Single vs Multi-Site Fulfillment: What’s the Best Strategy For You?
Originally Published: 19 March 2025
Last Updated: 24 March 2025
When brands begin to grow and expand, their first strategic consideration isn’t just about selling more products but about how they’ll efficiently deliver those products.
We see this at J&J all the time. Take Nutravita, a health supplement brand that started with just an £8,000 credit card limit, relying solely on Amazon as its shopfront. By its second year of trading, it had become an international million-pound business.
Or Dr. Squatch, which transformed from making hand-pressed soap in a garage to a $100 million revenue brand that shipped products worldwide.
Between early growth and international success, businesses will need to work out whether to move stock to multiple sites. While shipping globally from one site is possible, it’s suboptimal for meeting expectations in different markets.
With that said, shipping from multiple sites comes with its own complexities, so it isn’t a decision to take easily.
Let’s explore both options and analyse when each is practically viable and strategically smart.
In this article
Single-Site Fulfillment: The Centralised Model
A single-site fulfillment model concentrates all inventory, processing, and shipping operations in one central warehouse location. Typically positioned to optimise shipping for your most important market, this model is the default starting point for many.
In practice, this means all inventory is stored in a single geographical location, with a centralised team handling every aspect of order fulfillment. The workflow is simple: inventory arrives at one warehouse, gets stored, and then picked, packed, and shipped from the same location.
While it’s important not to underestimate how far you can get with single-site fulfillment, the limitations are often exposed when you’re shipping to international markets – even Europe.
Strengths of single-site fulfillment:
- Lower initial infrastructure investment
- Simplified staff training and management
- More straightforward inventory control
- Easier implementation of consistent quality control
- Lower overhead costs
- Reduced complexity in logistics coordination
Limitations of single-site fulfillment:
- Increased shipping times for international customers
- Higher per-unit shipping costs for geographically spread customer bases
- Limited ability to offer rapid delivery across wide regions
- Potential bottlenecks during high-demand periods
- Less resilience to regional disruptions
Multi-Site Fulfillment: The Distributed Model
A multi-site fulfillment model strategically distributes inventory across multiple warehouses in different geographical locations. This allows businesses to position stock closer to their customer base for faster, more cost-effective shipping.
For eCommerce brands experiencing rapid growth or serving customers in different markets – Europe, UK, the US, Oceania, etc – multi-site fulfillment is often necessary to deliver on modern customer expectations.
Moreover, businesses can dramatically reduce shipping times and costs by establishing warehouses in key regions such as J&J’s centres in the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia.
Operational complexity naturally increases with this model. Instead of managing inventory from a single location, businesses will need to coordinate stock across multiple fulfillment centres.
Working with a 3PL becomes vital, as they can offer established turn-key solutions for multi-site fulfillment.
Strengths of multi-site fulfillment:
- Faster shipping times to international markets
- Lower per-unit shipping costs
- Much-enhanced geographical reach
- Greater flexibility during demand spikes
- Can cater for changing market demand, e.g. a product going viral in a certain region
- Improved resilience to regional disruptions
Limitations of multi-site fulfillment:
- Higher initial setup and infrastructure costs
- More complex inventory management
- Increased operational complexity
- Requires advanced technological integration
- Greater staffing and training challenges
- More sophisticated financial accounting and tracking needed
Single vs Multi-Site Fulfillment: A Comparison
Here’s a table comparing single and multi-site fulfillment.
| Consideration | Single-Site Fulfilment | Multi-Site Fulfilment |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | All inventory stored and processed from one central warehouse | Inventory distributed across multiple strategic locations |
| Typical Order Volume | Up to 500 orders per day | 500+ orders per day |
| Shipping Costs | Higher per-unit shipping costs | Lower per-unit shipping costs |
| Delivery Speed | Longer shipping times, especially for distant customers | Faster delivery across broader geographical areas |
| Inventory Management | Simplified, centralised tracking | Complex, requires sophisticated tracking systems |
| Initial Setup Costs | Lower infrastructure investment | Higher initial setup and infrastructure costs |
| Scalability | Limited, may become a bottleneck | High, can easily adapt to growth |
| Geographic Reach | Limited, best for concentrated customer base | Extensive, supports national and international markets |
| Operational Complexity | Low, straightforward logistics | High, requires advanced coordination |
| Resilience to Disruptions | Low, vulnerable to regional issues | High, can redistribute inventory if one centre is impacted |
| Best Suited For | Small to medium businesses with localised customer base | Growing businesses with national or international customers |
How J&J Supports Multi-Site and Single-Site Strategies
Third-party logistics (3PL) providers like J&J Global Fulfilment are the key to managing professional single or multi-site fulfillment operations. We give businesses the infrastructure and expertise to manage complex shipping needs without getting bogged down in logistics.
Shipping isn’t just about moving products from A to B. It’s about creating an experience that keeps customers coming back – managing complex international duties, tracking shipments in real-time, handling returns efficiently, and ensuring every package arrives exactly when and where it should.
We achieve this through our skilled workforce, global fulfillment centers, and award-winning ControlPort™ software – turning logistics into your strategic advantage.
J&J’s Global Fulfilment Centres
Our international network of fulfillment centers allows businesses to reach customers locally and globally with outstanding flexibility:
- Northampton, United Kingdom: Strategically located for rapid, cost-effective shipping across UK and European markets.
- Venlo, Netherlands: Positioned in Europe’s logistics hotspot for fast EU-wide distribution.
- Columbus, Ohio, United States East Coast: Offering 1-3 day shipping across North America from a central location.
- Las Vegas, Nevada, United States West Coast: Enabling efficient shipping to western states, just 50 miles from the California border.
- Toronto, Canada: Providing seamless distribution across the Canadian market.
- Brisbane, Australia: Delivering same-day dispatch and 1-4 day shipping across the region.
This network provides businesses with the flexibility to scale in different markets, whether they’re creating campaigns to market their products internationally or are experiencing rapid organic growth.
ControlPort™: The Brains Behind Our Global Fulfillment Strategy
When we built ControlPort™, we wanted to solve a persistent problem: give eCommerce brands total visibility into their fulfillment operations.
Our software provides a unified platform that tracks everything from inventory levels to order processing across all our global centres. Whether you’re managing stock in Northampton, Venlo, or Las Vegas, ControlPort™ gives you real-time insights into your entire logistics operation.
Key features include:
- End-to-end stock tracking across all global locations
- Real-time inventory updates
- Live order tracking from purchase to delivery
- Advanced analytics and reporting
- Seamless integration with multiple e-commerce platforms
ControlPort has been instrumental in delivering our 99.99% pick-and-pack accuracy, with 98% of orders dispatched on the same day.
When Multi-Site Becomes the Strategic Choice: The Business Case
For many brands, multi-site fulfillment unlocks the door to smooth, productive scaling, offering the following key benefits:
- Reduced international shipping times from weeks to days
- Significant cost savings on logistics, often 30-50% compared to traditional international shipping
- Ability to enter and test new markets with minimal upfront investment
- Improved customer experience through faster, more affordable delivery
- Flexibility to hold inventory closer to key customer bases
For brands on the brink of global expansion – or those wishing to better serve existing international markets – multi-site fulfillment often proves a strategic growth lever that can unlock entirely new markets and revenue streams.
Case Studies of When Multi-Site Fulfillment Becomes the Smart Choice
Dr. Squatch’s journey illustrates the benefits of multi-site fulfillment perfectly.
After dominating the US market with their natural men’s grooming products, they needed a way to efficiently reach international customers. By utilising fulfillment centers in Northampton, Venlo, and Brisbane, they dramatically improved their global shipping capabilities.
Previously, international shipping was a significant barrier. Customers faced lengthy delivery times – often 7-28 days – and prohibitively expensive shipping costs. With strategically located fulfi;lment centres, Dr. Squatch reduced shipping times to just 1-5 days, making their products genuinely accessible to a global market.
“J&J’s regional expertise has helped us improve service and reduce shipping costs exponentially to areas in which we were struggling,” explains Jason Welsh, Senior Fulfillment Manager at Dr. Squatch.
Similarly, Karta Bottle also saw pressure for rapid international fulfillment growth, triggering them to consider multi-site solutions. After going viral on TikTok, they faced a global audience hungry for their product.
By partnering with J&J’s US fulfillment center, founder Pete Anwyll saw his market share in the United States jump from 5% to 55%.
Choosing Your Fulfillment Strategy
The journey from a bedroom-based business to a global brand is complex, and your fulfillment strategy is undoubtedly critical throughout.
Whether you’re managing a single warehouse or distributed global centres, the goal remains to deliver an exceptional customer experience.
At J&J Global Fulfilment, we’ve helped hundreds of brands steer this journey. From the first hundred orders to thousands shipped daily, we understand that every business is unique.
Our global network of fulfillment centers and ControlPort™ technology are designed to grow with you, not constrain you.
If you’re looking to:
- Reduce shipping costs
- Improve delivery times
- Gain total visibility into your logistics
- Scale your eCommerce operations
Then it’s time to talk. Our team of experts is ready to assess your current fulfillment strategy and help you chart the most effective path forward.
Let’s transform your logistics from a challenge into a competitive advantage.
Speak to a fulfillment expert today.
This is part 5 of our series on fulfilment centre strategy. You can read the rest of the series here:
- The Business Case for Multi-Site Fulfillment
- How to Develop an Effective Fulfillment Center Location Strategy
- Strategic Inventory Management: When and how to split your stock
- How Fulfillment Software Enables Multi-Location Fulfillment
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