Choosing a fulfillment company means selecting a partner who will touch every order you ship — and that decision affects your picking accuracy, packaging quality, shipping speed, and ultimately your customer experience.
Every 3PL will tell you they are accurate, fast, and easy to work with. The question is not what they say — it is what they can demonstrate. Here are the questions that distinguish operations from marketing claims.
Order accuracy is the most important operational metric in fulfillment. A fulfillment operation running at 99% accuracy ships one wrong order per 100. At 10,000 orders per month, that is 100 customer-facing errors. At 99.8%, it is 20. The difference matters enormously at scale.
Ask for their documented accuracy rate, how they calculate it (shipped-vs-ordered is the right method, not just “customer complaints”), and what their error correction process looks like when mistakes occur. A 3PL that cannot answer these questions specifically does not have a real accuracy management program.
Your fulfillment operation needs to receive orders from wherever your customers buy. If you sell on Shopify, the 3PL needs a Shopify integration. If you use a CRM to trigger kit orders, you need that integration. If your wholesale accounts send EDI purchase orders, EDI capability is non-negotiable.
Ask for a specific list of integrations they support, whether they charge per-integration or have a flat platform fee, and how they handle custom integrations for non-standard systems. The answer reveals both their technical capability and how they think about client flexibility.
Same-day shipping is a common claim. What it means operationally varies significantly. Ask: what is the cut-off time for same-day processing? What percentage of orders placed before that cut-off actually ship same day? What happens to orders that miss the cut-off?
Request a 30-day shipping performance report, not just a stated policy. A 3PL confident in their performance will provide one without friction. One that deflects is telling you something.
3PL pricing has many components: receiving, storage, pick-and-pack, materials, shipping, and account minimums. The per-pick fee is what most clients focus on, but the total cost per order shipped is the number that matters.
Ask for a full rate card, not just the headline per-pick number. Model your actual cost using your realistic order volume, average items per order, SKU count, and storage footprint. A legitimate 3PL will work through that model with you. One that refuses or gives only a “starting at” number is not ready to be a partner.
Returns processing is operationally complex and often underpriced in initial 3PL quotes. Ask specifically: what is the per-return fee? What is the inspection process for returned goods? How are returned items classified (restockable, damaged, unsellable)? What is the typical turnaround from return receipt to inventory reinstatement?
The quality of your day-to-day experience with a 3PL depends almost entirely on the quality of your account rep. Ask directly: who is my dedicated contact? What is their typical response time? What happens to my account if that person leaves? A 3PL that assigns named, dedicated reps and has documented account transition processes takes client relationships seriously. A 3PL that routes everything through a shared inbox does not.
If you are choosing a fulfillment company, J.M. Field has been operating out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida since 1991. We are happy to answer every question on this list — and show you the numbers. Get in touch to learn more about our capabilities and why we should be your fulfillment partner.
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