How Are Fulfillment Centers Different from Warehousing Units?

Two factors that play a major role in the flourishing of E-Commerce are our warehouse and fulfillment centers. Fulfilment warehouse USA improves your company’s efficiency by taking care of the entire order fulfillment process. Though the 3PL companies in the US offer fulfillment as well as distribution services, the common notion is that they are synonymous. There are some classic differences between a warehousing unit and a fulfillment center. Essentially, both buildings are used for storing the manufactured products before shipping them out. However, there are some fine distinguishing factors.

Read on to find out how fulfillment centers differ from warehouses.

Purpose: The very first point of difference between centers of order fullfillment USA, and warehouse is their fundamental purpose. During the transportation of the products, there are times when you need a change of transport. Warehouses are where your goods are kept during the stop gaps. In that sense, the warehouse functions as the chief hub of transit. On the other hand, fulfillment centers are specifically designed to store the finished items before their ultimate shipping. Besides storage, a fulfillment center also serves other purposes. 

Operations: The primary operations of a warehouse include shifting the stocked items from one location to the other, inside the building and managing the inventory of the business. They are filled with shelves and storage units. The workers organize, sort, and manage the stored items in the order of their pickup. A fulfillment center operates on multiple levels. They deal with how the order is transported to the site of shipping, and order tracking, and their job ends only after the successful delivery of the order at the recipient’s address. 

Orders:  A warehouse usually caters to wholesale retailers. Bulk orders that are meant for retailers and other such outlets are their primary concern. Fulfillment centers entertain both B2B as well as B2C orders. While B2B orders are those that are shipped to the distributors and wholesalers, B2C orders refer to those that are delivered directly to the location of your individual customers.