How Do You Switch 3PLs as Your Ecommerce Brand Grows?
Key Takeaways
Switching 3PLs takes a plan for inventory, order routing and the people responsible for each handoff. Manifest works with growing ecommerce brands considering a new fulfillment partner, with account managers based inside the warehouse. Before moving stock, agree on receiving requirements, test the order flow and decide how both warehouses will handle open orders.
Which fulfillment companies help ecommerce brands switch from another 3PL?
At Manifest, we support growing ecommerce brands with DTC and retail fulfillment from our warehouse in San Marcos, Texas. Your account manager works inside our warehouse, alongside the team handling your products.
When something needs attention, they can walk over, look at the order and work through it with the people doing the work. You have someone who knows your account and can see what’s happening on the floor.
Ask how the provider's operation will address the reason you are leaving. If communication is the problem, meet the person you would contact when an order needs attention. If you're expanding into retail, walk through the work your retailer requires.
At Manifest, we offer custom operating procedures, merchant-supplied packaging and kitting. Ask how each one would work for your products when evaluating our ecommerce and retail fulfillment. Confirm the scope and get the requirements documented before launch.
How do you know you have outgrown your current 3PL?
Consider a change when recurring fulfillment problems prevent your brand from serving customers or supporting its next stage of growth.
Start with the problems you can document:
- Orders: Repeated picking errors, missed dispatch commitments or unresolved tracking issues.
- Inventory: Stock differences that remain unexplained or receiving delays that leave products unavailable to sell.
- Support: Unclear ownership when your team needs a warehouse decision.
- Growth: Packaging, order volume or retail requirements the current operation cannot support.
Give your current provider the chance to explain the cause and propose a correction. Compare that plan with what a replacement can demonstrate. Moving inventory is a big project, so be clear about what should improve after the move.
What should you confirm before switching 3PLs?
Confirm the exit arrangements, receiving requirements and responsibility for open orders before you commit to a transfer date.
Use this sequence with your team and both providers:
- Review the current agreement. Check notice requirements, outstanding charges and the process for releasing inventory.
- Confirm the destination is ready. Get the receiving instructions, appointment requirements and product-data requirements from the new warehouse.
- Assign each handoff. Name who approves the stock list, prepares the shipment, books transport and resolves discrepancies.
- Agree on order ownership. Record which warehouse handles existing orders and when new orders begin going to the replacement.
- Set the launch conditions. Decide what must be received, reconciled and tested before the routing change.
Ask for these decisions in writing. A date alone does not tell your team whether the products and systems will be ready.
How do you prepare inventory for a move between warehouses?
Prepare a stock record that both warehouses can use, then confirm how the inventory will be packed, identified and checked on arrival.
Include SKU names, quantities and the locations of stock that is reserved, damaged or waiting for a decision. Agree on how to record differences between what leaves the old warehouse and what the new warehouse receives.
Product identification matters during that handoff. According to GS1 US barcoding guidance, a GTIN identifies a product and can be encoded in a scannable barcode. Confirm which identifiers the receiving warehouse needs and make sure the product records match the physical labels.
Manifest's inbound requirements include advance digital purchase orders, product barcodes and compliant shipment preparation. Ask our team for the current instructions before releasing stock from your existing warehouse. Receiving issues can change the handling and timing.
What should you check before moving pallets?
For palletized transfers, check the carrier's packaging instructions as well as the warehouse's receiving rules. FedEx freight packaging guidance explains how banding secures a load to a pallet. Confirm who is responsible for preparing the load and checking it before collection.
How do you keep orders moving while you switch 3PLs?
Assign each order to a warehouse with available stock, and test that assignment before changing your live order flow.
For Shopify brands, Shopify inventory location guidance explains that stock is tracked separately by location. Order fulfillment depends on routing and shipping-profile settings. Adding a warehouse location means checking both inventory and routing.
Before the switch, work through a small set of test scenarios:
- A standard order: Confirm the correct warehouse receives it and the correct items are allocated.
- A bundle or special packout: Check the component products, packaging and instructions.
- An order change: Confirm who handles an edit or cancellation once fulfillment has started.
- A shipment: Check that tracking and fulfillment status return to your store as expected.
Keep a record of unresolved orders at the old provider. Decide who will finish them, who can cancel them and who tells the customer about a delay. Get written approval before changing routing, once the agreed checks are complete.
What should you check after the new 3PL starts shipping?
Review the first live orders against the product, packing, shipping and inventory requirements you agreed before launch.
Look at individual orders as well as the overall dashboard. Confirm that stock decreases at the correct location, tracking reaches the store and packing instructions are followed. Record exceptions with an owner and a next action.
At Manifest, your account manager works inside the fulfillment operation. Ask how they will review launch issues with you and what information they need to investigate an order.
Return to the reasons you switched. If the problem was unexplained inventory differences, agree on how those differences will be investigated. If it was poor communication, confirm who responds and how unresolved issues move forward.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to switch 3PL providers?
The schedule depends on inventory release, freight, receiving and system readiness. Ask both providers for their part of the timeline and the conditions that could change it. Connecting your store does not mean the warehouse is ready to ship your orders.
How much does it cost to switch 3PLs?
Ask for a separate transition budget covering stock preparation, transport, receiving, setup and any overlap between providers. Confirm which charges apply to your operation. Use our guide to comparing 3PL fulfillment quotes to review the ongoing costs alongside that one-time budget.
What happens to returns during a 3PL switch?
Agree on a return-address change and a plan for packages that still reach the old warehouse. Confirm who receives, grades, forwards or disposes of those items, and how fees and stock updates will be handled. Check return labels and customer instructions as part of the change.
Can a Shopify brand use two fulfillment locations during a switch?
Shopify supports stocking products at multiple locations and fulfillment apps, with inventory tracked separately for each location. If you use both warehouses during a transition, check routing and available quantities carefully. Decide which orders each warehouse is responsible for before enabling that arrangement.
Talk through your next fulfillment move
If your current 3PL is limiting growth, tell us what needs to change. Bring your order mix, inventory details and the service problems you want to solve. We'll work through fit, fulfillment requirements and the questions to resolve before a move.
