If you’re in the early stages of your health and fitness company, or you’re finally looking to take the next step and scale your business, fitness fulfillment may just be the winning idea to get you there.
The fitness industry is booming, fueled by an increasingly health-conscious population seeking everything from at-home workout equipment to apparel. As more entrepreneurs jump into this active market, finding a fitness fulfillment partner that understands the unique needs of the industry is critical.
One potential business model is designing and creating your own fitness and sports equipment and selling them online. To succeed in this space, you’ll need to work with a trusted fulfillment partner, such as Print Bind Ship. With over 60 years of experience in the field, we’re one of the leading order fulfillment providers in North America.
Learn how fitness fulfillment works and tips on what to look for in a fulfillment provider. We’ll explore key aspects of the process, from storage to order processing, shipping, and more.
What Is Fitness Fulfillment?
Fitness fulfillment refers to the warehousing, inventory management, packaging, and shipping services specialized for e-commerce stores selling fitness gear, apparel, and sports nutrition products. Fitness fulfillment services may be offered by third-party logistics partners (3PLs) or order fulfillment companies. Print Bind Ship is a leader in this space that also offers unique printing, packing, and packaging services – helping brands create a truly unique product and ensuring it gets to customers.
Online stores often face challenges in storing their fitness products, as they require adequate space and specific conditions to preserve their quality. Fitness fulfillment services offer well-equipped warehouses that can handle a wide range of fitness gear and sports products, including yoga mats, resistance bands, foam rollers, and more. Fitness fulfillment also applies to books, nutritional supplements, and just about any other types of products you could think of.
Brands nowadays are also expected to offer timely and accurate delivery processes if they’re going to ensure customer satisfaction. Fitness fulfillment services understand the importance of this and have streamlined processes in place to ensure prompt order processing, careful packaging, and reliable shipping. For example, such companies will work closely with shipping carriers to negotiate competitive rates and provide tracking information to store owners and customers.
Fitness fulfillment services ultimately allow e-commerce merchants and industry players to focus on their expertise – fueling their business and passion for health. With a trusted partner, you can expand your product range, boost brand awareness, and ensure your products get into the hands of your customers.
How Fitness Fulfillment Can Boost Your Marketing and Sales
itness brands use order fulfillment for things like supplements, protein powder, cookbooks, exercise DVDs, training workbooks, and the list goes on. Some companies or fitness influencers will even introduce higher-tiered kits including things like nutrition supplements, protein shake powders, and branded gear.
Health and wellness fulfillment services go far beyond basic shipping and logistics. Partnering with a specialist in this space enables you to boost brand awareness by introducing and monetizing unique products that both customers want and are in line with your broader business model. There’s no shortage of the types of health and fitness-related products you can create, which can be ideal for upselling customers and cross-selling.
Multimedia Fulfillment
Multimedia is an effective tool used by many health and wellness brands to reach their customers. DVD & Multimedia Fulfillment is a fantastic way to do this. In the age of streaming, its relevance is sometimes overlooked; however, sending physical multimedia to customers has benefits that simply clicking “play” on a YouTube video doesn’t. Anything on a streaming service or that exists online is downloadable and can easily be pirated, diluting the credibility of your brand.
Additionally, physical multimedia produces an extra point of contact with your customers, and that can have a big reward. Receiving physical products in the mail builds an unmatched sense of consumer excitement along with real product value, and on top of that, you can actually use multimedia to upsell your customers.
Include a “locked” thumb drive or DVD to protect your intellectual property while giving customers a tangible representation of your brand. Include a workbook along with your multimedia to enhance the fitness experience and garner customer retention.
Book Fulfillment
Carving out a brand isn’t always easy, and if you’re a trainer or coach looking for ways to establish your fitness brand, writing a book could be the perfect solution. It brings credibility and exposure to your brand and provides a new way to reach customers.
A book puts your brand not only into your customer’s homes but also into their minds. It establishes a relationship with the reader and can catapult you into a new level of receptivity. These are the kinds of marketing solutions that create household names like Paula Dean or Emeril Lagasse.
To take this next step for your brand and successfully distribute your book to customers, Book Fulfillment is the most direct solution.
Apparel Fulfillment
Fitness apparel is one of the most popular products in the fitness industry. If your fitness brand produces branded work-out gear or sells other general fitness apparel, you know the demand for these products is high.
Apparel fulfillment is one of the best ways to build brand loyalty. People love swag, and outsourcing this type of fulfillment is the easiest way for you to get your swag into their hands. But, with fulfillment all the storing, sorting, packaging, and shipping is done for you. Not only is the process simple to get branded fitness apparel into customer hands, but this apparel become free advertising as your customers sport their latest Printed T-Shirt around town.
Supplement and Nutrition Fulfillment
Nutrition supplements provide a high profit margin, and they can expand your fitness brand by offering something new and exciting to customers. Supplement fulfillment can work extremely well in the form of Subscription Box Fulfillment With Customized Packaging which is growing in popularity due to the affordable monthly payments associated.
Subscriptions for your nutrition supplement products make your customer’s lives easier by automating how they receive their favorite products. This business model can also generate more customer interest for those wanting to try new products every so often. This type of fulfillment is a great way to repeatedly get your supplements out there and keep your customers happy.
Challenges of shipping supplements and powder
Warehousing and shipping supplements and powder can be challenging. It requires you to jump through logistical loops that you may not have time to navigate. The packaging has to be just right in order to effectively ship health supplements, and the number of things that can go wrong is unfortunately high. Packaging, storing, and handling these products must be done with care, and it’s not always an easy thing to accomplish on your own.
FDA Compliance
First of all, you want any product you offer to customers to be on the up-and-up. It’s important to follow the Dietary Supplements Guidance Documents & Regulatory Information which can be found on the FDA website. Before diving full force into supplement fulfillment, make sure all the compliance boxes are checked.
Shelf Life
Typically, supplements and powders have shelf lives that last months, but nonetheless, expiration of products is something you will need to stay on top of with your inventory. This is why warehousing and inventory management is such a crucial part of supplement and nutrition fulfillment. When combining multiple products during Kitting and Assembly, it’s vital to be on top of tracking shelf life.
Packaging Needs
Packaging for nutrition supplements must be carefully considered in regard to safe traveling. Things like spillage, damaged product, and contamination are factors to consider. In addition to the function of the packaging, it’s also important to consider the visual appeal of the packaging. Supplement and fitness industries are competitive these days, and to make your brand stand out among the rest, you need an attractive and unique design. It’s crucial to create custom boxes and packaging to meet your business needs and enhance the quality of your branding.
Fulfillment Services for Fitness
Fulfillment Services include the completion of every aspect of the order fulfillment process from storing and tracking inventory to managing the full lifecycle of product orders. A 3PL (third-party logistics) partner is a company that does it all for you. It is in charge of all your fulfillment services rather than you doing everything in-house which can be costly, complicated, and time-consuming.
It’s important to choose the right provider for these services. When a 3PL is experienced in fitness fulfillment services, it will be able to accurately track customer data which is vital for marketing analytics and business planning purposes.
How Fulfillment Services Save Fitness Brands Money
Outsourcing fulfillment is cost-effective for fitness brands for many reasons. It saves time and money on warehousing, picking, packing, shipping, and everything in between. The Cost Savings of Fulfillment show up in areas of labor, rental space, transportation, and more. With time and dollars saved, you can focus your attention and spend on other areas that will continue to grow your health or fitness brand.
Manufacturing and Warehousing
Nowadays, it’s rather rare for fitness brands to manufacture their own products. More often than not, it is outsourced to a manufacturing specialist rather than staying in-house due to the sheer volume of product demand. Additionally, warehousing for fitness brands can be tricky when it comes to things like supplements and powders that have expiration dates and require extra care when storing.
An established 3PL like Print Bind Ship has the capacity to manage all of your warehousing. PBS is The MidWest’s Best Fulfillment Center for a reason. When it comes to expensive inventory management, it offers a cost-effective solution that you’ll have a hard time beating. With years of experience working for brands from many different industries, Print Bind Ship can scale the fulfillment services you need at a price point you will be ecstatic about.
Inventory Management
Inventory management requires a regimented system. It’s not enough to carry around a clipboard and pencil anymore when your fitness brand has a multitude of products being ordered and shipped every which way. Keeping detailed accounts of and even calculating ending inventory are tasks that Print Bind Ship has mastered for its clients. This kind of organization is what any fitness brand will need if they want to expand and grow to new levels of industry.
Order Management
The sticky, slippery, seemingly ever-moving target of successful order management doesn’t have to be yours to control anymore. Not only does having a 3PL handle all your incoming orders save you manpower and headaches, but it saves you money as well. Database Management takes time and the right software to be successful, and outsourcing this task to a provider with an integrated order management platform will alleviate work for your business; and in turn, you save money.
What to Look For in a Health and Fitness Fulfillment Service?
When you’re looking for a company that can provide you with top-notch fitness fulfillment services that you can rely on, you’ll want the following key things covered:
- Inventory Management & Warehousing
- Order Receiving & Managing
- Manufacturing Capacity
- Multimedia Fulfillment
- Custom Packaging
- Shipping & Handling
- Customer Data Management
2-Day Shipping & International Shipping
Shipping efficiency is competitive today and oftentimes, it’s a deal breaker for customers looking to get their products in-hand as quickly as possible. Fitness junkies want the latest and greatest as quickly as possible, so you’ll want to make sure your company can offer UPS Next Day Air Saver.
Depending on your product and marketing initiatives, you may also need to consider shipping globally. There are obviously more complications with international shipping, so you’ll want to make sure you have the right solutions for global fulfillment.
Climate Controlled Storage and Shipments
Your health and fitness products and marketing collateral are what drive your business. Every dollar counts when it comes to this precious cargo; so, it’s important that your warehousing and shipping environments are climate-controlled. There is nothing more frustrating than losing quality products due to a shipping or storage mishap!
To ensure your products retain their quality and value throughout the entire order fulfillment process, you’ll want an experienced logistics partner that properly takes care of your materials and products.
A Great Unboxing Experience
Unboxing a package you received in the mail can either be lackluster or an exciting and inviting experience. So much so that nowadays, people make a living off of YouTube channels that exist solely to show the unboxing of products! Custom packaging is a surefire way to make your business stand out among the rest. Create an experience for your customers that they won’t soon forget and better yet, won’t stop talking about.
Subscription Box Order Management
There are several benefits to subscription boxes. As a business tool, they provide a steady stream of monthly revenue that is guaranteed. It also makes it easier to see where your business is going and to predict the needs and wants of your customers more easily.
Another great benefit is access to upfront profits since a lot of subscriptions promote a discount for paying upfront. Thus, if you allow people to pay for a year’s subscription in advance, you’ll help them save money and give yourself access to the capital immediately.
Working With Print Bind Ship For Your Health and Nutrition Fulfillment Needs
With all these fulfillment tactics, complications, and services we’ve covered, your head may be spinning a little. But don’t worry yourself through the roof – you do not, and should not, do this all alone. Entrusting Print Bind Ship with your fitness fulfillment provides the peace of mind you need to stay focused on running your company; while your customers benefit from streamlined order fulfillment. Print Bind Ship offers each kind of fulfillment service you’ve read about. Contact Print Bind Ship for a free consultation and then, you and your fitness brand are off to the races!
FAQ
Fitness order fulfillment refers to the process of efficiently and accurately processing and delivering fitness-related products, including equipment, supplements, and apparel. In the fitness industry, timely and precise order fulfillment is crucial for customer satisfaction, brand reputation, and business success. This article explores the key components of fitness order fulfillment and delves into its importance for both businesses and consumers.
To improve fitness order fulfillment, businesses should focus on inventory management, streamlined logistics, real-time tracking systems, and effective communication with customers. This article offers insights into optimizing warehouse operations, utilizing technology, and implementing customer-friendly policies to ensure a seamless order fulfillment experience. By adopting these strategies, businesses can enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction in their fitness product deliveries.
Technology plays a pivotal role in modern fitness order fulfillment, offering benefits such as automated inventory management, real-time tracking, and efficient communication channels. This article examines the impact of technology on streamlining order processes, reducing errors, and enhancing the overall customer experience. It also explores emerging trends in fitness order fulfillment technology and how businesses can leverage these advancements to stay competitive in the market.