Choosing a 3PL for B2B orders

Gather the requirements of the businesses you supply. Alongside products and quantities, include packaging, labels, delivery instructions and any documents the customer expects.

Separate instructions used for every order from those specific to one customer. Ask each provider to check both. Offering B2B fulfilment does not mean a warehouse can meet every retailer’s requirements.

For each customer, record:

• Typical order sizes and the mix of products in each shipment.
• Customer-specific packing or labelling instructions.
• Delivery arrangements, required paperwork and points of contact.

For an illustrative trade order, the product list might contain four SKUs (product lines), while the receiving customer requires each SKU in its own carton. An ecommerce packing brief would not explain that requirement. Describe the physical shipment and the customer’s instructions together.

Use an actual order from your operation, removing personal details that are not needed for the assessment. Include the following so providers can explain how they would prepare it and what they would charge:

• Product codes, quantities and units per carton, with any mixed-carton restrictions.
• The required carton and pallet labels, supported by an example or the customer’s current specification.
• Delivery reference, booking responsibility and receiving or unloading instructions.
• The packing list or other documents that must accompany the shipment.
• A contact who can decide what happens if stock, labels or instructions do not match.

Give each provider the same order examples and stock profile. Ask what the quotation includes for receiving, storage, order preparation and dispatch, and how additional handling would be agreed.

Compare a typical month’s work, including different order sizes, customer-specific preparation, returns and unusual shipments. A low pick charge tells you little if essential preparation is priced separately.

Establish how you will check stock and order progress, who answers operational questions and how order changes are communicated. If trade and online orders draw from the same stock, explain how you currently manage that stock and ask how the proposed setup would work.

Decide which questions your provider can resolve and which need your approval. Include packing exceptions, order changes and instructions from new trade customers.

A correctly picked order can still be refused if its labels, delivery reference or booking do not match the receiving customer’s requirements. Ask who checks those details and who deals with the customer when an exception occurs.

Work through a refused delivery before it happens. Who decides whether the goods should return to the warehouse? Who approves relabelling or repacking, arranges another delivery and agrees any additional cost? Record the contacts and the information each needs.

Before moving stock, agree the product information, stock records and customer instructions that need to be transferred. Decide how incoming quantities will be checked and which orders each operation will handle during the change.

Warehouse Box prepares and dispatches B2B orders from bases in the UK, Poland and New York. EU orders can ship from inside the EU with no customs border to cross, and customers in the UK and Poland deal directly with the warehouse team. Send us an example order and the customer’s packing, labelling and delivery instructions so we can assess the work.