Third party logistics provider (3PL) Rakuten Super Logistics (RSL) said Thursday it now supports Amazon.com Inc.'s "seller fulfilled prime" program, in a move that offers Rakuten's retailer clients access to Amazon Prime's 100 million members in the U.S., the company said.
RSL, which is a division of San Mateo, California-based Rakuten Americas, acts as an order fulfillment arm both for its corporate parent, the giant Japanese e-commerce marketplace Rakuten.com,and for other e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Magento, Walmart Marketplace, and eBay.
The company now says its network of 14 U.S. facilities supports delivery to over 98% of the U.S. population within one to two-day ground service. According to RSL, that fulfillment speed qualifies it to handle products for Amazon, which began its Seller Fulfilled Prime program in 2015 with criteria for merchants that include: free shipping with 2-day time-in-transit, 98.5% on-time shipping, and order cancellation rates at or below 0.5%.
"Our ability to help [our clients] with seller fulfilled prime ensures their customers get their packages faster and cheaper" in an era when customers are expecting their packages faster and faster, RSL CEO Mike Manzione said in a release.
"Providing our clients with Seller Fulfilled Prime capabilities sets RSL apart from the competitors in our space," Manzione said. "By extending this service, we empower our clients to succeed in the marketplace. We are here to support our clients in the increasingly demanding landscape and continually evolve so that we all succeed."
The move is RSL's latest expansion since its acquisition in March of FirstMile and IFS360, a pair of Salt Lake City-based sister firms that provide e-commerce solutions including warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping.
