In today’s ShipBob review, we’re looking at one of the most popular global fulfillment services around. Offering a 99.95% accuracy rate in order fulfillment, ShipBob prides itself on exceptional, prompt service, helping companies around the world connect with customers.
Of course, while ShipBob has an excellent reputation, it’s far from the only solution on the market.
That’s why we’re going to be looking at all the pros, cons and features of ShipBob, to help you decide if it’s the right service for your company.
Quick Verdict
Overall, we consider ShipBob to be one of the best fulfillment services available. Not only does the company offer fast and efficient service, but it’s also committed to saving businesses money on their fulfillment and logistics strategies.
With this vendor, companies can get professional help picking, packing, and shipping orders to grow their online brand.
ShipBob even offers access to useful technology, customization options, analytics tools, return management, and warehouse automation.
What is ShipBob and How Does it Work?
ShipBob is a global fulfillment service founded in Chicago. The company helps organizations to deliver products to customers around the world.
If you’re selling physical items from your ecommerce store, ShipBob can work with you to get those items to customers as quickly and conveniently as possible.
The company prides itself on bringing up to 13% cost savings to a company’s bottom line, increasing order value on average by 97%, and reducing cart abandonment by 18%.
So, how does it all work?
Well, one of the best things about ShipBob is its simplicity. First, you can connect just about any online store to the ShipBob app, using integrations.
You then import your products, and send the inventory you want ShipBob to manage to the team, who will store your products in secure fulfillment centers, closest to wherever your target audience is.
When a customer places an order on your ecommerce website, their information is automatically transferred to ShipBob, and the team picks, packs, and ships your order. It’s as simple as that.
They can also help with managing returns if anything goes wrong.
ShipBob’s turnkey integrations work with the majority of the biggest ecommerce platforms and marketplaces, including Shopify, Square, Amazon, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and many others.
ShipBob Pricing
ShipBob attempts to keep it’s pricing as straightforward as possible. However, there’s no specific “pricing” page on the website.
You’ll need to fill out a contact form with your details to request a quote from the company. According to the website, the pricing is reflective of the “total fulfillment cost” required for a direct-to-customer ordering process.
The standard fees you’ll pay will cover everything from the cost for the company to receive your inventory, secure it in their warehouses, and ship those products to your end customer.
When you contact the team, they’ll ask about your specific unique needs, so they can create a strategy that works well for you.
ShipBob can support your company if you have specific requirements, such as a need for kitting assistance.
The company also offers access to best-in-class technology, analytics, and other tools to help you expand into new locations.
The fulfillment centers have on-site customer success reps available at every location too, and their support is included with your pricing.
The good news is that access to the ShipBob software, which integrates with your ecommerce website is completely free.
You’ll be able to use your dashboard to connect as many ecommerce stores as you like with no extra fees.
Plus, ShipBob offers various other bonuses for free, such as plain brown box packaging for your items.
Shipping costs are also customized to your specific needs. The company has negotiated bulk discounts from some major vendors like DHL, FedEx, UPS, and USPS, for both domestic and international rates, and shipping costs will be based on weight, dimensions, service, and destination.
ShipBob Pros and Cons
Overall, we consider ShipBob to be one of the most effective logistics and fulfillment solutions on the market, suitable for a wide range of customers.
However, it’s worth noting that, like any service provider, there are pros and cons to consider.
Pros 👍
- Customizable orders: ShipBob has a customization suite which allows you to create a unique unboxing experience for customers. You can create marketing inserts, mailers, and gift notes, and add your brand name to shipping labels.
- Fast shipping: ShipBob aims to get your orders to customers as quickly as possible. You can even take advantage of two-day shipping across the United States, thanks to ShipBob’s collection of relationships with leading vendors.
- International fulfillment: With centers located across the globe, ShipBob’s fulfillment capabilities ensures your ecommerce store has a fantastic global reach. You can ship to other countries with expedited and standard shipping options.
- Ease of use: ShipBob integrates with most of the ecommerce platforms and marketplaces available to business leaders today. The company’s fulfillment service is also extremely easy to use, with an intuitive interface for beginners.
- Seamless integrations: ShipBob has its own proprietary integrations available for virtually every ecommerce store and marketplace you can think of. You can also link CRM, inventory management, and other tools to the service.
- Customer support: ShipBob is dedicated to offering phenomenal customer support, with reps in every location you can work with for warehousing. The company also offers returns management as a value-added service if you need help there.
Cons 👎
- Customization prices: Although you can customize the orders you send to customers with ShipBob, there are fees associated with a range of different options. Each kitting action incurs an extra fee, and there are other expenses for packaging too.
- Scalability: While ShipBob does offer support to customers around the world for their ecommerce needs, scaling can sometimes be a complex process. You might find that getting customized orders right first time is difficult.
- Slow support: While the customer service available from ShipBob is often excellent, you may not get a response to all of your questions as quickly as possible. It’s worth noting the company already has a lot of customers to manage.
ShipBob Features
ShipBob prides itself on being more than just a basic picking, packaging, and shipping company. The tech-enabled 3PL uses innovative tools within its fulfillment network to deliver a cohesive end-to-end experience.
Orders are sent automatically to the organization’s warehouses, and the fulfillment teams help you optimize for time and cost.
ShipBob has onboarded thousands of ecommerce merchants, and it’s helped some of the fastest-growing brands to scale as quickly as possible. Some of the core features of ShipBob include:
- Distributed inventory: The network of fulfillment centers offered by ShipBob ensures companies can strategically split inventory across all locations to get products to consumers as quickly as possible. Distributed inventory also helps companies to remain competitive, with two-day shipping for most customers. The ShipBob algorithm even automatically selects the warehouse carrier to give you the best turnaround time at the lowest price.
- 2-Day Shipping: The 2-day express shipping program ensures quick delivery for all US orders from any ecommerce store integration. When you ship from one or multiple fulfillment center locations, you can typically offer fast delivery to the majority of US customers, using air, ground, and regional carriers.
- Order management: With ShipBob, you can track your orders throughout the entire fulfillment process. Within your dashboard, you’ll be able to filter orders by status, search for specific orders, and see a quick timeline view of where your orders are in the fulfillment process. You can check in subscription settings, make changes to orders post-purchase, and automatically send tracking information to customers.
- Inventory management: The ShipBob toolkit comes with inventory management tools, so you can monitor how much inventory you have on-hand, and in warehouse locations around the world at any point in time. You’ll also be able to identify problematic inventory with higher storage costs, and replenish inventory rapidly with reorder notifications. You can also bundle products for promotions, make requests for transfers and more.
- Reporting and analytics: To provide you with visibility into the operations and performance of ShipBob’s team, the company offers access to a free analytics tool, complete with charts to help with everything from year-end reporting, to supply-chain decision making. The reports show an analysis of which fulfillment centers you should stock, as well as the impact of any promotions on stock levels and profits.
- Customization: ShipBob allows you to retain complete control over your entire packaging and shipping process. You can leverage free plain packaging, or create branded boxes with their own inserts and marketing materials. The company will adapt its service to your specific needs, and allows you to access a range of kitting options to accommodate your unique needs. Plus, you can bundle orders, or access wholesale ordering options too.
On top of all that, ShipBob also includes a range of other features, such as the option to leverage a returns management service, for an extra fee.
If you opt for the returns service, ShipBob will handle the process of managing any returns on your behalf, so you can focus on growing your business.
ShipBob User Reviews
To get a better idea of the kind of experiences customers can expect from ShipBob, we checked out some of the top reviews from websites across the internet.
First, it’s worth noting you can see a few great reviews on the ShipBob website itself, most of which comment on how easy it is to use the platform, and how convenient the integrations and customization options are.
Heading over to Trustpilot, we can see most of the reviews for ShipBob are positive. The company has nearly 600 reviews in total on the platform, and customers tend to highlight the company’s excellent customer service and support.
Some reviews also comment on the flawless integration process, and the easy-to-use technology.
However, there are some negative reviews, suggesting ShipBob doesn’t always deliver on its fast shipping processes, depending on where you are in the world.
On G2, ShipBob has fewer reviews, but many of them are still positive. The highest rated features mentioned on the platform include the customer portal, warehousing facilities, and excellent transportation of orders to regions around the world.
ShipBob is also highly rated on some of the app markets for the ecommerce stores it integrates with. For instance, on Shopify, it boasts a 4.4 out of 5 rating from 158 reviewers on the platform. The majority of the ratings for the company are five stars.
ShipBob Review: Integrations
As mentioned above, ShipBob has a huge partner ecosystem, and a wide range of integrations to choose from for various ecommerce platforms and marketplaces.
From an ecommerce platform and marketplace perspective, you can integrate your solution with everything from Shopify and Shopify Plus, to BigCommerce, Amazon, eBay, Magento, Square, WooCommerce, and Squarespace.
You’ll also be able to integrate with:
- Inventory and order management tools such as Brightpearl, Cogsy, Cymbio Zentail, Shypyard, and many others.
- Returns management tools like Loop Returns, Happy Returns, and Returnly
- Freight and shipping solutions such as DHL, FedEx, AfterShip, EasyPost, Route, Shippo, and Shipstation.
- Ecommerce marketing and CRM tools such as Klaviyo, Gorgias, Okendo, Pagefly, Recharge, Sezzle, and Zip
- Ecommerce custom packaging and design solutions like Arka, Packlane and Packhelp
- Branding and web development agencies like Envoy, Hawke Media, Blanka, and MuteSix
- Accounting, tax, and financing tools such as Avask, Rho, TaxJar, and SimplyVAT
ShipBob Alternatives
We consider ShipBob to be one of the best order fulfillment solutions on the market for ecommerce businesses.
Whether you’re a small business startup, or a growing brand, ShipBob can work with you to ensure you’re delivering excellent experiences to your customers.
However, it’s not the only option on the market if you’re looking for a fulfillment partner. Here are some of the other options business owners can consider if ShipBob fulfillment doesn’t seem right for you:
ShipStation
An extremely popular fulfillment provider for ecommerce brands, ShipStation makes it simple to handle all of your logistics needs.
The company provides access to convenient delivery management tools, pre-negotiated rates on shipping fees, and customization options for packaging.
There are no hidden fees to worry about, and you can rest assured you’ll be able to track every aspect of your fulfillment process with the easy-to-use application. ShipStation even integrates with tools like Shopify directly.
Read our ShipStation review.
Red Stag Fulfillment
Another great option for companies in search of a user-friendly fulfillment service, Red Stag Shipping promises reliable, convenient logistics.
The company promises transparent service, excellent customer service, and an easy-to-use dashboard that can integrate with your Shopify store.
Plus, like ShipBob, Red Stag can offer 2-day shipping options for customers in the United States. There are no set-up fees to get started, and you can even access a 30-day free trial.
Read our Red Stag Fulfillment review.
Shopify fulfillment
If you’re already using Shopify to sell your products online, you can also access the company’s own fulfillment services.
The Shopify fulfillment solution leverages machine learning, to help with inventory allocation, and improve your chances of staying on top of orders.
Plus, Shopify has partnerships with shipping groups around the world, making it easy to send your products anywhere.
Custom branding and packaging is available, alongside help from an excellent customer support team.
Read our Shpify Fulfillment review.
ShipBob Fulfillment Review: The Verdict
Ultimately, ShipBob is a reliable and cost-effective fulfillment solution for ecommerce stores and direct-to-consumer brands across the US and Canada.
The company’s service can integrate with a wide range of platforms and marketplace tools, thanks to API technology, so you can easily sell products on Walmart, eBay, Shopify, and more.
Plus, ShipBob provides excellent customer service to every customer, there’s even a tailor-made onboarding experience available to each business.
If you’re looking for a convenient tool to simplify your shipping and logistics strategy, ShipBob has a lot of value to offer.
The ShipBob dashboard even makes it easy to track each order in real-time, so you can provide customers with complete transparency.
However, it’s worth remembering the price of the service you get from ShipBob can vary depending on pallet size, packaging requirements, and various other factors.
Make sure you chat with the company to get a good idea of how much you can expect to pay for the service before you dive in.
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