5 Things to Consider When Choosing Your Jewellery Fulfilment Partner

A good 3PL partner will offer high quality, scalable e-commerce and retail fulfilment with services such as personalisation, gift wrapping and efficient returns management. With the jewellery e-commerce market set to grow by 7.8% by 2028 in the UK, growing e-commerce jewellery brands need a partner that understands the requirements of fast-growth brands, and can scale their operations accordingly.

Here’s what to consider when choosing a new fulfilment partner for your jewellery brand:

1. Small Item Fulfilment and Security

Jewellery is often small and delicate; fulfilment providers should have expertise in small-item fulfilment to keep inventory secure and to avoid damage or loss. Consider what specialised handling and security measures are being proposed. For example, where will your stock be stored and what enhanced security will be put in place?

2. Presentation

When it comes to jewellery, customers expect a level of protective packaging as well as an on-brand and beautiful unboxing experience, especially when it comes to jewellery gifting. Working with a 3PL that can cater to both needs is crucial. This could include gift-wrapping, branded packaging, protective and sustainable filler materials or adding items such as polishing cloths with each order.

At ILG, we cater to our client’s individual needs and take special care of each order to their exact specifications – whether it is branded packaging, decorative ribbon or special inserts – we do whatever it takes to ensure each order arrives beautifully presented.

3. Value-Added Services

Value-added services such as engraving, embossing, gift-wrapping and gift messaging can be crucial elements to a jewellery brand’s logistics operation and partnering with a 3PL with experience in this enhances the way consumers shop for jewellery and gifts.

We work with many brands such as Olivia Burton, Creed, Dock & Bay and Mori to personalise and gift-wrap their orders so their customers can buy meaningful gifts and items online. Our staff are trained on the bespoke needs of each of our customers so that they can deliver high quality, personalised orders as part of the fulfilment process, without the need for the brands to outsource this value-added service to third parties.

4. Returns

In todays e-commerce market, offering efficient and cost-effective returns isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s expected by consumers, so having a fulfilment partner that can manage this is incredibly valuable. With jewellery, quality control and grading feedback is vital to ensure brand reputation is not damaged, so being able to access reports and instruct your 3PL how to proceed with returned goods is a necessity.

Based on specific client requirements, we manage everything from quality control, grading, re-labelling, re-boxing and quarantining for a smooth and seamless returns process. Meaning not only do our customers’ customers benefit from quick and pain-free returns, we get sellable stock back into our customers’ supply chain to be sold once more.

5. Scalability and Peak

As a brand grows, order volumes increase and the needs of the business change – a good 3PL partner should be able to scale with the brand and enable faster growth. Whether this is keeping up with order volume peaks, increased SKUs, changing packaging requirements or growing into new markets, consider whether your fulfilment partner has the capacity, expertise and technology to support your future growth.

With gifting being such an important aspect of jewellery e-commerce it’s also important to have a fulfilment partner who can flex to meet spikes in demand. Major gifting events such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Black Friday have significant impact on order volumes so collaboration and planning with your fulfilment partner are key to a successful peak period.

“Peak period is always a busy and important period for us at Olivia Burton. Making sure our customers are happy and get the desired service is paramount. In this it is always great to have a partner that works with you and is pragmatic in their approach to a sometimes ever-evolving day.

We are lucky enough to have a partner in ILG who works with us to make sure all of our customer orders, whether Ecom or Wholesale go out the door in a timely manner. ILG understands our business, and understands that changes may happen over the course of the peak period, with the ability to adapt and react. This might be bringing a sale period forward, or changing the promotional activity dates due to the current business climate.

Barring the postal strike action over the peak period 2022, this has been our best operational period so far.

ILG are always taking lessons learnt from the previous peak period to make any required improvements for the following peak period.”

Operations Manager, Olivia Burton

When choosing your fulfilment partner, consider their expertise in small and valuable item fulfilment and security, their ability to create beautiful unboxing experiences, value-added services, efficient returns, and capacity to scale during peak periods. By prioritising these factors, brands can ensure each order reaches customers securely, beautifully packaged, and with the added touch of personalisation.

At ILG, we are dedicated to meeting the unique needs of our clients, ensuring every order is handled at the highest quality standard. Whether it’s through bespoke packaging, personalisation services, or managing peak periods efficiently, our mission is to make our customers successful and support our clients’ growth. Get in touch today to discuss our leading omnichannel fulfilment and personalisation solutions that can fully support brands to become market-leaders.