{"id":9658,"date":"2020-03-08T11:04:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T03:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zhenhub.com\/?p=9658"},"modified":"2022-10-07T18:24:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T10:24:36","slug":"difference-warehouse-from-fulfillment-center-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/difference-warehouse-from-fulfillment-center-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Fulfillment Center vs. Warehouse: Which is Right for Your eCommerce Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to eCommerce shipping, the terms \u201cfulfillment center\u201d and \u201cwarehouse\u201d are often interchanged and assumed to be the same. While both do share similarities, when broken down to specifics, they have their differences in terms of use cases, services, and operations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b>How Does a Fulfillment Center Differ from a Warehouse?<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fulfillment centers refer to a third-party logistics (3PL) company\u2019s physical location. This is where online merchants \u201cfulfill\u201d their customer orders <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from picking up and packing to labeling and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/a-beginners-guide-to-ecommerce-shipping\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">e-commerce shipping<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. One of the largest fulfillment service providers in the world is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sell.amazon.com\/fulfillment-by-amazon.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon FBA.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warehouses, on the other hand, are typically stand-alone infrastructure that serves only as storage areas for inventory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To put it simply, all fulfillment centers have warehouses, but not all warehouses are connected to a fulfillment center.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Difference in How They Work<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fulfillment Center Operations<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3PLs offer different services, but operation-wise, they usually employ the following steps in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/key_factors_successful_order_fulfillment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">order fulfillment process<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Receiving<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Involves collaboration with the merchant and documentation of inventory and other requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Picking<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Involves assigning a picking team to collect the inventory from the seller-specified location\/s.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Storing<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Involves organizing, shelving, and indexing of the collected items in the fulfillment center.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Packing<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Involves packing the products in preparation for scheduled release or shipment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Labeling<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Involves placing the appropriate shipment labels for easier inventory management and logistics.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shipping<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Involves coordinating with partner carriers to ship customer orders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warehouse Operations<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given that warehouses are essentially just storage locations, operations only involve inventory management in terms of:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">addition of new items, products, or goods<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">transfer of items to other warehouse locations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">release of items for shipment or delivery<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inventory Storage<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fulfillment centers are more focused on inventory turnover, so storage is more on the short-term spectrum. This is the ideal solution for online merchants selling high-demand products with inventory that will not go unsold and stuck in a fulfillment center for more than a month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warehouses are designed for long-term storage, which makes it perfect for retailers that need more flexibility. On-demand warehousing is best for sellers who often find themselves with excess inventory or with products that are more seasonal in nature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shipping Carrier Pickups<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The structure of 3PLs requires them to establish partnerships with shipping carriers. Given the typical volume of orders a fulfillment company receives, shipping carriers usually stick to a schedule in picking up and delivering orders on a daily basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warehouses have less frequent pick-ups and are commonly utilized for bulk orders and shipments, not individual shipping orders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benefits<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Running an eCommerce shop can be overwhelming. By outsourcing to a fulfillment center, sellers can focus on scaling their business while letting the 3PL companies do the heavy lifting. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Partnering with a trusted fulfillment center like ZhenHub will allow retailers to enjoy efficient <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/inventory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">inventory management<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, automated warehousing and order fulfillment, and timely eCommerce shipping services at reasonable rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warehousing is beneficial for smaller or start-up eCommerce shops that only need a space to manage their inventory, but still prefer self-order fulfillment due to budget limitations and lack of manpower.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Need help?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ZhenHub<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> offers both <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/warehousing-fulfillment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fulfillment center services and warehousing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Send us an inquiry to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/quote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">get a free quote<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or to learn more about what we can do for your business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to eCommerce shipping, the terms \u201cfulfillment center\u201d and \u201cwarehouse\u201d are often interchanged and assumed to be the same. While both do share similarities, when broken down to specifics, they have their differences in terms of use cases, services, and operations.\u00a0 How Does a Fulfillment Center Differ from &#8230; <a title=\"Fulfillment Center vs. Warehouse: Which is Right for Your eCommerce Business?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/difference-warehouse-from-fulfillment-center-2020\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Fulfillment Center vs. Warehouse: Which is Right for Your eCommerce Business?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,4,13,18,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-ecommerce","category-general-logistics","category-software","category-warehousing"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"ZhenHub","author_link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/author\/zhenhub\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-300x160.png","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"ZhenHub","author_link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/author\/zhenhub\/"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1.png",1280,684,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-300x160.png",300,160,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-768x410.png",768,410,true],"large":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-1024x547.png",1024,547,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1.png",1280,684,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1.png",1280,684,false],"gb-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-600x400.png",600,400,true],"gb-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1-600x600.png",600,600,true],"crp_thumbnail":["https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/zhub_OCTBATCH3_blogbanner01_v1_Zhub_octbatch3_blogbanner01-1.png",150,80,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"ZhenHub","author_link":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/blog\/author\/zhenhub\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"When it comes to eCommerce shipping, the terms \u201cfulfillment center\u201d and \u201cwarehouse\u201d are often interchanged and assumed to be the same. While both do share similarities, when broken down to specifics, they have their differences in terms of use cases, services, and operations.\u00a0 How Does a Fulfillment Center Differ from ... Read more","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/category\/business\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Business<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/category\/ecommerce\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">eCommerce<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/category\/general-logistics\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">General Logistics<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/category\/software\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Software<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/category\/warehousing\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Warehousing<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Business<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">eCommerce<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">General Logistics<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Software<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Warehousing<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on March 8, 2020","modified":"Updated on October 7, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on March 8, 2020 11:04 am","modified":"Updated on October 7, 2022 6:24 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13498,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9658\/revisions\/13498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhenhub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}