If you’re an e-commerce company looking for ways to grow your business, you may consider outsourcing your fulfillment to a third-party logistics (3PL) provider. These fulfillment companies store your inventory, process and pick orders, and ship them to your customers. They enable you to spend less time on fulfillment activities and are able to process orders more quickly. ShipBob and Deliverr are two popular fulfillment companies that can help your e-commerce business grow. But if you’re going to pay for a fulfillment company to handle your orders, you need to ensure you get the most for your money. This breakdown of ShipBob vs. Deliverr helps you find the best 3PL provider for your company.
What is ShipBob?
ShipBob is a fulfillment company that helps e-commerce companies build a global customer base. It has more than 40 fulfillment centers in locations around the world, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Europe and Australia. The company makes warehousing your inventory easy with a simple price plan and comprehensive inventory management systems. The platform integrates with all the major marketplaces so you can track sales across platforms and around the world. They offer multiple international fulfillment centers and supports delivery duty unpaid to 200 countries from all facilities and delivery duty paid to 200+ countries and most facilities in the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Canada. ShipBob’s tech powers the merchant app to the warehouse management system, which runs everything in the fulfillment center.
Receiving efficiency and accuracy:
- Shipping level agreement is three business days, but the average receiving time is around 1.5 days
Pros:
- Physical warehouses in six countries
- Omnichannel fulfillment including EDI-automated dropshipping and retail distribution
- Customization suite
- Advanced analytics and technology for business growth
- Simple price plan
- Walmart two-day shipping
Cons:
- Can be a more expensive option
What is Deliverr?
Deliverr is a fulfillment provider that provides its customers with fast shipping across the U.S. It offers its customers a simple price plan focused on fulfillment costs and storage fees. Deliverr integrates with many major marketplaces, including Amazon, Shopify and Walmart. They offer a merchant app that connects to different warehouse management tools across their network. Deliverr technology uses APIs to automatically scatter inventory around the country, making it easier to provide fast shipping to customers anywhere in the country. Deliverr also supports international shipments from the U.S., but they offer no international fulfillment center options.
Receiving efficiency and accuracy:
- Shipping level agreement is 2-14 days with no guarantee
Pros:
- Locations across the country
- Multichannel fulfillment
- Direct-to-consumer and marketplace fulfillment
- Simplified price plan
- Fast tags program for quicker shipping speeds
Cons:
- No dedicated account manager
- No international warehouses
Comparing ShipBob and Deliverr
ShipBob and Deliverr are fulfillment companies for e-commerce businesses, but they are very different in their business models and services. See the ShipBob vs. Deliverr comparison in these major areas.
Integrations
Integration capabilities are a crucial consideration in any 3PL decision. They enable the 3PL to connect to your technologies for cross-platform order and returns processing, offering you end-to-end performance insights. ShipBob and Deliverr both offer integrations with the most common marketplaces, including Shopify, Amazon and Walmart.
Deliverr’s integration capabilities extend to several major returns management and inventory platforms, but ShipBob’s list of compatible technologies is longer. With the same integration types as well as others in customer service helpdesks, custom packaging and EDI systems, ShipBob offers customers greater flexibility to use their preferred technologies.
Winner: ShipBob
Warehouse locations
Strategic warehouse locations are crucial to provide the fast, two-day shipping that customers have come to expect. Deliverr and ShipBob have multiple warehouse locations, but their networks work differently.
Deliverr has more than 40 U.S. fulfillment centers, docks and sorting centers, but doesn’t own any warehouse space. This business model allows it to spread customer inventory geographically, but can result in service inconsistencies leading to fulfillment errors. It does not have facilities outside the U.S., so international shipping can take longer.
ShipBob has fewer U.S. facilities (40+ as of February 2023), but each one uses the same warehouse management system for consistency and reliability. Its strategic locations allow for two-day U.S. shipping, and the company also operates in Australia, Canada, Europe and the U.K.
Winner: ShipBob
Shipping partners
Fast shipping requires partnerships with multiple shipping companies to ensure that each order travels from the warehouse to your customer’s doorstep quickly. ShipBob and Deliverr use many shipping partners, including the big four in the U.S. (USPS, DHL, FedEx and UPS). By using a network of shipping partners, ShipBob and Deliverr help guarantee that your products will be shipped quickly and efficiently at a discounted price.
Winner: Tied
Customer service
It would be nice if businesses always operated smoothly, but it’s important to have good customer service when problems do inevitably arise. Deliverr’s support team is available for live chat issue resolution during work hours, and clients can submit service requests online. However, customer assistance is not available 24/7.
ShipBob offers more forms of contact for its customers. Customers can submit requests, use live chat support or call customer service any time of day. ShipBob’s accessible customer service makes it easier for business owners to resolve their problems so they can continue selling.
Winner: ShipBob
Pricing and fees
Both Deliverr and ShipBob pride themselves on offering straightforward pricing models that focus on two aspects: fulfillment and storage.
The fulfillment charge refers to how much it costs to pick, pack, and ship something. Both Deliverr and ShipBob fulfillment costs vary depending on the point of origin, shipping destination, weight, dimensions, and other factors. The fulfillment charge will be more expensive the larger and heavier the item is.
Storage costs are determined by how much space your inventory takes up in the warehouse. Deliverr and ShipBob charge by space, but their models to determine price are different. Deliverr charges $0.75 per cubic foot of space. So if your inventory took up 10 cubic feet, your monthly charge would be $7.50.
ShipBob determines storage space by the size of the container needed for each SKU, from a bin, shelf or pallet. ShipBob charges $5 per bin, $10 per shelf and $40 per pallet, prorated on a monthly basis. Deliverr storage may be cheaper if you’re only storing a few items, but ShipBob’s model makes it cheaper to store a larger inventory and is easier to understand.
Winner: Very close, but ShipBob
Returns
Returns are an inevitable part of the e-commerce business. But with the right fulfillment partner, they can be easily processed and restocked so they don’t impact your store. Deliverr and ShipBob handle returns for their customers, including receiving the returned item, restocking it and processing the refund. Both businesses have return management platforms that can integrate into your account for seamless processing.
Winner: Tied
Connect your products with customers around the world
Based on this comparison, ShipBob is the leader in warehouse locations, pricing, integrations and customer service. Its comprehensive warehouse network with international locations makes it easier than ever to get products to customers around the globe. Plus, its pricing model is easy to understand, with endless integration options and readily available customer support. If you’re looking to grow your e-commerce business, ShipBob could be an ideal fulfillment partner.
FAQ
ShipBob’s expansive international warehouse network, unboxing and customization options, easy-to-understand pricing and technology and API offerings make it a unique fulfillment partner.
ShipBob has an extensive warehouse network and its own warehouse management system, so every warehouse in its network follows the same seamless protocol, ensuring fast shipping for its customers.
Deliverr has more than 40 warehouses, sorting centers and docks in its network, but it does not own any of them.
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