In this modern era, getting a head start with significant funding for your project is an exciting adventure as well as creative and innovative. It is easier said than done because you must eventually ship the final product to your customers, especially your backers.
To ease your mind off this, we will take you through the world of Kickstarter fulfillment companies and discover some core factors and potential problems with Kickstarter fulfillment and the importance of a reliable partner who can help you with that.
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Part 1. What is Kickstarter Fulfillment?
Kickstarter Fulfillment is the active bridge that fills the gap between Kickstarter’s successfully funded campaign and the backers who face challenges in receiving a reward as per their backing. Once the fund rises to the required amount for the campaign, the creators embark on a production, packaging, and shipping journey to fulfill their commitments to backers.
The most critical steps in Kickstarter fulfillment services are careful planning, talking with people, and ensuring supporters get what they were promised. Kickstarter Fulfillment shows that the person behind the project is serious about keeping their promises from the campaign and helps keep trust and happiness among Kickstarter supporters.
Part 2. Benefits of Using Kickstarter Fulfillment Services
Using Kickstarter fulfillment services from 3rd party companies can make things much easier for creators when rewarding their supporters. Let’s explore the main advantages.
1. Time Optimization
Instead of wasting their time and energy on the complexity of shipping logistics, creators can utilize their power in their primary abilities and skills that boost their work. They can work on product creation and project management by outsourcing fulfillment to specialists.
2. Cost Efficiency
Many shipment services have established quite good acquaintances with fulfillment services, and this is an excellent perk for them because they can easily negotiate between shipping rates. Your more cost-effective packaging choices will automatically lower delivery costs, which is a better way to save money.
3. Inventory Management
In this busy routine, we mostly forget our essential work, and when it comes to maintaining business inventory, we don’t pay much attention until it is too late. Inventory management is a great feature to take you out of this stress. You don’t need to keep an eye 24/7 on your inventory.
4. Customer Support
A great reason to enhance Kickstarter fulfillment services and boost backer experience is to have excellent customer support. Having support is vital for every business. This is the primary key factor that eliminates most of the hurdles and barriers just by talking.
5. Peace of Mind
Many e-commerce businesses face hurdles at the initial stage, and most often, they even get scammed by unauthorized fulfillment partners just because they are concerned with money. So, going for Kickstarter fulfillment will remove all your doubts and prevent you from being scammed. This mental ease allows a creator to have some room to work on other projects.
6. Flexibility
Every creator deals in different e-commerce category products, and a wise backer knows how they should deal with the different types of products. First and foremost, Kickstarter fulfillment companies offer different sizes of packages, packing, and picking processes. Having such flexibility will automatically make every hurdle go away.
Part 3. Choosing Among Kickstarter Fulfillment Companies
Selecting a suitable company from the Kickstarter fulfillment companies is very important. The success of the project depends upon the company you chose. Here are some essential aspects to consider before making this critical decision.
Tip: To fulfill your Kickstarter campaign, you can rely on 3PL services like NextSmartShip.
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1. Experience and Reputation
Before you get started with any company, look at the fulfillment company’s track record and history of at least two years. Look for well-known suppliers with a good reputation in the crowdfunding community. Don’t forget to read reviews and feedback from old clients. You can also ask for suggestions from the Kickstarter community.
2. Specialization
Consider whether the fulfillment provider specializes in Kickstarter projects or crowdsourcing campaigns. Specialized providers are generally more familiar with crowdfunding fulfillment’s requirements and obstacles.
3. Shipping Expertise
Dig deep and search for the delivery experience of the company, mainly if your campaign includes overseas clients. Examine their knowledge of customs procedures, international shipping, and dependable carrier relationships.
4. Cost Structure
Review the company’s pricing model. Understand their fee structure, including pick and pack fees, storage costs, and shipping rates. Compare these costs with your budget to ensure they align.
5. Technology and Integration
Look for a fulfillment firm that provides technological solutions that interface with crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter. Such connections can help streamline the fulfillment process, including the import of backer information and order tracking.
Part 4. The Process of Kickstarter Fulfillment
Kickstarter fulfillment companies ensure that they globally have fulfillment centers set up so they can first pick products or items from the manufacturing hub. These companies then distribute the goods among their other warehouses near the customer base. So whether customers are based locally or globally, Kickstarter fulfillment locations are paramount and must be as near as possible.
To fulfill these promises, here are some critical steps that must be taken care of.
1. Pre-campaign Planning
When you know the specific dates your product will be ready, you need to have an explicit agreement with your suppliers or 3rd Party Logistic companies regarding bottlenecks, lead times, and what costs will incur. Only then can you forecast how many orders are possible to be shipped.
2. Communication with The Backers
Keep your backers in the loop of the progress of the final product, and once it is finalized, how will it ship, and how long will these goodies take to reach them? Employing survey tools to gather backer perceptions and expectations should be fully understood.
3. Inventory Management and Storage
Allow a 3PL to pick the final product from the manufacturing line and get it to the warehouses, where they are packed according to the delivery channel used. Ensuring the best possible quality packaging is provided is the paramount job of Kickstarter fulfillment.
4. Shipping and Logistics
Proper packing, such as batch or wave packaging, is the bread and butter of a 3PL that can easily handle your Kickstarter fulfillment services for your local and international backers.
Internationally, shipping has more nuances as Kickstarter fulfillment companies need to track, monitor, and even anticipate delays in the final arrival.
Furthermore, custom clearance and tax payment all fall under these fulfillment companies, which you should know and bargain beforehand.
Part 5. Potential Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Finally, getting your product out and into the hands of your backers and customers may be a super rewarding journey. You must always be aware of the potential pitfalls and disasters.
Understanding these issues and taking the help of an experienced Kickstarter fulfillment agent is critical to giving the best service to your customers. At this point, you must choose a reliable and experienced company that can professionally handle these things.
Common Challenges and Mistakes in Kickstarter Fulfillment
Let’s now have a look at the common challenges you might face!
Shipping Delays – There might be delays due to unforeseen issues from production or things getting stuck at customs, which can cause your backers to be disappointed. Always communicate these issues with them and instead have proper documentation and compliance data to avoid these issues.
Overpromising – Start with setting a minimum viable product that your customers are well aware of and only then promise addons. These promises can include additions to the original plan based on time, research, and more funding. When transparent about these limitations and how to overcome them, your backers will understand and accept any delay to get the best product.
Underestimating Costs – Costs can be the biggest bane to the failure of your Kickstarter fulfillment, causing overbudget. Keep realistic production and tiered rewards to keep everything under budget.
Poor Communication – be clear in your progress and give regular updates even if you are pushed back due to an unforeseen issue and need time to resolve. Your trust can be broken if you aren’t correctly communicating such updates with your clients. Keep open communication channels, even mentioning challenges and progress timelines, and above all, keep transparency paramount.
Inventory Management – Never overstock and even understock, as it can disrupt Kickstarter fulfillment. Allow your Kickstarter fulfillment services to take care of these issues and gain benefit from their experience.
Put Your Trust in Kickstarter Fulfillment Companies – Search for and communicate with renowned Kickstarter fulfillment agents who know and understand these nuances, plus know who to work around them. NextSmartShip is one of them! NSS negotiates with customs and logistic companies to get the product in time, pack it, and ship it much faster than if you had done it yourself. Visit their website and learn why they have excelled at their trade.
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Conclusion
In this article, we went through why you need reliable Kickstarter fulfillment services and how they can help mitigate the issues that you may have. When you have significant backing from Kickstarter fulfillment companies such as NextSmartShip, you instead worry about backer communication and finishing your product on time.
