E-commerce fulfillment service Ships-a-Lot (whose cost can be determined by contacting the company) was founded three years ago by entrepreneurs who were running an e-commerce startup and doing their own e-commerce fulfillment.
According to its co-founder, they "got really good at it" and began offering the service to other companies.
Ships-a-Lot is now a standalone e-commerce fulfillment company.
Like ShipBob (Free at ShipBob) or Whiplash (Learn More at Whiplash) , most of Ships-a-Lot's clients are e-commerce retailers that have their own online stores from which they sell small, lightweight, easy-to-handle products.
According to a Ships-a-Lot company representative, the majority of its clients sell using Shopify, although the company can also handle multiplatform sales on Amazon and other services.
Prices
Cost is determined via a conversation with a company rep, and depends on the number of products to be shipped, how each order needs to be packed, whether storage space will be needed, and other factors.
The company offers its clients month-to-month contracts.
While the company's rates are not on their website, it does offer a shipping rate calculator that uses several factors to figure out USPS retail rates and compare them with Ships-A-Lot's discounted rates.
Like Red Stag (Free at Red Stag Fulfillment) , Ships-a-Lot will penalize itself for not fulfilling expectations.
In this case, the company includes a guarantee that orders will be shipped from its warehouse within 24 hours or it will pay you $20.
Facilities
On the warehouse front, Ships-a-Lot is on par with smaller operators, like EFS , than those with large warehouse portfolios, like Rakuten (Free at Rakuten Super Logistics) .
The company moved its single warehouse from Ohio to Memphis, Tennessee, in August 2017.
This was, according to a company rep, a strategically better location for reaching different parts of the United States.
It uses cameras and barcode scanners to track products and ensure they are properly packed.
Once orders leave the warehouse, shipments are tracked via the carriers' reports.
Software
Because most of its clients use the Shopify dashboard to monitor sales, the Ships-a-lot user interface (UI) is simple, offering a number of basic features.
The initial dashboard shows, in a series of square windows, data on orders that are about to ship, orders that are late, and orders that are on hold (because of problems or inventory issues).
On the right-hand side of the page, you'll find statistics on the total number of orders received, orders shipped, labels created, and items packed.
A menu line across the top offers access to a variety of drop-down menus under the categories of Inventory, Orders/Manage Orders, Purchase Orders, Reports, Returns, and Shipping.
For example, under Orders/Manage Orders, you can see a spreadsheet of all your orders, including status, customer name, email and mailing address, and other data.
By clicking the order number, you can drill down to see the complete order, create a return, and perform other functions.
You can set email notifications when inventory drops below a certain level, let the warehouse know (via Purchase Orders) how many items are coming from the manufacturer, or manually change the type of shipping being used.
For support, Ships-a-Lot uses a third-party solution called Intercom that lets clients contact the company via email or 24/7 live chat from the main website.
Helpdesk issues, according to a company rep, are usually addressed within one half hour.
Final Thoughts
Ships-a-Lot asserts its success is based on knowledge about the e-commerce space that it then transfers to its clients.
Because it only has a single warehouse, companies that do large amounts of shipping to the coasts may want to look for companies that have more diverse storage space.
However, Ships-a-Lot could be ideal for a startup or small independent e-commerce concern, especially one that uses Shopify as its online store.
The Bottom Line
Ships-a-Lot could be an ideal e-commerce fulfillment service for a startup or small independent e-commerce concern, especially one that uses Shopify as its online store.