Spring is in the air so for the first of our Behind The Scenes series, we sat down with our Business Manager, Jonathan, to discuss crossdocking and transloading of larger goods for outdoor lifestyle brands.
Introduction & Experience
1. Can you share a bit about Evolution Fulfillment’s background and experience in the 3PL logistics and transloading industry?
Evolution Fulfillment started primarily as a fashion/apparel 3PL company providing fulfillment needs direct to consumer, retail boutiques and big box retailers. Over the last 8 years, we have expanded to provide services to the sporting goods, recreational goods, makeup and beauty, healthcare and home improvement industries, with both fulfillment and transloading.
2. What makes our company uniquely suited for 3PL fulfillment in the outdoor goods space, including handling products like bikes, tents, and saunas?
Our company is uniquely suited because we have multiple spaces that are configured differently to be able to accommodate different types of goods. We have spaces that are racked, with light and heavy load capacity racks, spaces that are unracked with open floor plans and high ceilings. We have smaller spaces in the 10-15K sq ft range and larger spaces that have up to 100K sq ft.
Expertise in Handling Outdoor Goods
3. What are some key challenges when handling B2B fulfillment and B2C fulfillment for outdoor equipment, and how do we overcome them?
The biggest challenge with dealing with outdoor equipment is proper storage. Because of the typically larger size of these types of goods, the way to overcome this challenge is proper space planning in conjunction with adequate forecasting. We are in constant communication with our clients to ensure we know well ahead of time what product is being sent to us, and how much, so we can ensure that the required space is appropriately allocated.
4. How does our cross-dock facility improve efficiency in cross-border shipping and reduce handling times for fragile or bulky outdoor goods?
We try to lay out acceptable timelines for fulfillment prior to the onboarding of a new client as much as possible, but sometimes we need to get started with a brand to learn their intricacies and specifics before we can put together a plan to ensure shorter handling times. Once this is all laid out, then we work with the carriers on pick up or delivery schedules that best accommodate both the warehouses and drivers.
Service & Partnerships
5. As a Canadian 3PL provider, how do we support outdoor brands with cross-border shipping services between Canada and the U.S.?
We work with freight brokers, carriers and customs brokers to ensure all the required paperwork is in order to ensure a seamless journey from origin to destination, whether the goods are travelling from our warehouse or another location whether it is cross border, international or domestic. One advantage of working with Evolution Fulfillment is that we can support clients with Freight Solutions from anywhere in the world. We don’t only provide freight support when we ship from our warehouse, but also direct from factories, from other fulfillment centers, and vendors.
6. What advantages does our 3PL warehouse in Vancouver offer for outdoor brands looking for a fulfillment center in Canada?
Our warehouses are all located in the Vancouver area close to all Vancouver ports, the airport and the border. We are usually the last stop for couriers that need to rush/express small packages destined for the airport.
7. Can you share an example of how our third-party logistics (3PL) services have helped an outdoor brand scale their fulfillment operations?
We have an outdoor brand that previously struggled with knowing exactly what inventory they had, across multiple warehouses. We were able to provide them with a solution to bring all their Westcoast Canadian inventory into our spaces and by using Blastramp, they now know what they have, where they have it, and how to fulfill it to the end consumer at the lowest cost possible, based on geographical location.
Efficiency & Innovation
8. How does our ecommerce fulfillment solution support outdoor brands looking for seamless D2C fulfillment and drop shipping?
On the warehousing side, we use a state of the art, cloud based ERP/WMS, called BLASTRAMP, which not only allows us and our brands to manage things like PO’s, sales orders, inventory, but is also integrated with ecommerce and wholesale platforms, other ERP’s, and accounting software. On the shipping side, because of our high volume, we enjoy great volume discounts with all our shipping partners. With multiple service providers, it was essential that we streamlined our rate shopping process to allow for fast and effective deliveries. Our IT team, together with our rate shopping provider, have developed a new process in which we are able to batch ship any and all shipments, regardless of size. This allows us to ship thousands of packages a day.
9. What technology do we use to optimize order fulfillment, inventory tracking, and returns management for our partners?
Blastramp integrates with many of the major e-commerce platforms including Shopify, Woo Commerce, Loops Returns, Returnly, Shipstation.
Working with Major Retailers
10. We have worked with leading outdoor retailers like REI, MEC, and Atmosphere—what sets us apart as a 3PL logistics partner, when working with these retailers?.
We understand the consignee’s requirements and follow their specific routing guides to guarantee that our client’s shipments experience little to no delays. While each of these major retailers have dedicated customer service contact points, at Evolution, we have developed relationships directly with the buyers/management and have direct lines of communication with them.
11. The landscape for 3PL logistics in Canada has been changing over the past two years. How is our business staying ahead of industry trends in warehousing and fulfillment services?
At Evolution Fulfillment, we don’t just pick, pack and ship orders. we build relationships and partnerships. In our industry, these 2 things are extremely important not just for growth, but keeping up to date with industry trends and habits. The more we rely on these relationships, the better we can plan for what’s coming and/or what’s happening. Our relationships and partnerships have allowed us to provide solutions for business of all sizes, from small local mom and pop shops to national major retailers, and multiple multi-national corporations.
If you’re an outdoor retailer interested in making your fulfillment process easier, you can learn more about our distribution and fulfillment services.
