by Nish George, CEO
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When interviewing 3PLs, you first need to check if they’ve handled your kind of brand before. What does NOT matter is your vertical (i.e. health & beauty, or supplements). That part is much less important than many brands initially think.
So, how do you know what kind of brand you are? Here's what actually matters for 3PL fit (and how 3PLs will evaluate you as a potential customer):
1. Your order volume: 100, 1k, 10k+ per month? (more is better)
2. Your storage volume: 1 pallet? 10 pallets? 100 pallets? (less is better)
3. Your # of SKUs: 1, 10, 100, 1k+ unique SKUs? (less is better)
4. Your sales cycle: evergreen or drop-based / seasonal? (evergreen is better)
5. Your sales channels: DTC? Marketplaces? Retailers? B2B? (none are strictly better; most 3PLs specialize in 1-2 of these)
6. Your special-handling needs: Sprays? Batteries? Temp sensitivity? (no special needs is better)
7. Your SKU size: 1-handed, 2-handed, or bigger? (smaller/lighter is better)
After you have this self-knowledge, you then want to ensure your target 3PL has served multiple brands with your profile before.
Examples: let’s say you’re a brand with 100 orders per month, 10 pallets of inventory, seasonal sales, 20% DTC + 80% Retailer sales, no special-handling needs, and 100 unique “2-handed” SKUs (10-20 lbs per unit). That’s enough info for me to say Fetch Fulfillment is not a good fit, as we’re tightly focused on DTC and Marketplace fulfillment, and there wouldn’t be enough order-volume to justify investing in retailer compliance capabilities. That brand would be best served by finding a 3PL who already ships to each required retailer and can handle seasonal fulfillment. Whereas a brand with 1k+ orders per month, 10 pallets of inventory, 80% drop-based + 20% evergreen sales, DTC and Marketplace channels, with some special handling, and 150 unique 1-handed size SKUs (0-5 lbs) would be a great fit for Fetch Fulfillment, as we serve several brands with each of those attributes already.
What if you like a 3PL, but they only do 70% of what you need today? Maybe you’d require a new retailer with a specific tech integration, or you’re drop-based and they’re used to evergreen SKUs, or your 1 brand would bring more order volume than they currently ship in total. Should you take a bet? In most cases, no. You’re going to get the best results if everyone stays within their circle of competence.
You’re going to get the best results if everyone stays within their circle of competence.
If the 3PL says they can figure anything out, then it’s an even stronger NO, as an operationally-unfocused 3PL is a major red flag. (This is counter-intuitive to those of us who value a can-do attitude!)
An operationally-unfocused 3PL is a major red flag.
The only exception here is if (1) a 3PL is intentionally building your desired capability based on who they want to become, AND (2) they’re seeking to serve multiple brands (not just you) with those specific needs, AND (3) they have a track record of successfully and systematically deploying new capabilities.
Keep reading for Part 2: the "Won't Lose Your Stuff" Test
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Fetch Fulfillment is a New Jersey-based 3PL for brand owners who want direct-to-consumer fulfillment to be the least stressful part of their business. Most 3PLs are good at one thing, like shipping on-time, or having modern tech, or picking up the phone. What makes Fetch unique is that it's stellar at all 3: it provides high-end boutique-grade customer service -- as seen in its glowing reviews and +92 net promoter score -- combined with its real-time cutting-edge tech and well-managed operation, with 99.2% same-day shipping and 99.95% order fill-rate. The Fetch team lives by its motto: they are Your Brand's Best Friend.
