eBay Australia launches fulfilment service.

This week eBay Australia launched ‘eBay Fulfilment by Orange Connex’. The solution will allow sellers to store, pick, pack and ship their inventory with same-day handling and seamless delivery enabled by end-to-end tracking.

eBay has initially launched utilising its fulfilment centres in Sydney with plans to expand into more Australian capital cities in the near future.

Hayat Horma, Director of Shipping at eBay Australia, comments; “At eBay, we understand that housing, managing stock and delivery in tight timeframes can be challenging for growing a business – especially as eCommerce continues to accelerate and consumers expect faster and more seamless experiences,”.

Marketplaces like eBay, Catch and Amazon have continued to grow in popularity for both Australian consumers and sellers creating an increased demand for third-party logistics providers and fulfilment services like Amazon FBA (Fulfilment By Amazon).

“eBay’s priority is to provide the tools that enable our 40,000 Australian retailers to compete and grow; eBay Fulfilment by Orange Connex will provide that – from streamlining the delivery experience to eBay Plus integration that gives sellers more opportunity to showcase their products to eBay’s nearly 12-million unique monthly visitors,” said Horma.

Marketplace operated fulfilment services offers sellers ancillary value outside of the last-mile service. eBay fulfilment has stated it provides integration with eBay plus. We assume this means automated qualification for fulfilment criteria; however, eBay Australia don’t mention any aid when it comes to customer service, a clear benefit for FBA members.

There is one key consideration for sellers when using marketplace operated fulfilment services, one that’s incredibly pertinent in the current climate of global supply chain, inventory. With various inventory pools spread across multiple fulfilment centres, sellers will need to have transparency in inventory sell-through to avoid being under/overstocked.