Soapbox moment.

When you outsource warehousing and fulfilment, you should expect your fulfilment partner to handle all aspects of picking and packing, no matter how idiosyncratic or particular.

That's how we believe it should be, at least. After all, 3PLs are there to replace your current fulfilment operations – not deliver a half-baked version of them.

Now, here's where we indulge in a little bit of trumpet tooting. Because not only can we seamlessly take over your packing process, but we might be able to improve it too.

Here at Stowsafe, we pride ourselves on adding value at every stage of the fulfilment journey. That includes delivering useful, customisable picking and packing options.

Some add marketing sparkle, others are there to help your supply chain move more smoothly. In any case, the result is the same – happier, more engaged customers.

Full disclosure: other fulfilment providers might offer some of these services. But we're willing to bet they won't offer the kind of flexibility we do.

1. Including flyers and other marketing materials

This is as simple as it sounds. When we pack your orders, we can slip in flyers, or product catalogues, or even little "thank you" notes to make your customers smile.

Couldn't be easier, right? Well, you'd be surprised how difficult some fulfilment centres make it out to be.

Many will agree to add additional collateral to your orders but will make you jump through hoops to make changes later on.

It kind of defeats the point, right? Especially if you want to include time-sensitive marketing materials in your shipments.

That's why we aim to be as reactive as you are. Want to launch a last-minute promotion? Or roll back on an offer because of market changes? No problem – we'll adjust our processes accordingly.

We can even print the materials for you, so you can save yourself the faff of back-and-forthing between contacts.

Honestly, it's the least we can do.

2. Kitting

In case you're unaware, kitting is the process of combining multiple SKUs into one package.

Say you're a kitchenware retailer. The big Christmas baking season is coming up, so you decide to sell a bundle of cake-decorating tools – piping bags, spatulas and the like.

Smart move. It will be a big hit among gift seekers, and you can sell it at a reduced price compared to buying the SKUs separately.

But how can get those products in one place, ready to ship to customers?

One option would be to go straight to the source. You could ask your supplier to bundle the products at their end, complete with a fancy bit of custom packaging.

However, this requires a hefty investment and isn't flexible enough for a one-and-done seasonal gift set. Plus, if the SKUs come from separate manufacturers, you're limited in what you can do.

That's where kitting can help. We'll pick and pack the products together in our warehouse and ship them as a separate SKU.

Because the products come from your existing inventory, you won't face sourcing issues and you can be extremely flexible in your choice of kitted items.

An aside: hard kitting vs. soft kitting

This kind of kitting, where products are packed together in the same box, is known as "hard kitting".

Some big eCommerce marketplaces instead offer a "soft kitting" service. With soft kits, the bundle is sold as a set, but the customer receives their items in separate packaging – just as if they'd ordered the pieces one by one.

While this is convenient, it doesn't offer the same "wow factor" as hard kits. If your customer is expecting gift-level packaging, but they receive a bunch of individual products, they may well feel disappointed.

Combine our hard kitting service with our flexible packaging options, though, and you'll have customers smiling the moment their bundle hits their doorstep.

For instance, we can include a flyer or card with a special seasonal greeting. Or apply a sticker to the box to give a tantalising glimpse of what's inside.

Much better, we're sure you'll agree.

3. Custom labelling and relabelling

There are a few reasons why you might want to add or change a product label.

Maybe instead of delivering directly to customers, you want to ship to several big eCommerce retailers, who'll sell your products on your behalf. You can bet that each retailer will have subtly different requirements when it comes to barcodes and label placement.

Or perhaps you need to change product labels to comply with legal regulations. For instance, you might need to apply a regionally appropriate label to imported food. Or cover over incorrect product information with a corrective sticker.

As you might imagine, this seemingly simple task can quickly become painfully complex.

Again, you need a flexible, reactive fulfilment partner to overcome these challenges. That's us.

We're not polishing our own potatoes for the sake of it here. Sure, we're proud of our responsive service, but we seriously can't fathom a different way of doing things.

The fact is, supply chains are full of these kinds of hurdles. And like all of life's little problems, they're apt to arise when you least expect them.

We need to be able to make adjustments at the drop of a hat. If we couldn't, we wouldn't be doing our job properly.

4. And more besides…

This is just a small sample of the value-added services we offer.

Honestly, there are too many to count. We build 100% bespoke fulfilment plans for all our customers, so the details vary considerably from job to job.

Think of it this way: we can be as flexible as you need us to be.

If this sounds up your street – great! Feel free to get in touch to discuss your options. Or why not learn more about our custom picking and packing services?