On Friday (February 28, 2019), UPS launched a new platform called eFulfillment, a “streamlined fulfillment and shipping services,” according to the announcement. The service supports purchases and orders from 21 different marketplaces and web stores, including eBay, Wal-Mart, Etsy and Amazon, including Prime. The new platform augments UPS’s suite of custom e-commerce solutions designed to support small businesses. UPS claims the solution enables businesses to more easily handle their orders and inventory across various marketplaces from a single location

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“UPS understands that small businesses want the same high-quality services as large e-commerce companies without the same amount of complexity,” said Kevin Warren, UPS’s chief marketing officer. “We are laser-focused on giving merchants the tools for success by offering:

  • Easy-to-use technology platform
  • Full-service fulfillment capabilities
  • Simplified pricing and billing that many smaller business couldn’t afford to offer or build.

Signing up uses an online, onboarding process — and listing products. UPS, which is currently offering a 60-day trial, handles storing the merchandise, packaging products once a sale is made and shipping from warehouses strategically located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and Bloomington, California.

SmallBusiness.com Explainer | Here’s a Warehouse of Information About the Fulfillment of Your Products

Inventory stored in other locations, such as an existing warehouse, can be added to the platform to ensure dynamic updates as sales occur. Merchants select when the package needs to be delivered. UPS eFulfillment can be used by merchants around the world who want to list on U.S. marketplaces and send to customers in the U.S. and in Canada.

UPS began piloting the program in 2017 as “a way to provide fulfillment and logistics options with access to multiple marketplaces.

UPS eFulfillment includes a technology platform, physical fulfillment services and such features as:

  • The small business can manage sales across multiple marketplaces and customize delivery times
  • Using a single login, sellers can manage sales on 21 marketplaces and web stores, including eBay, Etsy and Amazon Prime
  • The program handles storage, order processing, packaging and shipping
  • 60-day trial

According to the UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper study, shopping on marketplaces is almost universal. More than 96% percent of U.S. online shoppers report making a purchase at a marketplace. With this in mind, smart sellers try to sell on as many marketplaces as possible to access the widest swath of potential customers.

Photo | UPS

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