eCommerce Fulfilment

The five-stage fulfilment process

From the moment your stock arrives at one of our fulfilment centres to the moment an order lands with your customer, every order passes through the same five-stage process. Each stage runs inside ControlPort™ in real time, so you can see exactly where any order sits at any point, from first scan at goods-in to the final carrier confirmation at the door.

The five stages are goods-in, storage, picking, packing, and despatch. Returns feed back through the same operation as a sixth flow, and the technology layer sits across the whole process rather than sitting at any single stage. What follows is a closer look at what happens at each point, and why each one matters to the quality of the operation overall.

A closer look at each stage

1. Goods-in
   Your stock arrives at the fulfilment centre, usually from your manufacturer, a freight forwarder, or directly from a previous fulfilment provider. Each delivery is checked against the advance shipping notice, inspected for damage, and counted. Items are weighed, measured, and photographed, and then booked into ControlPort™ as live inventory. The entire process typically takes under 24 hours from arrival to availability for orders.
2. Storage
   Inventory is placed into pick locations based on a combination of sales velocity, product size, handling needs, and stock rotation rules. Fast-moving SKUs sit close to the packing area to minimise walk time; slower movers are stored deeper in the warehouse. Batch-coded or expiry-dated stock is arranged to support FIFO picking, so the oldest stock always leaves the warehouse first.
3. Picking
   When an order lands from your store, marketplace, or ERP, ControlPort™ routes it to the warehouse floor. Pickers follow a system-directed route, scanning each item’s barcode to confirm the right SKU has been collected. Multi-item orders are consolidated and passed through to the packing area in sequence, with picking paths continually optimised as new orders come in.
4. Packing
   Items are packed using the packaging you’ve specified. That might be your own branded boxes and inserts, a co-branded mailer, or a standard carrier bag. Each order is quality-checked, sealed, and labelled with the carrier and service level selected by ControlPort™ at the despatch stage.
5. Despatch
   Packed orders are handed to the chosen carrier for collection. 98% of orders placed before the daily cut-off leave the same day, which means a Friday order is with the carrier on Friday, not Monday. Tracking scans flow back into ControlPort™ and downstream to your store, your customer service team, and your customer’s inbox.

How returns fit in

Returns run through the same system as outbound orders, but in reverse. When a customer sends an item back, it arrives at the returns area, is checked on arrival, and then processed according to your rules. That means refunded or exchanged, restocked or sent to disposal, and reflected in your live inventory.

Where integrations and the OMS come in

When a customer places an order on your storefront, it doesn’t arrive at the warehouse by email. Orders flow automatically from Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, eBay, WooCommerce, Magento, and other platforms via ControlPort™. Our custom API handles anything outside that list, so ERP systems, custom storefronts, or bespoke marketplaces can all plug into the operation without developer work on your side.

The three main fulfilment models

Brands usually choose between three common fulfilment models, each with its own trade-offs at different stages of growth. The right choice depends on where you are in your journey, the products you sell, the margins you operate on, and how much operational complexity you’re willing to carry. Some brands switch models multiple times as they scale. Others combine several at once to cover different channels or regions.

The three models are in-house fulfilment, marketplace fulfilment, and third-party logistics (3PL). What follows is a closer look at each, including who it tends to suit and where the trade-offs sit.

In-house fulfilment

You handle storage, picking, packing, and shipping yourself, usually from your own warehouse, unit, or even your kitchen table in the early days. Every stage of the operation sits with your team, and every cost line (space, staff, packaging, carriers, software) sits on your books.

Best for: very small businesses, brands with complex or highly hands-on fulfilment needs, and operators who want direct oversight of every order. Works well when volumes are low enough that one or two people can handle the operation alongside other work.

Trade-offs: ties up capital, space, and time as volumes grow. Peak seasons become hard to manage without temporary hiring. International expansion is almost impossible without setting up new infrastructure. The hidden cost is the senior time diverted into fulfilment operations rather than growing the business.

Marketplace fulfilment

A marketplace like Amazon (via FBA), eBay, or TikTok Shop stores your stock and fulfils orders placed on their platform. The marketplace handles the physical operation; you handle everything commercial.

Best for: Amazon-first brands, brands running flash sales or promotional bursts on a single marketplace, and brands selling Prime-eligible products where Prime membership is the key commercial driver.

Trade-offs: expensive for multi-channel sellers, as you end up paying each platform separately for fulfilment of the same inventory. Restrictive on branding and packaging, since most marketplaces have strict rules on what can appear on the outside of a parcel. Long-term storage fees escalate quickly on slower-moving stock, and getting inventory out of a marketplace warehouse is often harder than getting it in.

Third-party logistics (3PL)

You outsource the end-to-end operation to a specialist provider. The 3PL handles warehousing, picking, packing, shipping, returns, and the technology that unifies them all. Your team keeps control of commercial decisions, product, marketing, and customer experience, while the operational burden shifts to the provider.

Best for: scaling brands, multi-channel operations, international growth, and any business that has outgrown in-house fulfilment. Particularly valuable for brands that want professional-grade fulfilment quality without the cost of building it themselves.

Trade-offs: requires choosing the right partner, and the quality of the relationship depends on the partner’s technology, transparency, and operational discipline. Done well, it’s the most scalable option available. Done badly, it’s a slow problem to unwind, which is why provider selection matters as much as the decision to outsource.

Hybrid models are increasingly common

As brands scale, many end up combining models rather than choosing one. That might mean keeping a small in-house operation for flagship products or limited-edition drops, using a 3PL for international volume and peak overflow, dropshipping certain SKUs through a fulfilment partner, and running FBA for Amazon-specific inventory. Each channel or region ends up served by whichever model is most efficient for it, rather than one model being forced to fit everything.

The key to making hybrid work is a unified system that gives you one view of inventory and orders across every operation. Without that, you end up managing multiple disconnected systems and losing the efficiency that hybrid was supposed to deliver. ControlPort™ is designed to sit across in-house and outsourced fulfilment, so orders route automatically to the right location and stock levels stay accurate in real time across all of them.

When brands typically change model

The trigger point is different for every brand, but the common signals are consistent across most scale-ups we work with:

Running out of warehouse space. Your existing location is maxed out, stock is spilling into the office or a storage unit, and moving premises would be expensive and disruptive.

Peak becoming unmanageable. Hiring temporary staff, working weekends, and racing to keep up during Q4 or promotional spikes, often at the expense of service standards the rest of the year.

Fulfilment errors affecting reviews. Wrong items, late shipments, or broken returns processes starting to show up in reviews, CSAT scores, and repeat purchase rates.

Ops work crowding out growth work. Founders and senior staff spending more time on fulfilment logistics than on product, marketing, partnerships, or the strategic decisions that move the business forward.

Planning international expansion. You need local fulfilment infrastructure in markets you don’t currently have any presence in, and building it yourself isn’t realistic in the timeframe you’re working to.

How J&J fits across these models

J&J supports growing brands across the full eCommerce fulfilment landscape, not just one model. Whatever stage you’re at, and however your operation is structured, there’s a service that fits.

eCommerce Fulfilment. Full-service end-to-end fulfilment for scaling DTC brands. Our flagship offering, built around receiving, storing, picking, packing, shipping, and returning orders on your behalf.

3PL. Outsourced supply chain and logistics for established operations. Broader in scope than eCommerce fulfilment alone, with freight management, value-add services, and B2B support built in.

Marketplace Fulfilment. Simplified fulfilment solutions for brands selling on Amazon, TikTok Shop, eBay, and other major marketplaces, without the lock-in and cost structures of platform-run alternatives.

Because we operate across all of these, the right model can change over time without having to change partner. Brands often start with one service and expand into others as they grow.

The four core pricing components

Nearly every eCommerce fulfilment quote is built from the same four cost components. The way a provider structures these components, and the way those structures interact, says a lot about how transparent they are and how your costs will behave as you scale. If a provider won’t break the four out, or quotes everything as a single blended per-order fee, that’s worth paying attention to. Pricing transparency at the quote stage is usually a reliable signal of how the relationship will feel once you’re live.

The four components are storage, pick and pack, packaging, and shipping. Each is typically variable, meaning your total cost scales with activity rather than sitting as a fixed monthly fee. On top of these four, most providers charge separately for value-add services such as kitting, custom packaging, or B2B prep, and may also charge a range of secondary fees that aren’t always obvious in the headline quote.

Storage

Charged per pallet, shelf, or bin location used. Cost scales with your catalogue rather than being locked to a fixed warehouse footprint, so you pay only for the space your stock actually takes up in a given month. For brands with significant seasonal variation, this matters more than it looks. Bringing in extra inventory for Peak only costs you while it’s on the shelves, rather than requiring a year-round commitment to a larger warehouse.

Storage pricing usually separates by location type. Pallets are the cheapest per unit of stock but only economic for high-volume, low-complexity SKUs. Shelves and bins cost more per cubic metre but suit smaller items, lower-volume SKUs, and anything that needs individual picking rather than case picking.

Pick and pack

A per-order fee covering item collection, packing, and despatch preparation. Most providers charge a base rate for the first item in the order and a smaller additional fee for each subsequent item. A two-item order will usually cost less than twice a one-item order, because the majority of the work sits in opening the order, packing the box, and preparing the label, rather than picking the individual items.

Pick and pack is where most of the real per-order cost sits for most brands. It’s worth understanding exactly what’s included in the headline rate, as some providers bundle elements like basic packaging, quality checks, and carrier label printing into the pick and pack fee, while others charge each of those separately.

Packaging

The cost of the box, mailer, void fill, labels, and any branded packaging or inserts you specify. This varies more than any other component because it depends entirely on what you’re shipping and how you want it to arrive. A generic carrier bag costs pennies. A branded box with custom printing, tissue paper, and a thank-you card costs significantly more and takes longer to pack.

Packaging is where a lot of brands either over-invest (expensive unboxing that doesn’t move the needle on repeat purchase) or under-invest (cheap packaging that damages the brand experience). A good fulfilment partner will talk through packaging decisions honestly, including the cost implications of your choices on shipping rates (box size affects dimensional weight) and on pack times.

Shipping

The carrier charge, based on weight, dimensions, destination, and service level. Usually rate-shopped across multiple carriers on every single order, so each parcel travels the most efficient route for its specific profile. This matters because no single carrier is cheapest across every shipment type. Royal Mail is often best for small lightweight parcels, DPD for time-sensitive next-day, Evri for cost-efficient tracked delivery, and so on.

Shipping pricing should always be broken out in your quote rather than bundled into a single per-order figure. If a provider won’t tell you what each carrier costs and why one has been chosen, you have no way to evaluate whether you’re getting fair rates or to model how costs will change as your destination mix evolves.

What drives the price up or down

No two brands have the same fulfilment cost profile, even at the same order volume. Six variables have the biggest effect on what you’ll actually pay.

Order volume. Higher monthly volume typically attracts more favourable per-order rates, particularly on pick and pack. It also gives you better leverage on carrier rates via negotiated contracts. This is why providers quote differently at 1,000 and 10,000 orders per month, and why it’s worth modelling both your current volume and your 12-month forecast when comparing quotes.

SKU count. More SKUs means more storage complexity, more pick paths to optimise, and more inventory to manage. Brands with a tight SKU range (50 products) generally see lower effective pick rates than brands with a wide range (5,000 products), because the operational model is simpler and stock can be positioned more efficiently.

Product size and weight. Larger or heavier products cost more to store, pack, and ship. Dimensional weight rules also mean a physically large but light product can cost more to ship than a small, heavy one, because carriers price on the space the parcel occupies on the vehicle, not just its weight.

Destinations. International orders carry higher shipping costs, potential customs and duty charges, and additional documentation. Fulfilling from inside the destination region (e.g. running EU orders from an EU fulfilment centre) usually works out cheaper at scale than shipping cross-border from a single location. Your destination mix has a bigger effect on total cost than most brands assume.

Service speed. Next-day delivery costs more than 48-hour, which costs more than economy. If you’re offering multiple delivery options at checkout, the mix your customers actually choose has a real effect on your blended cost. Offering free next-day is significantly more expensive than offering free economy with paid next-day as an upgrade.

Value-add requirements. Kitting, custom packaging, personalisation, inserts, gift wrapping, and B2B prep all add to the per-order cost. Worth pricing these separately at the quote stage rather than bundling them in, as it gives you a clearer view of where the cost is coming from and lets you make informed trade-offs on each one.

Hidden or variable costs worth asking about

Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Before signing a contract with any provider, ask specifically about the costs below. If they don’t come up in the initial quote, they’ll almost certainly come up on the invoice.

Receiving fees. Some providers charge per pallet, carton, or SKU received, on top of storage. Volume-heavy inbound operations can rack up significant cost here if you’re regularly receiving large deliveries from your supplier.

Minimum monthly charges. A floor under your monthly bill, regardless of actual activity. Matters especially in quieter months or when testing new markets where volumes are initially low. Worth understanding whether the minimum applies per service (storage + pick and pack separately) or as a single combined floor.

Integration setup fees. One-off costs for connecting your eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, or ERP systems. Should be transparent in the initial quote, not surprise billing after go-live. Standard integrations (Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce) shouldn’t attract significant setup fees; custom work might.

Peak surcharges. Additional per-order fees during Q4, Black Friday week, or other high-volume periods. Ask exactly when they apply, how they’re calculated, and how much they typically add to a standard monthly bill. Peak surcharges are legitimate but should be predictable.

Returns processing fees. Per-return charges that add up quickly on categories with high return rates. Apparel, footwear, and sized products are the most affected. If your category runs at 20%+ returns, model the returns cost carefully, as it can rival the outbound cost.

Storage overage fees. Premiums for exceeding forecasted storage, particularly around Peak when providers are balancing capacity across all their customers. Ask how forecasts are set, how often they’re reviewed, and how much flexibility is built in before overage kicks in.

How to compare quotes like-for-like

Quotes from different providers are rarely directly comparable without normalising them first. A few steps make the comparison fair.

Share the same order profile with every provider. Monthly volume, average items per order, product size and weight, destination mix, and any value-add requirements. Every provider should be quoting against exactly the same inputs, so you’re comparing apples to apples rather than trying to reconcile different assumptions.

Ask for total cost per order. At both your current volume and your 12-month forecast volume. This surfaces how pricing scales, where volume breaks kick in, and whether a provider that looks cheap today will still be cheap as you grow. Some providers offer aggressive rates at lower volumes that flatten out at scale; others do the reverse.

Confirm which fees are fixed vs volumetric. Minimums, setup fees, monthly subscription charges, and any account-level fees. These can swing the real cost significantly at lower volumes and are often underweighted in quote comparisons.

Check what’s included in the headline pick and pack fee. Some providers bundle returns handling, basic packaging, quality checks, and SLA reporting into the headline pick and pack rate. Others charge each of these as separate line items. The difference between a £2.00 pick and pack with everything bundled and a £1.80 pick and pack with five add-ons can be substantial by the time the full invoice is calculated.

Illustrative example

A UK-based DTC brand shipping 3,000 orders per month of a standard-size, single-item product would typically expect a per-order pick and pack cost in the range of £2.00 to £2.50, plus shipping starting around £3.50 for a small parcel on a tracked 48-hour service. Storage for this volume would be a relatively small part of the monthly spend. Packaging costs depend heavily on what the brand ships in, but for standard mailer packaging the cost would typically sit below £1.00 per order.

These figures are illustrative only. Actual pricing depends on your specific product profile, volume, destination mix, service requirements, and any value-add services you need. For a quote based on your own order profile, use the pricing request form on this page.

The seven-point evaluation checklist

Choosing a fulfilment provider is one of the higher-stakes operational decisions a growing brand makes. A good partner becomes an extension of your business; a poor one becomes a weekly problem that takes months to unwind. The seven questions below are the ones that separate the two, and they’re the questions we’d tell any brand to ask of every provider they’re considering, including us.

1. Location. Is the fulfilment centre close to your biggest customer base? Long inbound and outbound legs erode both speed and margin, so a poorly located provider can undermine your economics regardless of how well they run the operation internally.
2. Integrations. Out-of-the-box integrations with your eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, and ERP should be standard, not a roadmap item. If you sell on Shopify, Amazon, and TikTok Shop, every one of those should connect without developer work on your side, and Custom API access should be available for anything unusual.
3. Technology. Real-time inventory, order, and SLA reporting. Transparent, accessible, and yours to use whenever you want, not something you have to request from an account manager via email.
4. Scale capacity. Can they demonstrate handling your projected peak volume without throttling your growth? A provider that runs at capacity most of the year has no headroom when you need them to scale, and you’ll feel that during Peak or any promotional spike.
5. Onboarding timeline. Two to three weeks should be achievable for most brands. Anything over six weeks suggests under-resourced onboarding, manual processes, or technology that doesn’t cope well with new customers.
6. Returns handling. Returns directly affect customer experience and, in high-return categories, margin. They should be a first-class part of the operation, not an afterthought handled by whoever has spare time in the warehouse.
7. Product fit. Confirm early that they handle your size, weight, value, hazmat, and regulatory requirements. Not every fulfilment provider fits every product.

KPIs to ask every provider

The four KPIs below are the baseline for a credible eCommerce fulfilment operation. If a provider can’t share their own figures against these, that’s a signal in itself, and worth probing further before you commit.

Same-day despatch rate: 98%+: Measures how consistently orders leave the warehouse on the day they’re received. Directly affects how fast parcels arrive with your customers and how credible your delivery promises are at checkout.

Pick and pack accuracy: 99.5%+: Measures how often the right items reach the customer. Every percentage point of inaccuracy maps to returns, refunds, reshipping costs, and damaged reviews.

Stock booked from arrival: 24 hours: Measures how long it takes for arriving stock to become available for orders. Faster booking means faster availability for selling, which directly affects how tightly you can manage inventory against demand.

Platform uptime: 99.9%+: Measures the reliability of the fulfilment software you depend on. When the platform is down, orders aren’t flowing, inventory isn’t updating, and your team is working blind.

Beyond these headline KPIs, there are secondary metrics worth understanding as the relationship matures: returns processing time, first-time delivery success rate, carrier performance breakdowns, and SLA compliance across service tiers.

What good onboarding looks like

Onboarding with a capable provider should be structured, predictable, and complete within three weeks for most brands. Brands with very large SKU ranges, complex products, or multi-region operations might need longer, but the rhythm should still feel organised rather than improvised. Each week has a clear purpose, with specific outputs and checkpoints.

Week one: setup. Contract sign-off, platform integration setup, SKU data exchange, packaging requirements agreed, inventory transfer planning, and carrier account linking.

Week two: go-live. Stock arrival and goods-in completed, initial order testing, integration go-live, and the first real orders running through the operation.

Week three: steady state. Full volume running, reporting dialled in, account management cadence established, and performance reviewed against agreed SLAs.

The quality of onboarding is often a reliable preview of what the ongoing relationship will feel like. If onboarding is chaotic, overrunning, or relying on email chains to track progress, the operational relationship is likely to feel the same way. If it’s structured, transparent, and hits its own milestones, that tells you something about the provider’s operational discipline overall.

A final word on fit

The best fulfilment relationships aren’t always with the cheapest provider, the biggest provider, or the newest provider. They’re with the provider whose operational model, technology, and account approach match what your business actually needs, both today and as it grows.

When you’re making the final decision, weigh the provider’s track record with brands similar to yours. A fulfilment partner with strong credentials in cosmetics, subscription boxes, or fashion will understand the operational specifics of your category better than a generalist provider that happens to be competitive on price. Ask for case studies, references, and specific examples of work that resembles yours.