The process of fulfilling an order for an item goes right from the point of production to delivery through the customer’s door. Fulfilment services can provide warehouse space to small companies, and because the costs are shared across a number of customers, they can often do this more cheaply than the rent on a small warehouse for a single client. They may also be able to provide storage and packaging solutions, and the incoming goods will often be received directly from the manufacturer, perhaps as a large pallet or international container shipment. Delivery services are a part of the fulfilment process, but they may be contracted out to a third party courier company. The reason for this is that courier companies must be very large in order to keep efficiency high and costs down, and ensure delivery to any location around the world (although reciprocal agreements often exist between courier companies in different countries, enabling them to delivery globally without having branches in every country). Of course, simple delivery is just the start- fulfilment services may include dealing with customs documentation, which can be exhaustive and quite complicated for international commercial shipments. A company offering fulfillment might also be able to deal directly with customers. Receiving orders usually forms the biggest part of this service, and it can include secure credit card transaction handling by phone, internet, or mail, recording the order details, and providing customer receipts as well as despatch. It may also include handling customer complaints and returned goods, which may be faulty or just restocked. It is worth noting that many fulfilment services customers charge extra for customer returns and restocking. They may also not guarantee against product damage in the warehouse or in transit from it to the customer, so it is well worth reading the small print in their paperwork.
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