Fashion has always been a competitive market, with online shopping further boosting competition over the last few decades. To run a successful fashion brand in 2022, you need to stand out from the crowd.
Fortunately, there are ways to get your brand out there and, in return, gain loyal customers who love your products. Outsourcing fulfillment for your fashion brand to a 3PL company is one sure way to do this.
Among a host of other benefits, product personalization is a vital part of fashion fulfillment and one that ambitious fashion brands can leverage to make their fulfillment cost-effective and hassle-free while giving orders a bespoke feel.
What is a 3PL Company?
If you’re not already familiar with the concept, ‘3PL’ stands for third-party logistics, and organizations with this designation specialize in distribution and order fulfillment on behalf of other retailers. They typically handle every step of the fulfillment journey, from fulfilling e-commerce orders to warehouse storage, and order packaging/processing to delivery.
Many 3PLs also offer added value services such as gift wrapping and product personalization, making them the best choice for order fulfillment for brands looking to enhance their fulfillment process without scaling up in-house.
As mentioned, product personalization is a perk that many 3PL providers can offer, and a service that can delight customers with personalized branded products that stand out from the competition.
Leveraging Ecommerce Personalization for Your Business
Now more than ever, e-commerce customers want more from brands when online shopping. Low prices and quick delivery are great, but added-value services can really be the difference-maker against your competitors.
How Personalized Branded Products can Enhance Your Fashion Fulfillment
Today’s e-commerce customer is used to special offers and buying experiences tailored for them. This means demand is growing for personalized branded products as part of that online buying process. When done at scale, e-commerce personalization can endear customers to your brand – and by entrusting personalization to a 3PL company, you can reap the benefits without the labor-intensive process of personalizing every order yourself.
What are the Personalization Options with a 3PL Provider?
Naturally, the personalization options available to every brand will depend on the type of product. Beauty product personalization, for example, will have different personalization services from those available on fashion products.
Generally speaking, fashion products are most commonly personalized with embroidery, but certain items can also be engraved or embossed for a truly unique gift.
What Products Can Be Personalized?
Ecommerce personalization can be fulfilled on a number of different products, from cosmetic items to fashion products, baby clothes to children’s toys. Naturally, the level of customisability will vary by product, but your 3PL provider can work with you to ensure orders are personalized to your specifications.
If you’re unsure what products can be personalized, talk to your 3PL provider for bespoke recommendations. After all, it’s this level of added value that customers and brands alike appreciate – adding a name, initials or personalized message can enhance your product range with a tailor-made feel.
Personalized Baby Clothes – a One-of-a-Kind Gift
As an example, personalized baby clothes are extremely popular with children’s e-commerce brands. They allow online retailers specializing in baby clothes to distinguish themselves from the crowd of competitors, giving their customers the chance to tailor their products to their needs. A personalized baby gift can be the perfect gift for new or first-time parents, or even for first birthdays.
Embroidering a name or adding a personalized message is a great way of personalizing baby clothes. The best part? This can be handled entirely by a 3PL provider, who can process the personalization along with the other order information for seamless fulfillment that meets your brand’s standards.
How Are Ecommerce Orders Personalized?
With a 3PL company, e-commerce personalization takes place as part of an order’s fulfillment, streamlining the whole process and ensuring your business itself doesn’t need to worry about personalizing orders before they are fulfilled, resulting in fewer production and delivery delays.
As a fashion brand, it’s essential that your warehouse is handling quality control so your customers receive products that meet your brand’s standards. When partnering with an outsourced fulfillment company, this quality control is a given, allowing you to focus on growing your business without distraction.
What’s the Personalization Process?
Once an order – alongside its personalization instructions – is processed by the 3PL company, the warehouse experts will then embroider, emboss or engrave on the order, depending on the customer’s specification.
This is most effective when handled entirely in-house; a 3PL provider with modern technology and warehouse facilities can effectively streamline the process, fulfilling every stage of your order within their own facilities so you know exactly where and how your goods are being handled.
At ILG, for example, we use high-end machinery to perform every personalization function that we offer – before being packaged to your specifications and dispatched for delivery.
Personalizing Ecommerce Orders Sustainably
Sustainability is an important piece of the fulfillment puzzle. It’s no longer enough to give customers a tailormade experience; they need to know that their purchasing habits aren’t having a detrimental impact on the environment.
Historically, the fashion industry can be wasteful, so employing the services of a 3PL company that cares about sustainability means you can rest assured knowing that your own sustainable policies are being complemented by your fulfillment partner.
Order personalization can be made more sustainable in a number of ways, including using more efficient machinery and effectively training staff to avoid mistakes made during the embroidering, embossing or engraving processes.
Choose ILG as Your Fashion Fulfillment Partner for Ecommerce Personalization
At ILG, our reputation for excellence throughout our range of services has established us as a key player in the 3PL space.
We pride ourselves on giving our clients a bespoke fulfillment experience, with added value services like our fashion personalization that help set you apart from your competitors. Get in touch with our team today to find out more.
Contact Us
More insights >
How Amazon Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM) Works and Why Beauty Brands Should be Using It
This guide explores how Amazon FBM works, its advantages, and practical steps to implement it successfully.
Why Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) Calculations Matter
In this guide, we’ll break down the EOQ formula, explain how to calculate economic order quantity, and explore why it is a critical tool for inventory management.