Flexible warehousing, aka Flex warehousing, is the answer to eCommerce storage demands in today’s advanced digital world. As the world becomes more digitally connected, businesses are experiencing unprecedented growth and expansion. As a result, companies are searching for more efficient and effective solutions to manage their supply chain needs.
Running an online business can be tricky, especially when it comes to managing your inventory. There may be periods of time where you have too much inventory and not enough storage space and quieter months when the opposite is true.
One solution that has gained popularity is flex warehousing, a solution that allows you to adjust your storage needs based on how much inventory you have at any given time. Flex warehousing with storage spaces such as ehouse allows businesses to adapt their storage needs in response to changing demands.
In this article, we will discuss flexible warehousing and explore how its benefits can contribute to your business.
What is flexible warehousing?
Flexible warehousing is a third-party logistics (3PL) space that allows businesses to adjust their storage requirements in response to fluctuating demand. This type of warehousing offers businesses an on-demand storage approach, allowing them to increase or decrease the amount of space they require as needed.
Without a need for long-term contracts, flexible warehousing offers businesses the flexibility to manage their inventory storage requirements in a way that aligns with their business objectives.
Within ehouse’s flex warehousing solution, its users are provided with a total co-warehousing experience. Co-warehousing is when multiple companies use the same warehouse space, including an office space,, networking opportunities, and logistics services. Flexible warehousing is more than a warehousing solution but a chance to become part of an eCommerce community.
The benefits of flex warehousing to your business
Whether you are a business that imports, exports, or both, outsourcing your warehousing is a bright idea for most small to medium-sized businesses. There are many benefits to using a flexible warehousing solution, and these are a number of them:
Scalability
Scalability refers to a business’s capacity to grow and meet increased demand. For online businesses to be scalable, they must have available inventory as well as space to store it. This is where flex warehousing comes into the picture. With flex warehouse spaces, businesses can scale their storage requirements up or down in response to market changes without investing in additional warehouse space, staff, or equipment. This is a significant advantage to many online stores as it helps them reduce costs, improve their responsiveness to market changes, and take advantage of new opportunities.
Cost savings
Running an online business involves ongoing expenses, most of which cannot be curbed or avoided. However, more economical solutions are available in some cases, such as inventory warehousing. Flexible warehousing presents eCommerce businesses with an opportunity to increase their cost savings. By only paying for the space they need, online retail players can reduce their overhead costs and avoid the high fees associated with long-term storage commitments or paying for warehousing space they aren’t actually using.
Improved inventory management
Inventory management is a crucial piece of a business’s profitability. When done right, it can lead to growth and higher revenue. Unfortunately, for many small or new businesses, it takes time and experience to learn the necessary skills for good inventory management. Flex warehousing solutions can improve inventory management by giving businesses greater visibility into their supply chain. 3PL warehouses provide businesses with a complete in-house network of fulfillment, distribution, personnel, and logistic resources. In addition, with flex warehouse’s automated inventory management tracking systems, businesses no longer rely on manual processes to predict customer demands or decide which products to re-stock. Instead, storing, picking, packing, labeling, and shipping off products are all tasks that are optimized and performed effectively on your behalf.
Increased efficiency
Flex warehouses have the expertise and resources to manage the logistics operations better than most online retailers are capable of on their own. By outsourcing your warehousing needs, you will reduce the time and effort required to manage inventory. With the help of technology, businesses can automate their inventory tracking and management processes, allowing them to focus on other business activities that require attention. Delegating storage to a flexible warehousing space will not only increase your business’s efficiency but will result in faster delivery times, improve business management and enhance overall customer satisfaction.
Location flexibility
Location is a crucial factor when it comes to warehousing and distribution. Flexible warehousing provides businesses with location flexibility, enabling them to store inventory closer to their customers. The closer your warehouse is to your clients, not only will you reduce shipping and transportation costs, but you will also be improving delivery times. Short delivery times play a significant factor when a customer is deciding whether to proceed with a purchase. It can be the difference between him abandoning his cart or going through with it. Keep in mind, a happy customer is a customer that will most likely return to your store and turn into a loyal customer.
Community
Compared to managing your own warehouse, a co-warehouse creates a sense of community and teamwork amongst other businesses. By working alongside other businesses, you surround yourself with people from various industries and backgrounds, providing opportunities for collaboration, networking, and shared resources. This can help businesses build relationships, explore new business opportunities, and even develop potential partnerships. Flex warehouses where various companies or workers co-exist encourage the sharing of ideas and an ‘entrepreneur’ style environment. Like-minded entrepreneurs can meet, brainstorm and share ideas as other employees can make friends and network.
To wrap it up, eCommerce retailers are constantly looking for ways to improve how they run their business to reduce costs, increase revenue, and strengthen customer satisfaction. Flexible warehousing is an innovative solution that provides businesses with greater flexibility, scalability, and cost savings in their supply chain operations.
Expand your business with ehouse flexible warehousing
When working with ehouse, all eCommerce retailers are presented with the opportunity to take advantage of these benefits. With ehouses flexible warehousing spaces, businesses can improve inventory management, increase efficiency, and enhance customer service capabilities. As the business world continues to evolve, flexible warehousing will remain a critical tool for businesses seeking to stay ahead of the game. To learn more about flexible warehousing and how it can benefit your business, get in touch with the ehouse team today.
