B2B fulfillment includes fulfillment of bulk orders to other businesses or retailers. The operations of B2B order fulfilment is carried out at a B2B warehouse, that is traditionally located at the periphery of a city. B2B warehouses are typically less active and more complex warehouses that emphasise significantly on the rate of shipment and efficiency of fulfillment processes.

B2B purchases are commercially driven and require a solid implementation plan. Unlike B2C purchases that are impulsive, B2B orders are strategic and involve high stakes.

• As B2B fulfilment primarily involves bulky orders, warehousing and logistics tend to be far more complex. Shipping of B2B orders is executed via freight and goods are palletised to ensure complete safety, due to large numbers. Although, products that can be packed in carton boxes are shipped via parcel.
• B2B fulfilment is subject to regulations depending on the industry and type of product a company is shipping. Products involved in B2B fulfilment can vary, they can be machinery, radioactive material, hazardous in nature and more. Hence, every B2B shipment is compliant to regulations.
• The products involved in B2B fulfilment are often expensive and require additional care in terms of logistics and warehousing. Handling and moving the goods need MHE (machine handling equipment) for safe loading/unloading and other fulfilment processes.
• In today's era, B2B fulfilment service providers or in-house B2B fulfillment centres are compliant to EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). For a retailer, EDI facilitates the exchange of documents and records with the respective supplier, vendor or manufacturer in standard electronic format. It makes the process of sending a purchase order or receiving invoices optimal and eliminates the need to send paper documents through physical means.
• B2B fulfilment depends more on the certainty of the shipment, rather than 2-day delivery programs. To build good trust with vendors and retailers requires ensuring deliveries at guaranteed dates.

Before Choosing a B2B Fulfilment Partner

• Since a B2B order fulfilment involves delivering products in bulk, contingencies are bound to happen. Retailers and businesses rely on the correctness of the delivery. They must look for fulfilment partners that are responsive to issues that may arise, instead of a partner providing fulfilment service at a lower cost.
• Technology plays a vital role in maintaining the effectiveness of the delivery. Your fulfilment partner must be equipped with the right technology that allows you to track orders in real-time and ensure accurate visibility over inventory movement.
• Goods involved in B2B orders are expensive and require appropriate machine handling equipment to ensure safe and optimum movement of goods while transporting or delivering. Your fulfilment partner must incorporate proper machinery and equipment to facilitate secure handling of products.

Stockarea is a single nation-wide network of warehouse and fulfillment services providers for modern shippers. Businesses and brands can entirely rely on Stockarea to centralise all operations. B2B companies can access Stockarea's cloud-based platform and have visibility into product movement across the entire network through one dashboard. Partner with us today!