Inventory Storage Service
Keep your products safe and ready to ship with our China warehousing & inventory storage service.
We provide free storage for our e-commerce fulfillment clients, and paid storage services for others.
Our approach removes risk and uncertainty in your business by using systems to keep track of your inventory.
Warehousing
Service List
Our premium warehousing service helps manage your products and keep them safe in China.
Inventory Tracking
We keep track of inventory with inventory software and frequent physical recounts to ensure accuracy.
Inventory Management
We manage your inventory by setting reorder points so that you know when to purchase more inventory.
<24 Hour Receiving
We receive, unload and allocate your product to our system within 24 hours of it arriving to our warehouse.
FIFO System
We go by a first-in, first out method to make sure your customers receive the newest products in pristine condition.
Secure Storage
Our warehouse is completely protected from natural disaster and theft, in a gated area with 24/7 surveillance & security.
<24 Hour Fulfillment
We fulfill DTC orders within 24 hours, as long as you store product in our warehouse.
Inventory Storage Process
1. Receiving & Unloading
We confirm its the correct, then receive and unload your shipment from the delivery vehicle in our unloading area.
2. Count & Inspection
We count your stock and inspect it to ensure correct quantities, high quality, and no damage.
3. Inventory Storage
We store your products in our physical warehouse and on our warehouse management system.
China Storage Pricing
| Service Array | Monthly Storage Fee |
|---|---|
| Storage + Fulfillment | $0 |
| Storage + Other Service | $10 per CBM (beyond 14 days) |
| Just Storage | $20 per CBM |
Storage is free of charge for those using our order fulfillment service.
How You Benefit
Less Costs
Take advantage of China’s cheap warehousing to cut down costs and increase your profits.
Less Headaches
We take over from where you want us to. That means anything from liaising with suppliers to managing inventory .
Complete Control
We keep track of everything for you to make well-informed decisions concerning your supply chain.
Who Is Our Warehousing Service For?
Shopify Store Owners
If we’re fulfilling your orders for you on a daily basis, then its only natural that we store your product in our warehouse for faster fulfillment speeds.
Bundle Creators
If you want to package multiple SKUs into one bundle, our warehouse serves as your hub to store products temporarily while we help create and pack your product kits.
Amazon & eBay Sellers
We store inventory for sellers who need quality inspection, packing and bundling & fulfillment. We also work with our partners to provide bulk freight forwarding services.
Inventory Storage Guide
Whether you’re considering to store inventory yourself or outsource it to a third party, inventory storage is a key part of any e-commerce business.
Continue reading below to learn all the basics regarding Inventory Storage & Warehousing.
What Is Inventory Storage?
Inventory storage describes the systems of organizing, storing, tracking and managing items in a warehouse or other alternative.
In e-commerce, inventory refers to products you have in-stock awaiting purchase. Dropshippers do not own inventory themselves, but many e-commerce businesses do.
Whether you store inventory or not (and how you do so) depends on a few factors. Available space, costs, efficiency and budget are some of the key factors to consider.
Why Is Inventory Storage Important?
Inventory storage is important for businesses to keep their items safe, as well as to know when they need to purchase more.
What Is an Inventory Storage System?
Inventory storage systems or solutions take into account the type of product, spoilage concerns or expiry dates, the space available and stock unloading options.
Some businesses follow the First-in-first-out (FIFO) approach to unloading, and others go by Last-in, first-out (LIFO).
Inventory Storage Options
Dropshipping (no-storage)
Pure dropshipping doesn’t involve storing any inventory yourself. The supplier stores inventory and ships it directly to your customers.
The advantage of this is that you don’t have to spend any money up front. However, this method can often slow down delivery times, especially if you are using a supplier from AliExpress.
Self-storage
Self-storage is a great option for budding entrepreneurs with time on their hands. You will have to order product in bulk to be stored in any space you have available.
The advantage to this is that you don’t have to pay for warehouse space.
The disadvantages are:
Pay for bulk product order up front
Time spent packing orders yourself
Work may seep into your living space
Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
Third-party logistics companies in China or in your local country save time and take work off your plate.
The main advantage is that they apply an organized approach to your order fulfillment. There are much fewer mistakes made in packing, and fulfillment is faster which means your customers receive their orders faster.
The disadvantage is that 3PLs cost more money than if you were to fulfill orders yourself.
Warehouse Storage
Warehouse storage is used by some successful ecommerce businesses that are large and organized enough to rent their own warehouse space.
The main advantage to this approach is that its cheaper than using a 3PL if you have high enough order volumes to warrant the fixed costs.
The disadvantages are that it:
requires more time & organization
forces you to take on more risk with long-term contracts
Is Storing Inventory Better Than Dropshipping?
Inventory storage is better than dropshipping overall, but it depends where your business is at.
A beginner will benefit more from dropshipping because there is less upfront investment needed. Whereas an established e-commerce business benefits more from holding inventory because it speeds up fulfillment. As soon as there is stable demand for your product, then you should switch away from a pure dropshipping model.
For more on this, read Dropshipping vs Inventory Ownership
What are the Benefits of Inventory Storage?
The benefits of storing inventory are happier customers, greater stability and less stress.
But how?
Fast order fulfillment means your customers get their orders faster. This is because the product is ready to be packed and shipped within 24 hours when you already have it in stock. Your customers will thank you for it.
Inventory tracking allows you to manage your inventory so that you always have product in stock. Relying on a pure dropshipping model is risky and can be stressful because you’re not in control of your inventory.
Setting up Your Warehouse
Your warehouse needs to be secure, safe & efficient.
An efficient warehouse relies on inventory being stored in a way that speeds up processing times for each task. It should be easy to receive, store, pick and pack products.
A warehouse plan needs to be constructed around this concept. For example, the shorter the distance a picker has to travel to pick an item, the faster the process will be. So it makes sense that the most popular products are closest to the packing areas.
Warehouse safety comes in two forms:
The warehouse should be located somewhere that is not prone to natural disasters such as flooding.
Items should be placed in a way so that they are not prone to causing injury to staff or being damaged themselves.
“Secure” just means that the warehouse should not be accessible to thieves.
Types of Inventory Storage
Central Storage - Having everything in one place.
Block Stacking - Stacking products on top of each other.
Shelf Storage - Storing products on shelves with smaller & lighter loads.
Rack Storage - Storing products on racks for larger & heavier loads.
Point-of-use Storage - Places product at store location for when it’s needed.
Inventory Management Tips
Keep track of inventory - so that you have data to work with.
Set reorder points - to replenish inventory ahead of time.
Make best-sellers easy to access - to increase order fulfillment speeds.
Use Inventory Management Systems - to automate inventory tracking, reorder points and stock updates.
Benefits of Inventory Storage & Warehousing in China
Storing inventory in China is an attractive option for many ecommerce businesses.
The benefits include:
Cheaper storage than the US and other western countries.
Lower lead times than other countries because the products are already in China.
Faster fulfillment than standard dropshipping platforms such as AliExpress or CJDropshipping.
Cheaper international shipping than most other countries.
Have you ever considered what it would look like to handover your entire supply-side workload? No more negotiating with suppliers, manually fulfilling orders or worrying about slow, unreliable shipping.
Hi there, I’m Niall from E-commpanion. Our team supports scaling dropshipping & ecommerce businesses by providing a complete supply-chain solution. Would you like to see how much our service would cost for your product?