Order fulfillment services have become more and more necessary in the ever-expanding e-commerce world, so it is important to find one that is perfect for your business. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are always looking to reduce the stress of getting orders processed and shipped in a speedy manner, and fulfillment services aim to assist them. One such service that is highly recommended is Red Stag Fulfillment, or just Red Stag for short.
About Red Stag
Founded by two individuals who were tired of the struggles that can come with the e-commerce businesses processes, Red Stag is one of the most respected order fulfillment services available today. The founders were appalled to find out firsthand just how much unreliable order fulfillment can impact a business, so Red Stag was created to make sure users get the proper order fulfillment and customer satisfaction. In fact, the company boasts a 99.98% fulfillment accuracy rate.
Red Stag helps entrepreneurs with their business processes by taking orders, preparing/packing products, and shipping orders directly to the buyers. Red Stag focuses heavily on bigger, oversized items, which is unique seeing as many other services primarily process small items. Therefore, many Red Stag users are business owners who are shipping things like furniture, electronics, or smaller items in bulk. Red Stag is stricter about the clients it takes, but this is because Red Stag prides itself on accuracy even more than other services and guarantees near-perfect performance.
How Red Stag Fulfillment Works
Red Stag can be used with an impressive amount of eCommerce stores, including big-name stores like Amazon but also lesser-known stores like CommerceHub and Linnworks. The integrations make Red Stag attractive to businesses who sell products on different channels and are looking to consolidate them into one platform.
Aside from occasional exceptions, Red Stag users must maintain a minimum order requirement of 200 orders in a month. The orders get shipped out from two warehouses throughout the U.S. – one located in Knoxville, TN and the other in Salt Lake City, UT. This makes products get shipped to customers quickly, and Red Stag guarantees that 97% of Americans can have their products at their doorsteps within just two days. These strategically-placed warehouses also save users money, as the products will go through less shipping zones and therefore cost less to ship.
So how does it work? First, you will need to send your inventory to Red Stag. Red Stag unloads your shipment in its facility and even guarantees it will be processed accurately within 48 hours – if it is not, you get $50. Red Stag unloads your inventory quickly to help you avoid any inconveniences or shortages in regard to inventory.
Once a customer makes a purchase, Red Stag can automatically pick the item, pack it, and give it to the shipping provider. If you would prefer to input orders manually, you can do that, too, through single-order inputting or bulk order-processing via a spreadsheet.
A unique and appreciated perk of Red Stag is that pictures and videos are taken of all purchased products to show exactly how they were sent out and how they were returned (if applicable). Red Stag facilities also maintain video footage of the entire fulfillment process to keep staff honest and prevent packing and shipping errors.
Many order fulfillment services either don’t process returns or they simply place returns back in the inventory, but Red Stag lets you choose whether you want to receive the returns yourself to inspect them or refurbish them, or they will take care of returns themselves and place returns back in your inventory.
Red Stag offers a user-friendly platform that allows users to track inventory, orders, and sales while gaining insights into how to sell more and increase customer satisfaction. Returns can also be viewed and managed. While the interface is quite plain, many business owners prefer it that way because it makes looking at data and making correlations easier.
Red Stag Pricing
As with most fulfillment services, Red Stag gives users a custom quote and pricing normally varies from month to month. Therefore, perhaps one of the largest pricing perks for Red Stag is there is no requirement for a long-term contract. It’s hard to give an accurate pricing guide because every small business’s needs are different and overall pricing will vary based on the services and features requested, but general pricing is as follows:
- Software and Platform: Free
- Receiving: $13.25 per pallet
- Storage, billed monthly: $15/pallet or $2/bin
- Pick and Pack: Varies between $2.25 and $2.65 for the first item, and then $0.30 cents per additional item.
Return and restock charges will be based on whichever return plan was selected when you signed up. Red Stag can also handle special packaging and kitting requests for additional costs.
Red Stag does not charge any stock-keeping unit (SKU) fees, nor does it have any hidden account management fees. Red Stag will provide quotes to prospective customers on its website and also offers a 30-day free trial to prove how beneficial Red Stag can be for a business.
Customer Service
Red Stag’s website provides a Contact form for questions, and inquiries are quickly routed to the proper agent. Users can also call Red Stag at 1-855-867-8349 to talk to a knowledgeable individual. Users usually get on a first name basis with certain agents, which is great because it is always nice to deal with one contact instead of getting transferred to many different people. Red Stag users continuously report that Red Stag customer service is prompt, courteous, and better than the customer service they have received with other fulfillment services.
Final Notes
Many small businesses do not have the space, resources, and/or employees to handle everything in the order process, so Red Stag may be able to help. Red Stag understands the struggles and provides top-notch technologies and integrations to make order processing smoother while enabling products to reach their destinations sooner. Red Stag is steadfast in its promises to its users, even giving users compensation when a mistake is made. Overall, Red Stag can greatly benefit a small business looking to make order fulfillment less stressful.