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Ecommerce has grown at an incredible rate this past year and going into quarter three there is no sign of it slowing down. This new growth may have forced your company to work overtime to meet the needs of your new customers. You may be overrun with orders that it has now become a full-time job to package and process all of your goods. Most people don’t think of fulfillment until they need to or it is too late. Everyone thinks of an amazing product, but most don’t think about the logistics of shipping or packaging the product. That is what outsourcing your fulfillment will help you to do. At a point, it becomes a business expense that is essential to the growth of your company. Here are some clues to look for so you know it is time that you need a fulfillment company!

Shipping is getting more and more expensive

When working with a fulfillment company you should be able to get more than just the benefit of peace of mind. An added benefit is that most companies that do specialize in outsourcing fulfillment usually have special deals with shipping companies so that you are guaranteed a discounted rate. Sitting down and adding up all of the costs that it takes for your company to do the shipping itself, it may be seen that it would be cost-effective if you getting someone else to do it. Looking at the invisible costs like the time that you spent packaging your products is something that you need to take into account when deciding if this is the best decision for your company.

Lacking speed and accuracy

When orders are starting to pile up you will be faced with the added stress that you are going to have to package and ship the items as fast as possible. This can lead to accuracy problems and unhappy customers. Lack of speed can also become an issue because you have one location that you are shipping from, when working with a fulfillment company they can direct you to centralized locations to make sure that your product is getting to the customer as fast as possible. With eCommerce getting faster and faster, mainly because of Amazon, most people are now expecting packages within 4 days of placing their order. This is crucial for you to keep your customers happy and not going to your competition.

Complex projects

It becomes hard when you start to offer complex items on your website like subscription boxes. When shipping just a singular thing a box it is very simple you just put the said item in the box and ship it out, but when kitting is involved it needs many items that may be at different locations in your shop. This can make you forget items or just take too long to assemble. When outsourcing they will be able to kit all of your packages in the most effective and cost-effective way.

Most people think that outsourcing fulfillment is just too expensive and that they could never do it, but with the right research, it can push your company to be more profitable than ever. Time value is a big invisible cost that you have to think about when running a company, wouldn’t your time be better spent working on marketing campaigns, or new items rather than packing up orders, you might even save money in shipping costs. So if you think that your company is that step, contact Complemar and we will set up a free consultation to see if our company is right for you!

When looking for how you want to do order fulfillment through Amazon there are two types that you can pick. FBA which is fulfillment by Amazon or FBM which is fulfillment by merchant. There are pros and cons to both of these and you have to know which will make the most sense when looking at which one works for your needs, or what mixture of the two would be the best for your company. Here are the pros to both the FBA and FBM.

Some of the pros for FBA is that,

Prime eligibility

When signing up for FBA your products are now eligible for Amazon two-day prime shipping. This is crucial in this day in age when people are now getting used to getting their items within that two days. Another benefit of this is that you look very reputable on the website and you are more likely to sell more products when customers see the amazon prime badge under your products. Amazon is a very reputable company so when customers do see that badge it makes them trust you more than a product that doesn't have that badge.

Set it and go

When you are setting up FBA  Amazon has a very good reputation of once a product is set up you no longer need to worry about that item that they are fulfilling. You can focus on the more important aspects of your business and not worry about if your fulfillment order is getting processed and going out at the right time. Amazon will also include warehousing so when your items are stocking up inside of your garage, they will take it off of your hand and make sure that they will safely store your products.

Lower shipping costs

Amazon is the biggest online retailer in the world, with this comes partnerships with shipping outlets to ensure that they are getting the best prices feasible. This will increase your margins and will be a great economic move.

Here are some of the pros when it comes to doing fulfillment by merchant.

Hands-on

When working with a third-party company you will have a more hands-on experience and will know exactly what is happening with your products. It may be a lot more personalized and will make sure that any program that you need will get done. While at FBA it is pretty cookie cutter and there is not much leeway when it comes to what a company really needs. 

Opportunity for Prime

You may think that because you are not doing FBA there is no chance for you to get an amazon prime badge under your product, but it is still possible. This will come with seller fulfilled prime. This is very hard to get and your company will need a long-standing relationship with Amazon. You need to have existing prime shipping order volume and have outstanding performance metrics for you to be considered. This is a tall task to achieve, but it is still possible.

Higher margins

Most of the time when doing business with an FBM you will be able to make slightly higher margins and make more money. This is because you will be paying fewer fees. The draw-off is that most of the time you will have fewer sales and may not have the peace of mind that your products are kept safe in warehousing.  Over half of the shoppers that are on Amazon will be prime members and if someone is paying annually they are more than likely going to use prime when buying a product.

There are pros and cons when it comes to choosing if you want to fulfill using Amazon or Merchant. I have listed some of the pros that may come along with using either, but the best for your company may be using a mixture of both. If you do want to compare and see if an FBM is for you, contact Complemar for a free quote and we will have an industry professional reach out to see if our company is a good fit for you.

Everyone knows that the trend of buying and selling online is a wave that none of us can stop. Slowly brick-and-mortar retailers are moving online to save on overhead and try their luck in the online market. All of us know of one company that hit the gold mine when they moved their business online and we have all lusted to be like them, and there is still a chance. The trend is not going away and your company can be the next company to hit the gold mine! Here are some tips that you can use to help grow or start an eCommerce company.

Products!

It all starts with your product, if you have a product that may not be desirable or is of poor quality it will never do well. Cutting corners will not get you customer retention and will not let your company succeed to the next level. So before starting an online business it is good to find a product that is going to get rid of niche customer’s pain points. If the product is going to benefit one customer’s life, there is a chance that there are going to be more like them that are willing to buy your product. The only way to find this is out is through extensive research and product testing.

Customer Service

We have all had companies that left us with a sour taste in our mouths. We want to offer our customers the best experience that they can have with our product and the motto “The customer is always right” is a great way to make sure they walk away happy. When dealing with problems that are bound to arise it is always best to look at it from the customer’s perspective and try to do anything in your power that both parties walk away happy. Some examples that you can use are flexible shipping, free returns, and communication. Having a speedy response time is key to make sure that the customers do not get frustrated, with that being said keep your information front and center so that customers can find where to contact you easily.

Product Transparency

This is key in making sure that your customers know what they are getting when they are purchasing your product. A good way to do this is having fantastic photography that captures your product in great detail and making sure that your descriptions are accurate. This will help customers digitize your business so they feel comfortable buying your product, we all have to remember that these customers have not seen your product in person so describing your product accurately and in an error-free manner will make you look reputable and professional.

Customer Reviews

Lastly, if you have done all of those things you will get customer reviews to back up your claims. Having these are crucial because customers are more likely to trust those reviews than ones that the company puts out themselves. If you put yourself into the customer’s shoes, we all read the reviews when shopping online to make sure that we are getting a quality product. Starting off with negative reviews will be bad for business and make you look dishonest.

The things on this list are a good start for you when looking into making an online eCommerce site. Just remember like everything it takes time, be patient. IF you have a good product and branding you are bound to succeed. 

As the world around us changes, everything evolves with it. Business to Business marketing is no different. Companies are finding new and innovative ways to get their content to their clients at an alarming rate. It is stated that as companies are doing more and more research into their marketing campaigns, they are becoming more efficient and effective. A data point states that data-driven marketing yields a 224 percent return on investment. Here are is some tips and information that you should consider when creating your next marketing campaign for B2B businesses.

Customers are now self-motivated and more educated

With the internet and the amount of online content, social platforms and technology have changed. companies feel before even being in contact with a sales representative. 57 percent of Customers decide on their purchase before being in contact with a sales representative. (CEB Global) This shows that having a strong online presence will always have a positive effect on how you are perceived and could land you your next big client.

 71 percent of customers will start their search with a generic google search.

This number is a good reason why search engine marketing is as strong as it is. Do a quick Google search about the industry that you are in and add in a few words like for example for Complemar, I would look up “Fulfillment around me”. This goes with any industry do this search and see where your name is when it comes to the results. Are you on the first page? It is stated that only twenty-five percent of all searchers will look onto that second page so looking into keywords and having your website optimized will do you wonders when people that are in search of companies are scoping the area.

Internal Integration is key when looking at all the digital touchpoints.

This is when looking into your company as a whole and it’s something that all companies can work on. This is saying that having all teams working together and on the same page is crucial to having a good B2B campaign. If you think about the marketers that are working with or for your company they need to have all the information and be kept up to date so that they can have an effective campaign.

B2B marketers that use marketing automation improve sales and grow at a faster rate than their competitors

Lastly, when you have automation it will always improve sales and make you grow faster. A good example of this would be if you are running email campaigns with lead generation services. This could be a great extra step that you can use to grab new customers. Another way you can use automation would be paid social media advertisements that are automatically posted. All your team would have to do is to keep track of all of the logistics and data that is collected while keeping the budget up to date. These are two ways that you can be beating out your competitor. All of these efforts are so you can inform customers about some of the pain points that they are facing that you may be able to fix, your odds will always increase when your sample is increasing. So it is as simple as this, the more people that see your company the more likely they are going to be interested and will contact you for a quote.

You can have the best product or service, but if people do not know you exist they are going to go to your competitors. Marketing is a key tool that is a worthy investment if done right. Using some of the tips and information listed above can help you drive your B2B marketing to the next level.

When looking at social media, Facebook is an advertising powerhouse, with the number of daily users that are currently accessing the website the potential is unlimited. We are here to give you some of the tips and tricks to make sure you know Facebook Ads are going to increase your engagement and generate revenue.

How Facebook Ads can help B2B

When thinking about Facebook advertising it is hard to think that you could have any impact when you are a Business to Business company. When you are a B2B company the first place that you will go to advertise would be LinkedIn, which is not wrong since Facebook is mainly direct to consumers, but there is never anything wrong with giving it a shot. Based on HubSpot’s 2020 Marketing Report they state that companies and brands saw the most return on investment on Facebook. Many of the largest companies use Facebook to generate leads, Most people will get done with a long day in the office to scroll through a feed and if they see something that might interest them, there is a chance that will result in a lead or new client.  A good way to make sure it is reaching the right audience is to use the Facebook Ads lookalike audience feature and filter by job title or industry. This will make it so that your ads are going to be viewed by those that could influence you to do business in the future. So although Facebook is direct to consumers there are ways to get around that barrier that could end up helping your business find clients and business. 

How Much Money Do You Need To Start?

This question is always going to be raised, but in my opinion, you always need to spend money to earn money. That is how it always goes in the advertising and marketing world, but the major difference is that Facebook is extremely low cost and spending 1 dollar or 1 million dollars, your content is going to be shown to an audience. The upfront cost is something that is hard to beat and makes it easy to experiments with campaigns before heavily investing in the one that did the best in the trial. Facebook does a great job in making sure that they do not just favor the company that pays the most, if you are paying to get your posts out there it is going to reach the audience that you have indicated. It makes it easy to scale up if need be. Let’s say that you are wanting more clicks or views it is easy to put more in your budget and that will then be shown to a greater audience. I also think that it makes it easy because you really don’t have to worry about spending more than you are comfortable with. It will never go over the amount that you have indicated, with Facebook sometimes a little goes a long way and there may be diminishing returns with your product or service so the best thing to do is to experiment with the number to make sure you are getting the optimal number of leads and customers.

All and all Facebook ads a great place to start no matter the size of your company. They can make a real difference and can generate revenue even if you are a B2B company. So what’s stoping you? Go on Facebook today to learn more about how you can get started.

It is apparent that everyone was not ready to deal with the pandemic and who really would be. This is an occurrence that happens once in a lifetime. COVID-19 has put many companies in some tough spots but with determination, understanding, and adaptability, Complemar was able to take all the regulations and limitations in stride to make sure that we kept our employees safe and kept our clients happy. Here are some of the things that we had to adapt and change to make sure we thrive.

Increase Technology Use

During this pandemic, technology was and still is crucial in making sure that everything is running smoothly. Since we are yet to be out of the woods and the pandemic is still looming over our heads we have used video chats and other forms of communication to make sure that we were all staying on the same page and being safe at the same time. No one ever expected to have remote meetings in their newfound “home offices”, but all of our employees took it in stride and adapted to the circumstances that we were dealt with. 

Putting an Emphasis on Employee Health

This virus has taken a toll on everyone. People are fearful of being in contact with this deadly disease and we have taken measures to make sure that our employees are as safe as possible during these trying times. We still require the use of facial coverings when they are inside of our facilities. Another safety precaution that we had put into place was taking employees’ temperature whenever they entered our facilities. One last thing that we have provided is transparency. We made it clear to all employees that we want them to voice their concerns and that we are here to listen. We wanted to make all of our employees feel safe while they are working.

We are yet to be out of the woods, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel as vaccine rollouts are occurring. We have found that communication and understanding are crucial during this time. Planning for restrictions and having a contingency plan is now something that we look at because currently, the environment is extremely unpredictable. Although the COVID-19 virus disrupted our country is going to be prevalent for months and maybe years, the fulfillment and logistics industry is always going to be present and stronger than ever. Complemar was able to act quickly and look to the future which ensured our success. We are looking forward to a new normal, but for now, we will continue to deliver essential goods that will keep the country and economy running.

Facebook is the largest social media platform on the planet. It has over 2.01 billion active users each month, it leaves little to the imagination on how it can be beneficial for any company to take advantage of this social media platform. Here are some tips that you can implement to start your Facebook Business page or continue to grow your presence on the platform.

Build Meaningful Relationships

Facebook is a site where you can really interact with your customers. The opportunity to speak to an individual one-on-one if they have a problem or if they are raving about your product is one of the most interesting things when it comes to social media. Business is no longer functions with one-way communication, customers want feedback and now you are able to. The difference between Facebook and other social media platforms is Facebook gives you space where you can effectively write down thoughts and ideas and share them with your customers this will help engage with your customer base.

Market Research

Facebook page insights are one of the best analytics that is out there currently for social media. It is very informative and it is available for both free and paid posts. Facebook will tell you things like demographics, engagement, and anything else that can really help you target advertisements in the future. Learning more about the customer, like their age, gender, language, job titles can help you get a better understanding of your customer’s needs and interests. By doing this, you can then see who is your ideal customer and then create content that will be tailored to them.

Saves You Money

To create a Facebook business page ti costs you no money, so if you have not done so already it’s time to set one up. If you are a new start-up or a company that has been around for generations it can only help you. Paid advertisements are another great way that you can drive traffic to your website. An example of doing this is writing a blog and linking it on your posts, so when they want to read the content it is making them go on your page where they might spend time to look around and see more into your company. Traditionally social media advertisement is also a lot more targeted than T.V advertisements and it is also easier to drive people to your page when all they have to do is click a link.

All of the marketing tools that are implemented into Facebook are a great way to get people interested in more than just your company.  It is a tool that is often underutilized and doing a little more research into this platform can cause your company to better perform on these sites. I encourage every company to do a self-audit into your page and see if you are doing the best job that you could be doing and if you do not have a page already I encourage you to make one, there is nothing you can lose with it being free to set up.

Social media is the fastest-growing media channel in the world. The one that I am going to be talking about today is Instagram. Instagram has over one billion active users making it one of the most popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. It is slightly harder to advertise on because unlike Facebook it is a little bit harder to target specific audiences, but Instagram will exceed eighteen billion dollars in ad revenue in 2021. Here are some of the tips that you can use to increase your presence on Instagram.

Be Consistent

If you are consistent there is always going to be growth. The amount you are posting is extremely important because your followers will be expecting you to post and if you follow a schedule it make you gain more followers and interactions with your posts. The best way to do this is to do some research and see when you are seeing the most interactions from your followers, or you can do secondary research to see when people are most active on your platform.

Hashtags

Hashtags are one of the most important things to use when creating a post that has reach. The use of hashtags will make sure that people other than your followers are going to be able to see your post. Using relevant hashtags will make sure your post is going to get in front of the people that will be fans of the content that you create. Most people say that the magic number of hashtags will be three, after three it becomes a reach and makes the post look crowded. Using the right amount of hashtags will make sure that you will increase your following more than the likes that you get on your page.

Using The Right Images

Posting professional photos can make a huge difference in how your company is perceived. Just taking the image is just the start when creating an Instagram post, after taking the image you need to crop the image to the ideal size and then edit it so it will look the best it can be. If you do not have the software to edit it professionally, there are always preset filters that can be chosen on Instagram when posting an image.

Using some of these tips will ensure you a successful start to your companies business page. These tips will get you started but creating a long-term plan will work the best. Create obtainable goals when it comes to followers, Likes Per Post, and Impressions.

Branding is one of the most used buzz words that are being thrown out in meetings, it is used for many things like personal brand, business branding, off-brand. It is a word that can be used to describe what your company or self is really about. You use this as a descriptor when you are explaining your identity, voice, and what you want your customers to perceive your company as. Here are some tips that you can use to make sure you brand your business in the most efficient and effective way possible.

 
Understand Your Audience

The best way when first trying to create a brand identity within your company is to understand your audience. The best way to do that is to create personas for your ideal customers. For example, I will create a primary and secondary target audience and from there I would create a fictional individual that will match the ideal person from each of the target audiences. You things that you will list are things like demographics, jobs, education, and hobbies that they might enjoy. Doing this will make you see things from the perspective of the customer, you will get an understanding of what they really want and from then on you will be able to market to them in the best way possible.

Utilize Social Media

It is stated that 79 percent of the U.S. population use some sort of social media weekly. Social media is the best way to differentiate yourself from other companies that offer almost the same item or service that you provide. Social media is also the cheapest form of advertising. It can have an astounding effect on company perceptions from an outside audience. A great example of this is Wendy’s. They have created a brand voice that is full of satire and comedy on all of their social media.

 
Make Customers Your Number One Priority

 You can never have a great brand if you have a bad reputation with your customers. You can save money on advertising and marketing because when you have the reputation of a great company word spreads. So focusing on customer service will always pay off in the long run. Thinking about this from a customer perspective, think about what you do when you are a first-time customer for a company. You look at their reviews and their reputation. This where you can brand yourself without marketing and advertising. Individuals will always trust the word of others way more than things that your company will put out.

When your business is growing at a rate that you can not sustain it is extremely stressful to think about the next step. At Complemar we specialize in fulfillment and e-commerce and want to help you every step of the way. When bringing on more people and employing a company to do your packing, kitting, or shipping it might be hard to find the company that is suitable for you. This is a big leap in your company and drastically changes how current operations are run, but at Complemar we think of you as a valued customer that we want to help grow and see succeed. Here are some things that we do that you could find beneficial.

Provide unlimited support to our clients

We are there to make your life easier and with just a call or email or dedicated staff is here to help you with all of the problems or questions that you may have. Another thing that we provide is a project manager assigned to each of our clients, so there will always be someone that is there to solve your problems. Complemar has an extensive Onboarding process that takes all of our clients through how we operate and specialize it for the company so that they are going to get examples and figures that they are going to be seeing on a daily or monthly basis. We are here to make sure that all of your concerns are taken care of to the best of our ability and will make sure that at the end of the day both parties are satisfied. Even though our company is growing steadily and has large clients, no matter the size we still give an individualized experience to each of the companies that work with us.

Multiple Fulfillment Locations

Location is crucial because, in the long run, this will save you money and maybe even get your product to the customer faster. Choosing a company that has multiple locations in optimal parts of the United States is important, Complemar has locations that are strategically placed across the United States to make sure that your packages get to where they need to go in the shortest amount of time possible. A centralized location can be helpful because studies say that if a customer waits more than 7 days for a package they expect the shipping to be free. When talking to us and figuring out where your clientele is, we will make sure that we will choose a location or multiple locations that will suit your company and make it the most efficient process possible.

Complemar has a proven track record over many years of customer retention along with being one of the best at what we do. Our state-of-the-art technology will make sure that at every step of the process you will know exactly what is going on. We are extremely transparent and at the end of the day, we are here to help you grow. So what are you waiting for? Visit our website today to talk to one of our fantastic account executives to see if we are a good fit for your company!