Fashion, health and beauty account for the majority of the UK's eCommerce market, so it's no surprise that these sectors are well-represented in fulfilmentcrowd's customer base. However, they are by no means alone.

fulfilmentcrowd provides fulfillment services for an array of companies shipping everything from books, media, toys and giftware to homewares, soft furnishings, electronics, beverages and chilled foods. Put simply, if a product comes in a box or will fit in a box (or a bag), we can handle, store and ship it from any of our fulfillment centers. 

The fulfilmentcrowd platform supports all major channels and marketplaces, including popular ones like:

• Shopify
• Amazon
• eBay
• Magento
• BigCommerce
• WooCommerce

To name but a few....

Integration is 'plug and play' which means that you can easily link your website with the fulfilmentcrowd app and start selling in minutes. On average, it takes 8 days to complete the onboarding program and start shipping from our fulfillment centers. 

If you want to create your own integrations with any third party software, the fulfilmentcrowd platform has an open API and webhook support. 

• ('SFPWe build custom fulfillment services around the needs of our customers. Examples of our most recent work include:
  • SOIL Association accreditation of our fulfillment centers for the handling of organic food and drink.
  • Fully-licensed fulfillment centers for the storage and shipping of alcohol.
  • Chilled storage and cold chain distribution of food.
  • Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime
  ')
• Amazon Vendor Central integration and timed delivery into their fulfillment centers.
• Batch number and expiry tracking for date-sensitive goods.  

At fulfilmentcrowd, when we need more space, we don't just go out and build bigger fulfillment centers. This would be costly and have a negative impact on the environment, swallowing up green space, not to mention the energy consumed by construction.

We believe that there are literally hundreds of millions of square feet of underutilized space in existing fulfillment centers around the world and we seek to fill this space, making the very best of what is already there.

We have trusted partners around the world who offer under-utilized space and resources. Often these partners are retailers in their own right with decades of experience in the management of fulfillment centers and shipping of orders. 

We fulfill and ship thousands of orders every day in the UK alone. What may seem like huge volumes to most online retailers is just another day at the office for fulfilmentcrowd.

We've been developing software to manage the collection, processing and shipping of orders for nearly 40 years and trusted to manage fulfillment services for some of the world's best-known online retail brands. Literally hundreds of e-commerce businesses have trusted us to deliver for their customers. You can too. 

The United Kingdom is a small, well-connected island with a population of 67m and the third largest ecommerce market in the world. Online sales in 2021 amounted to US$118bn driven by advanced infrastructure, web technologies and innovation.

eCommerce accounts for 27% of total retail sales (8% of GDP) and the traditional ‘high street’ retailers are adapting to an ‘omnichannel’ business model, offering a consistent customer experience in store and online.

Shopify is the most popular ecommerce platform in the UK, but it is being challenged by emerging players such as Visualsoft, Squarespace and BigCommerce.

With an increase of 14.6%, the UK eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 29% in 2021. Whilst post-pandemic conditions will dampen growth in the short-term, online sales are forecast to continue rising at 5% year-on-year and even the most parochial of businesses are moving online to reach new and existing customers.

With high levels of digitization, UK market conditions are equally well-suited to business-to-business ecommerce. Over 70% of transactions between British business are now made online with purchases ranging from inexpensive office stationery to high-value and specialist industrial products.

The UK is often referred to as ‘Treasure Island’ for online retailers and, due to favorable regulations, it is often the first market earmarked for international expansion. It is easy and cost-effective to setup a fulfillment center in the UK. The British like to shop and are equally comfortable seeking a bargain or spending big on premium products. The average website conversion rate is 1.8%, annual online spend is €3,450 and 27% of sales are cross-border with goods being dispatched from retailers in the EU or Rest of World.

High levels of smartphone usage is driving the rapid expansion of Mobile Commerce, which accounted for almost 50% of total online sales last year. British consumers have endorsed the ease of frictionless payment, installments and fast checkout, so websites that are built for mobile with payment options including Apple Pay, Google Pay and Klarna are performing better than their desktop-first competitors.

Amazon is the clear leader with US$17bn of revenue in 2021. Retail powerhouses Tesco, Sainsbury and Currys follow. However, with low barriers to entry and a mature ecosystem, the majority of sales are conducted through smaller operators who often occupy very niche positions within the market.
Fashion is the largest sector with 31% of revenue and that probably accounts for British consumers reputation for being ‘serial returners’ – over $US10bn of items were sent back last year. Free returns and the associated experience drives customer loyalty and purchase decisions, so online retailers are advised to invest in this area.

The UK has a competitive and largely effective carrier network with market-leader Royal Mail taking 36% market share. However, their historical dominance is being challenged by Evri (Hermes) and DPD who are investing heavily in infrastructure and technology to offer an enhanced customer experience. Post Brexit, it has become increasingly difficult for non-UK online retailers to cost-effectively deliver goods to their UK customers so locating goods within the country using a local fulfillment centre is becoming popular.

Unlike many European markets, the British expect their goods to be delivered next day, directly to their home. Pick up (‘PUDO’) or lockerbox deliveries are being pushed by the carriers as a means of driving down costs as ecommerce demand rises, but there has been limited success in changing consumer behaviours.