow.

Noatum eSolutions provide multi-channel eCommerce fulfilment and logistics solutions that scale and grow with eCommerce start-ups, so that they can forget about picking, packing, dispatch and administration and concentrate on sourcing great products, brand building and growing their business.