Outsourcing usually makes sense once you’re doing 300+ orders a month and fulfilment is starting to limit your growth. Below that volume, in-house fulfilment is often still cheaper, since the cost advantage of outsourcing comes from scale.
So many eCommerce brands still choose to outsource fulfilment for a reason. For a lot of businesses, it’s the operational headache they’d rather not carry in-house. In fact, over 60% of eCommerce retailers now outsource at least part of their fulfilment operations.
That’s understandable. When you started your brand, it probably wasn’t because you wanted to spend your time storing, packing and shipping parcels. Outsourcing fulfilment is popular precisely because it frees founders up to focus on what matters most, and that’s selling, growing, and building the business.
But outsourced fulfilment isn’t right for every brand, and it isn’t right at every stage. There’s a wrong time to outsource and a right time to outsource, and that depends on a number of factors. This article walks through those factors to help you decide whether now is the right time for you.
What are the signs it’s time to outsource fulfilment?
A handful of consistent signals show up across the brands we work with once outsourcing becomes the right call.
- Fulfilment is eating your time. You’re spending hours every week picking and packing yourself, or you’re so tied up managing a fulfilment team that it’s pulling you away from running the business.
- You’ve outgrown your space. Stock, packaging and equipment have taken over your home, or your warehouse is over capacity, and moving to bigger premises isn’t something you want to take on.
- You’re expanding into new territories. You want to grow into a new country and need a partner with established local premises, workforce and market knowledge, so you can reach customers there faster and more cost-effectively.
- Performance is slipping. 85% of shoppers won’t return to a brand after a poor delivery experience. If you’re seeing more complaints about slow shipping, wrong orders or damaged items, this is one of the clearest signs your current operation is struggling to keep pace with demand.
- Inventory is a struggle to manage. You’re regularly running out of stock, over-ordering, or missing sell-by dates. You need an inventory system that’s synchronised across your channels and can help you optimise stock levels automatically.
What are the benefits of outsourcing fulfilment?
Outsourcing isn’t just about fixing what’s broken. It buys back time, headspace and easier access to new markets, plus the accountability that comes with an SLA. But the real advantages are the ones that are difficult to build in-house.
Better carrier rates
3PLs ship thousands of parcels a day across their client portfolio, which means they can negotiate higher-tier rates with carriers and pass those savings on to you, usually across a wider network of carrier options than you’d have access to alone.
Scalability during peaks
eCommerce demand is rarely flat. Seasonality, sales events, Black Friday and Christmas can all push order volumes well beyond what’s realistic to resource in-house. 3PLs manage that labour for you, drawing on a larger workforce and agency partnerships to flex capacity at short notice. During Peak, J&J’s order volumes increase significantly month over month, and J&J scales its workforce and carrier capacity to match, without service levels dropping.
A stronger customer experience
Competition in the 3PL market works in your favour. Tight SLAs around dispatch time and accuracy have become the norm. Same-day dispatch, near-guaranteed pick and pack accuracy, and compensation when things go wrong are increasingly standard. It’s a win for both you and your customers.
Returns handling
Something first-time outsourcers often overlook is that a 3PL takes on your returns too. Processing returns, restocking or disposing of items, and managing the admin around it is a significant task off your plate, and customers increasingly expect returns to be effortless.
What are the downsides of using a 3PL?
Outsourcing doesn’t make sense for every brand. Most commonly, brands earlier in their journey don’t see the commercial benefit from outsourcing to a 3PL.
J&J generally works with brands fulfilling a minimum of 300 orders a month. Below that, it’s often cheaper to fulfil in-house, since the cost advantage of outsourcing comes from economies of scale.
300 orders a month is our rule of thumb. Outsourcing before then often adds cost without value, so unless there are other factors at play, we’d rather tell a brand to wait until they’re ready.
| Not quite time yet | Time to make the move |
|---|---|
| You’re shipping fewer than 300 orders a month | You’re consistently shipping 300+ orders a month |
| Your team has spare capacity for picking and packing | Fulfilment is taking up more than 10 to 15 hours a week |
| You have space to store and grow your stock | You’ve outgrown your current storage space |
| Delivery performance is solid and consistent | Complaints about shipping speed or accuracy are increasing |
| You’re not planning new markets or channels soon | You’re expanding into new territories or sales channels |
This is a quick readiness check on timing. For a fuller breakdown of how in-house and 3PL fulfilment actually compare on cost, control and operations, see 3PL vs in-house fulfilment: how do you decide?.
You’ll also need to accept some loss of control. To keep operations smooth and predictable, 3PLs run standardised processes, which can mean less flexibility than you’re used to, whether that’s a specific packing method or bespoke branded packaging.
That said, flexibility varies by provider. J&J offers customisable packaging options and builds bespoke solutions for returns, assembly and packing instructions where it matters most to your brand.
With J&J, I don't need to babysit or micromanage. I know I can trust them to handle their business.
How do you decide if it’s time to outsource?
Answer the questions below honestly and count how many you’d answer “yes” to.
- Are you or your team spending more than 10 to 15 hours a week on picking, packing or shipping?
- Have you had a stock-related delivery failure (late, wrong item, damaged) in the last quarter?
- Is your current storage space limiting how many SKUs or how much stock you can hold?
- Are you planning to launch on new channels (Amazon, TikTok Shop, Etsy) or into new countries in the next 12 months?
- Has your order volume grown faster than your ability to fulfil it accurately?
- Are shipping costs becoming too expensive?
- Do returns take longer than 48 hours to process, or pile up during busy periods?
- Would a two-week illness or holiday for a key team member disrupt your dispatch times?
- Are you struggling to offer next-day or two-day delivery that competitors already provide?
- Is fulfilment pulling time and focus away from growth activities like marketing, product or sales?
Scoring guide:
- 0 to 2: In-house is probably still working for you, but it’s worth revisiting in 6 to 12 months.
- 3 to 5: You’re at an inflexion point, and outsourcing is worth actively investigating now.
- 6 to 10: Fulfilment is likely holding back growth. Outsourcing should be a near-term priority.
Ready to explore outsourced fulfilment?
J&J has provided outsourced 3PL fulfilment to SMEs and enterprise brands since 2010. We’ve supported countless brands through their first move to outsourcing, so we understand it can feel like a big step.
We’ll always have an honest conversation about whether outsourcing genuinely makes sense for your business. And, if it does, walk you through exactly what to expect. If we work together, you’ll get a thorough onboarding plan, dedicated training, and ongoing support by phone, email and in person whenever you need it.
If you’d like us to help you assess whether you’re ready to outsource to a 3PL, get in touch with us today.
Frequently asked questions
J&J generally works with brands shipping 300 or more orders a month. Below that, in-house fulfilment is usually still the cheaper option, since 3PL cost advantages come from economies of scale.
Yes. Some brands outsource fully, while others keep a specific channel, region, or product line in-house and outsource the rest. The right split depends on where the operational strain actually sits.
Not with the right provider. J&J offers customisable packaging and bespoke processes for returns, assembly, and packing instructions, so brand experience doesn’t have to be sacrificed for outsourcing.
Use the 10-question scorecard above. A score of 6 or higher suggests fulfilment is already holding back growth and outsourcing should be a near-term priority.
