Brandon Rollins is the marketing director of fulfillment company Fulfillrite and shares with us his top-5 fulfillment tips.
These tips are especially geared towards crowdfunding projects.
The ever changing crowdfunding landscape
Ever since Kickstarter came out in 2009, product launches have never been the same. Crowdfunding has transformed the process from bottom to top, making it possible to see – in a very dramatic, memorable way – if a market exists for a product before going to the trouble of producing it.
This is pretty incredible when you stop to let it sink in. Creative, innovative people have a totally new way to turn their visions into reality. One that’s not even a generation old. And on top of that, they can attract a global audience willing to support their dreams.
But there is one obvious downside to crowdfunding – campaign fulfillment. Namely, the actual delivery of products to backers is fraught with complexity. A lot of campaigners find themselves unprepared for that simple fact.
That said, you can absolutely fulfill a Kickstarter campaign and do it well. You don’t need a ton of experience or money to do that either. One of the best ways to make that happen is to take a handful of very specific, but simple actions, at the right time.
Why Crowdfunding Fulfillment is Tricky
Before we get into the specific simple things you can do to make crowdfunding fulfillment easier, it’s worth considering why it’s tough in the first place.
First, there is the experience issue. Many entrepreneurs with crowdfunding ambitions are not just crowdfunding for the first time, but starting a business for the first time. That means that their expertise is often more rooted in product development and even coming up with good ideas as opposed to logistics and supply chain management. This inexperience can lead to underestimated challenges and mishandled fulfillment processes.
The inexperience problem cuts both ways too. The vast majority of fulfillment centers are set up to cater the steadier flows of traditional retail and eCommerce orders. Crowdfunding projects, comparatively, are pretty weird.
Think about it – eCommerce stores, even during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, are used to seeing products go in and out on a day-to-day basis. There might be huge rushes of orders, especially around holidays and product launches, but seldom does everything have to go out all at once.
With crowdfunding, though, all orders going out at once is the norm. For fulfillment centers not trained in crowdfunding, this sudden spike can overwhelm both the creators and the fulfillment centers, leading to delays, errors, and frustrated backers.
Thankfully, more and more fulfillment centers are specializing in crowdfunding these days, so you have lots of options. But you, as the creator, still need to do your research to find the right one. You can’t just assume that every fulfillment center can handle crowdfunding.
This all means it’s important to build your skills and knowledge, and to find the right partners. But that’s also not simple!
"Avoid deluxe editions, dozens of add-ons, color and size variants, and so on. This is, of course, unless you have a good business case for having all these options."
Brandon Rollins
Director of Marketing
#1: Limit your SKU count
A straightforward but effective strategy to simplify crowdfunding fulfillment is to limit the number of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) in your campaign. Fewer SKUs mean fewer combinations of products to manage, which is much easier to manage on almost every level.
The data you will be exporting will be simpler. The processes your fulfillment center will use to ship orders will be simpler. Inventory management, freight, manufacturing – everything will be simpler if you just limit SKU count.
It’s worth mentioning here that fewer SKUs can also lead to lower production costs. With less variety in products, you can negotiate better rates for higher quantities of each item, lowering your per-unit cost. This can also mean meeting minimum order quantities for fewer discrete products, meaning the minimum amount of capital to make your business possible stays low too.
That means avoiding deluxe editions, dozens of add-ons, color and size variants, and so on. This is, of course, unless you have a good business case for having all these options.
Keeping a clear sense of focus can lead to a more successful campaign in all aspects, especially fulfillment.
#2: Weigh and measure your packaging before you start shipping
The cost of freight and postage will both depend on two critical factors – the weight and measurements of your items, when fully packaged. Ideally, you want your items to be as small and light as possible. Then you want to make sure that the packages these items go in – boxes, padded mailers, etc. – are as small and light as possible.
Don’t leave this to chance. Get out the scale and the ruler. Measure your product in the packaging it will ship to backers in. Even if you’re still waiting on a final version of the product, a prototype is going to give you a close estimate.
This will allow you to accurately estimate shipping costs upfront, which can save you a considerable amount of stress and financial strain down the line. Knowing the precise weight and dimensions of your packages enables you to get accurate quotes from shipping carriers (or postage resellers such as Easyship) and fulfillment centers and plan your budget accordingly.
Plus, early measurement gives you a chance to optimize your packaging. If you discover that your initial packaging design is bulkier or heavier than it needs to be, you have the window to make adjustments. Reducing the size or weight of your packages can lead to significant savings in shipping costs, especially when multiplied across thousands of backers.
#3: Validate shipping addresses
If you ship to the wrong address, you will anger a backer and lose a unit of inventory. Do this too many times, and you’ll lose a lot of money and field a lot of frustrated emails and calls.
It sounds minor, but it’s not. Invalid or incorrect addresses are one of the most common causes of delivery issues, and play a disproportionate role in returns and the shipping costs that come along with them.
Your fulfillment center, should you choose to work with one, will probably have a tool to help you do this. If you are shipping on your own, consider using the free tool Smarty to verify addresses before you print postage. It can really save you a lot of trouble! Even if you have to spring for the paid plan, it is almost certainly going to be lower than the cost of returns due to bad addresses.
#4: Collect phone numbers for international shipping
When it comes to international shipping, you can’t be shy about this. Ask for their numbers on those backer surveys!
A lot of creators don’t realize that in order to ship orders internationally, they need to clear customs. In order to do that, it’s important to not just collect the backer’s address, but their phone numbers too. Otherwise, many customs agencies will simply stop the items at their border or even fail to accept them for shipping.
Failure to collect those phone numbers early can lead to last-minute scrambling to try to ward off customs delays. But fortunately, there is an easy way around this – collect the phone numbers long before you need them, so that all but a handful of stragglers have a chance to respond before you start shipping.
#5: Update backers regularly (even if you don’t have much to say)
You need to send your backers regular updates, even if it feels like nothing is going on. This might seem like a hassle, like it wouldn’t make shipping much easier, but it does – hear me out on this.
If you don’t give regular updates, your backers are going to ask you for them. They might ask you in the comments, or in your direct messages, or by email. But rest assured, they will check in if you don’t.
You can put a lot of people’s worries at ease by sharing as much information as possible. For example, did you know you can actually track freight vessels on the ocean? Find the vessel your stock is on, and share that while you’re waiting on freight so the nervous ones can check up on it.
When you’re going through customs, tell backers what you know when you know it. If you’re between bigger updates, leave comments on your last one or post on social media.
When the inventory clears customs and is being prepped for fulfillment, tell backers that. Then when items start shipping out, tell them again!
Then, after all that, wait until a sufficient period of time passes that all backers should have their rewards. Then post an update and tell people they should have their rewards. About 1-3% of people should then come out of the woodwork saying their packages are delayed or lost. This is normal, and your update gives you a chance to look proactive and bring these issues to light before they are a problem. That way you can address them sooner and wrap up your campaign confidently.
When it comes to customer service, it takes less postage to ship an ounce of prevention than a pound of cure.
Final Thoughts
Order fulfillment for crowdfunding can be tricky. It’s especially common for first-time creators to be overwhelmed with it!
If you follow these five simple steps, you’ll be well on the way to limiting complexity and preventing common issues. That way, you can enjoy the great things about crowdfunding – the ability to finance your dreams, make tangible products, and get them into the hands of people who will love them!
Need help shipping your Kickstarter? Download this free checklist to help you get started.