Argents Express roots are in freight forwarding and customs brokerage, but over the past decade has expanded from transporting and clearing international cargo into providing storage, fulfillment, and final-mile support for those same customers. The reasons were three-fold – our customers’ businesses grew and diversified, they told us that the cost was too great to manage themselves or their existing providers were not meeting their needs.
Dave Weigand, our Director of Fulfillment Operations, works closely with both existing international and potential fulfillment clients to determine whether or not our service is a good fit for both sides.
“It all starts with a survey and analysis,” Dave begins. “We ask what will be required of us and what the client will provide. What is the product, what is the duration the inventory will be held and turned, how much integration with customers does the company have, and do they need us to build those connections out on their behalf?”
Once we have these answers, our team goes to work making the crucial determination if it would be a successful relationship and the costs and service levels.
“Today, fulfillment requires delivering to multiple customers in a wide and varied omnichannel model,” he continues. “Will our customer have a direct relationship to the buyer through their own website in a B2C model, or are they selling into a retailer and require deliveries drop-shipped to stores or distribution centers? Finally, are orders being fulfilled on a calendar basis or on-demand based on sales data extracted and shared from a POS (Point of Sale) system?”
Argents’ experience in working with both up-and-coming companies and large, established businesses looking to make an upgrade benefits from our diverse ecosystem of existing connections to platforms such as WooCommerce and Shopify, as well as major retailers EDI integrations.
“The work we’ve done for customers with, say, a Target or Home Depot means that a new or existing customer will benefit from that existing IT infrastructure,” Dave explains. “Without question, each customer is unique and requires customization to their SKU’s and purchase orders with those retailers, but the underlying technological connections, visibility, reporting, scheduling and knowing specifically how, when and in what condition that freight must be delivered is what gives us the ability to turn on fulfillment service for someone in a short period of time.”
At Argents, fulfillment requires an understanding that while we have a 1:1 relationship with our customers, they have a 1:Multiple relationship with their customers. We are focused on protecting the shelf space they’ve earned, whether in a store or online. To find out more about how we can provide or upgrade fulfillment services for your company, contact us today.
