To reduce your inbounding costs and increase your fast tag coverage, Deliverr developed the shipment forwarding program.
How does shipment forwarding work?
When you send products to Deliverr, you create a shipping plan in the Deliverr Seller Portal.
You then choose if you want to send your inventory directly to fulfillment centers (called a Direct Plan) or send you inventory to a cross-dock (called a Forwarding Plan).
Direct plans require you pack 4 or more shipments, one for each fulfillment center you will ship to.
Forwarding plans require you pack 1 shipment, which you send to a Deliverr cross-dock. Then, the cross-dock forwards boxes in the shipment to fulfillment centers, at no cost to you (but for a limited time!).
How does shipment forwarding lower my inbounds costs and increase my fast tag coverage?
Depending on where you are located, shipment forwarding can reduce your inbounding costs by up to 65% per pallet over direct inbounds to Deliverr fulfillment centers. Why?
- If you inbound via freight, then you may consolidate all boxes onto as few pallets as possible. Note: each box must still have its correct box contents label so that it can be scanned at the cross-dock and get a final destination fulfillment center.
- If you are shipping freight or shipping small parcel, shipment forwarding also saves you costs because you don't have to pay to ship across multiple zones. Your only cost is shipping to the Deliverr cross-dock, either located in Moreno Valley, CA or Duluth, GA. For a limited time, Deliverr pays the costs of forwarding your boxes to their final destination fulfillment center.
Additionally,Forwarding Plans also increases your fast tag coverage because Deliverr's systems will forward your boxes to more fulfillment centers. As a result, your SKUs are in stock in more fulfillment centers than Direct Plans, which increases your fast tag coverage.*
*Fast tag coverage is the percentage of buyers who will see fast delivery badges on your product listings after you've enabled any of Deliverr's fast tag programs, such as Walmart 2-Day, Shopify 2-Day, etc.
How do I use shipment forwarding?
When you create an inbound, after inputting your ship-from address, you will the screen below, which asks you 'When do you want inventory available for sale?' You must select 'Forwarding Plan' and you will create a shipment forwarding plan!
Please be aware that since you are shipping to an intermediate location, shipment forwarding takes longer to complete than shipping directly to fulfillment centers. On average 2-3 weeks.
How does shipment forwarding increase my fast tag coverage?
Shipment forwarding increases your fast tag coverage because during the box check-in process at the cross-dock, Deliverr evaluates the ideal final destination fulfillment center for every single one of your boxes. As a result, Deliverr's algorithms often choose to spread SKUs and units across more fulfillment centers to increase your fast tag coverage (and orders!).
How long will it take for my inventory to be available for sale?
Starting when a shipment arrives at the Deliverr cross-dock location, it will take between on average 19 calendar days for inventory to be received at the first 1 fulfillment center.
WARNING: for forwarding plans, the deadline for guaranteed available-for-sale for Black Friday/Cyber Monday is arrival at cross-dock by October 15th. If you need guaranteed available-for-sale for Black Friday/Cyber Monday after October 15, then create a direct plan and make sure your shipments arrive at fulfillment centers by November 3.