Why we DO NOT drop ship
Polka Dot Whale stocks all items they offer. We do this because we want to ensure that we
control everything that can possibly affect our customers. Yet, there are several manufacturers and
online retail stores that offer drop-shipping (though they don’t always share
this information to their customers!).
When we founded Polka Dot Whale, Natalie and I made a
conscious decision not to offer any products that are drop
shipped because of the huge risk it poses to our customers. Those of you who aren’t familiar with
drop-shipping, it is when a retail store offers a product that ships directly
from the manufacturer’s warehouse. Often, the manufacturer offers this to a few (or many) retail stores. The steps are generally:
- The customer places an order with a retail store.
- The retail store takes the order and passes the item and
shipping information to the manufacturer’s warehouse.
- The manufacturer then ships the item to the customer.
For a full explanation, wikipedia offers a great review.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_shipping
The obvious advantages for retail businesses are they are
able to offer items without having to stock them. Thus, they can offer sometimes hundreds, if
not thousands of items. Suddenly stores
see lots of dollar signs:).
Drop shipping also benefits customers by offering them
incredible choice of products that otherwise aren’t available many places. An example of this is that there are many, many
online baby stores that currently offer dozens and dozens of diaper bags that
they don’t carry themselves.
Yet, there are often several cons/costs that directly affect
customers. This is why we have been so
weary of offering drop shipped products. Here are some of the main cons:
It is very difficult for manufacturers to let their drop
ship retail stores know accurately what their stock levels are. In other words, when a manufacturer runs out
of stock on one item, it could be several days before they tell all their
retail stores that this item is no longer available and not to offer it to
their customers.
This causes retail stores to take customer orders that they
can’t fulfill. Obviously, this is an
inconvenience that ultimately affects customers, not stores. The usual scenario happens: customer orders a diaper bag; retail store
takes order and sends it to manufacturer. Manufacturer processes order and finds out they no longer have
item. They send back news (not always)
to the store that they can’t ship the item. The retail store then credits the customer back and notifies them that
they can’t ship the order. This whole
process can at times take well over a week.
The retail store trusts the manufacturer to handle and ship
the order in an accurate, timely fashion. So much of customer service is captured in the previous sentence. And, it is often the case when manufacturers
are excellent at making products, but not shipping them.
This is largely due to the fact that manufacturers are used
to making products in bulk quantities (let’s say 100) and they are used to
selling products to stores in other bulk quantities. Using the above example, a manufacturer may
ship 40 of one item to store A, 15 to store B, 20 to store C and 25 to store
D. Boxing them in bulk and shipping them
within few weeks. If the product runs
late, no worries, it just means that the store is unable to “sell” them.
Yet, when manufacturers get an order for 1 product going to
customer A that needs to be there within days, often problems can arise. There warehouse is stacked with huge bulk
shipments and just a small box, well….it’s importance gets lost.
How does the retail store know the item has shipped? Or better yet, how does the customer know the
item is on its way? Usually once
manufacturers ship the item it takes them several days to inform the store…if
then. Retail stores often only contact
the manufacturer for shipping information after the customer has asked the
store. Again, this process can take days
for a response.
How do you handle returns or exchanges? Often, these products are either
non-returnable. Or, the customer has
ship the item back to the retailer, who then ships it back to the manufacturer’s
warehouse. Of course, costs add up
quickly….and these costs are often passed back to the stores customers in
general.
All of the above is only the surface reasons why we decided
NOT TO offer drop shipping arrangements. We will continue to do so until we find a manufacturer partner that can
ensure that all the above is addressed to benefit (and not cost)
customers. Currently we are looking at a
few such opportunities, but we will absolutely not compromise our customers!! We’ll post shortly with a possible
manufacturer shortly.
If any customers have feedback for us, we would welcome
their advice!! Please post.
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