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The "Never Lose Your Stuff" Test

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TL;DR
Inventory accuracy isn’t a given — it’s the #1 reason brands switch 3PLs. The most reliable signal of a 3PL’s inventory integrity is their order fill-rate. Not having reliable inventory numbers can be just as ruinous for your brand as not knowing how much cash you have. If you’re like most DTC brands, you have more cash sitting in inventory than in your bank account. If a 3PL can’t show you the data, they’re not protecting your inventory — or your cash. This post explains how to evaluate that KPI, run site visit audits, and verify claims with other brands.

By Nish George · CEO, Fetch Fulfillment · Published April 2025

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The Single Metric That Tells You Everything: Order Fill-Rate

So how can you tell ahead of time whether a 3PL will lose your stuff? There’s one metric that captures this perfectly: order fill-rate.

Order fill-rate = the percentage of order-lines a 3PL successfully ships from claimed in-stock items.

Industry Benchmark: 99.5% (1 error in every 200 lines)
Fetch Fulfillment: 99.95% (1 error in every 2,000 lines)

Of course, you should ask to see daily values of this KPI over the last 3–6 months, so you can test whether someone’s claim of “100%” is actually accurate.

Always ask to see daily fill-rate data over 3–6 months. If a 3PL claims “100%,” test it.

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Two Additional Tests to Validate Inventory Accuracy

What if a 3PL can’t tell you their fill-rate, but they still insist their inventory counts are dead-on? Or maybe you just want another point of validation? Here are two more tests you can run:

1. Visit the 3PL In-Person and Evaluate Inventory Controls

Speak to the inbound manager and ask:

• Are inbound shipments received against your POs?
• Are they blindly trusting PO counts — or doing real checks?
• Do they open at least one case per inbound?
• Do they report damages or discrepancies?
• Is the process recorded on video?
• Is every inventory movement timestamped and logged?

🚩 Red flags:

• No PO matching
• No damage checks
• No discrepancy reporting
• No video
• No system logs

2. Talk to Other Clients

Ask:

“How often do you cancel or refund orders due to incorrect inventory?”

That’s just another way of asking about order fill-rate. If it's a regular occurrence, thank them for helping you dodge a bullet — and go find a better 3PL.

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Final Takeaway: Inventory Accuracy = Financial Clarity

If your inventory isn’t accurate, your numbers aren’t either. And if a 3PL can’t prove their process works:

• With consistent fill-rate data
• With physical inbound controls
• With real customer feedback

...then they’re not a real partner.

You’re trusting them with your inventory — and in most cases, that means you’re trusting them with more money than you have in the bank.

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Related Reads

• How to interview your next 3PL: Introduction
• How to interview your next 3PL, part 1 of 6: The Done It Before Test
• How to interview your next 3PL, part 3 of 6: the "Trust With Your Money" Test

Want a 3PL With Verified Inventory Accuracy?

Fetch Fulfillment delivers 99.95% fill-rate accuracy with full transparency and timestamped tracking.

Get confidence in your counts. Book a call today.

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About Fetch Fulfillment

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.