Expand E-commerce Fulfillment in Seattle with Flowspace On-Demand Warehousing
Seattle is what’s known as a global gateway city. Its low-risk market and minimal barrier to entry attracts investment from far and wide. Combined with its transportation friendly location and access to two of the nation's busiest container ports, a warehouse in Seattle is a must for e-retailers in the Pacific Northwest.
Businesses should outsource e-commerce fulfillment in Seattle because its industrial real estate market is the largest in the Pacific Northwest; its consumer market extends to more than four million customers, and its transportation infrastructure enables access to the entire West Coast, Canada, virtually anywhere in the United States, and Mexico. Geographically, economically, and logistically speaking, Seattle is one of the best locations in the country for warehousing and e-commerce fulfillment.
Transportation costs are always lower the closer your inventory is to your customer base. Therefore, it makes sense for retailers to position their warehousing locations as close to their customer base as possible to offset transportation costs. Situated between interstate 90 and highways 5 and 80, Seattle enables retailers with easy access to every major city in the United States and Canada. In fact, most Seattle warehouse locations are no more than 5-7 hours drive from the majority of West Coast markets, including Portland, Vancouver, Olympia, and Tacoma. As the home to more warehousing, fulfillment and 3PL service centers than anywhere in Washington, Seattle is the gateway for more than 582 million tonnes of freight flow entering the United States and home to two of the nation's busiest container ports in Tacoma and Seattle.
The rise of e-commerce made a significant impact on the city’s industrial real estate market, which reported an overall vacancy rate of 4.3% in the first quarter. Real estate investment outlook remains positive, however, thanks to the influence of e-commerce and foreign investment. The Seattle/Kent Valley region experienced record-high rates of job activity, investment, and construction heading into 2019. Research suggests that businesses aren’t just relocating to Seattle to tap into a growing skilled labor market, but are actually relocating because they can no longer afford to stay in business in California. Thanks to California’s historically higher real estate rates, many businesses are moving to Seattle to find cheaper talent and real estate. In fact, the share of commercial real estate in Seattle is only expected to grow as e-commerce retailers snatch up warehouses near interstates and in suburbs, while fulfillment centers inside of the city itself are prized for last-mile connectivity. Additionally, industrial real estate trends show that tenant demand and rental growth are slowly starting to stabilize, indicating that now is the best time to invest in warehouse in Seattle. When searching for warehouses for rent in Seattle, however, it’s important to remember the law of proximity. The law of proximity states; on average, the price for square foot of warehousing space in cities outside a major metro area are more affordable than in areas in the downtown. So, if you’re looking for affordable warehousing space, and you don’t mind a few extra minutes added to your commute, suburban Seattle is a great place to begin your search.
Flowspace operates multiple warehouses for rent in and near Kent, Washington. Kent is approximately 20 miles from Seattle.
Renton is a city in King County, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated 11 miles southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River.
The cost of inventory space and 3PL service in Seattle is greatly dependent on the availability of real estate, fluctuations in the transportation market, and the specific storage and shipping requirements of your inventory. If you’re an e-commerce retailer, these variables can change from year to year or even month to month. Additionally, the majority of warehouses and third-party logistics providers in Seattle only lease inventory space in large sections, priced by the square foot. Unfortunately, many retailers have little need for a sprawling warehouse to store and distribute gross amounts of inventory. Invariably, this leads to a gap in cities like Seattle, wherein warehouses, fulfillment centers, and 3PL services profit by leasing vast amounts of inventory space for several years at a time. Thankfully, on-demand warehousing enables businesses to scale back and avoid paying for excess warehousing and getting bogged down by long-term contracts. In this way, on-demand warehousing services, such as Flowspace, can drastically reduce excess warehousing and distribution costs.
Flowspace operates an extensive list of warehouses available for rent in Seattle with month-to-month storage space, no long-term commitments, a free management system, and a full host of beneficial features. We are the premium on-demand warehousing service in Seattle, enabling E-commerce retailers to respond to demand without exerting the extra cost, time and effort of securing warehousing. With over 10 million square feet of warehouse space located in nearly every corner of the city Flowspace is the end-to-end warehouse storage designed to fit your needs. With Flowspace everything is taken care of, all that is left for you to decide is which one of our spectacular, and affordable Seattle locations you wish to utilize for your business.
