3PL for Shopify Brands: How Fast-Growing Stores Build a Fulfillment Engine That Scales

Shopify makes it incredibly easy to launch an online store. What it does not make easy is scaling fulfillment once the orders start rolling in. At first, founders can manage packing and shipping themselves. Then order volume climbs, customers expect faster delivery, and retail opportunities appear out of nowhere. That is when Shopify brands begin searching for a 3PL for Shopify brands that can give them the accuracy, speed, and operational muscle they need to keep growing.

Most Shopify merchants reach this point after experiencing friction with their existing fulfillment setup. They see inventory mismatches, late shipments, or incorrect orders that cost them both revenue and customer trust. Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment, hears the same story regularly. "One of the pain points our clients have experienced with previous 3PLs is inventory accuracy; maybe their previous 3PL wasn't great at picking the orders accurately. So they were losing money by shipping wrong items or wrong quantities of items." These operational mistakes pile up quickly for a high-growth Shopify store.

Why Shopify Brands Turn to a 3PL in the First Place

The biggest reason Shopify brands use a 3PL is scale. What worked for fifty orders a week no longer works for five hundred. A growing store needs a system that can manage inventory across multiple locations, support fast shipping, track every movement inside the warehouse, and sync with Shopify in real time. Without a 3PL built for Shopify brands, growth feels chaotic instead of exciting.

A 3PL Must Integrate Directly With Shopify

A strong Shopify integration is the backbone of any modern 3PL relationship. It determines whether orders arrive instantly, whether tracking updates flow back correctly, and whether customers get the communication they expect. Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience, describes the process. "There's a direct integration with Shopify where orders come in and flow directly into G10. We fulfill those, push back tracking to Shopify to show that the order hits, has been completed, which then fires an email out to the customer saying, your order's on the way." When this pipeline works smoothly, customers feel taken care of from the moment they click buy.

Accuracy Comes From a Real Warehouse Management System

Shopify brands need inventory to be right every single time. That is impossible without a strong Warehouse Management System. Bryan Wright, CTO and COO, explains the stakes. "A bad WMS system will not track inventory 100 percent as it should. A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point that you touch it." When the WMS tracks each movement, orders go out correctly, counts stay aligned, and Shopify reflects real availability.

Flexibility also matters. Shopify brands evolve quickly, adding new SKUs, launching bundles, and expanding into marketplaces or retail. Bryan describes why speed matters. "We can make that change extremely quickly because we have our own development staff. We have our own support staff. I know the software inside and out." A strong 3PL keeps up with a brand instead of holding it back.

Why Shopify Brands Need a 3PL That Supports Retail and B2B

Many Shopify brands start with D2C only, but retail opportunities appear faster than expected. A buyer from Target reaches out. A retailer requests a wholesale order. Amazon Vendor becomes an option. Suddenly the brand must meet strict routing guides, label standards, and compliance rules. This is where many traditional D2C-focused 3PLs fall apart.

Retail Accuracy Is a Different Game

Shipping to a customer is simple. Shipping to a retailer requires pinpoint accuracy. Labels must be exact. Cartons must match specifications. Deadlines are non-negotiable. Joel explains the level of precision required. "What makes us unique in B2B shipping is the experience with these different retailers and our success rate with them. We have over 99.9 percent ship accuracy of these orders." A 3PL for Shopify brands must be ready for both D2C and retail without missing a beat.

B2B performance comes from the foundation of the system. Bryan highlights the industry gap. "A lot of other people have created D2C software and they're trying to get into the B2B space, and they may not realize the significant amount of effort that it takes to be compliant for B2B customers." Shopify brands should not discover their 3PL cannot support retail only after landing a big opportunity.

Speed Becomes a Competitive Advantage With the Right 3PL

In e-commerce, speed is the most visible part of fulfillment. Customers expect fast shipping as the default. A 3PL must support same-day fulfillment for early orders, manage late-day rushes, and distribute inventory in a way that shortens transit times.

A Distributed Warehouse Network Improves Speed

Shipping from one warehouse slows down a growing brand. A 3PL with multiple locations can place inventory closer to customers and reduce both costs and delivery times. Holly Woods, Director of Operations, describes the approach. "We currently have locations in South Carolina, a couple in Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas. And we're always talking about new locations. This allows inbounds to come in faster, which means we can get it distributed faster." With the right network, Shopify brands can compete with the delivery promises customers now expect.

Peak Season Tests Every 3PL

Any 3PL can operate smoothly in quiet months. The real test is Q4. Black Friday and Cyber Monday expose operational weaknesses instantly. Holly explains how G10 handles this challenge. "One thing that's great about G10 is our flexibility and agility; our workforce is incredibly good at pivoting. We start planning peak times months ahead of time." She adds a real story that shows the level of commitment required. "We had inventory come in and it was delayed at the ports. Target has a deadline for delivery and that's it, no exceptions. Our team worked that entire day into the night, came back in the morning at 5 a.m. and got it ready." That kind of reliability keeps brands growing when stakes are highest.

Support Turns a 3PL Into a True Partner

Even the best warehouse network and software mean nothing if support is slow or unhelpful. Shopify brands rely on quick, direct communication. They want someone who knows their business, not a ticket queue that responds a day later. Joel explains the difference. "If you're working with G10, your experience for getting help is that you can either email or call your direct point of contact. It's that simple." This kind of responsive support keeps operations running smoothly.

Trust plays a core role in choosing a 3PL. Jen Myers, Chief Marketing Officer, expresses this clearly. "If you're outsourcing your service and logistics you're putting the heartbeat of your company in the hands of someone else. I wouldn't do it unless I know who's on the other end, someone I can call and talk to, who I feel cares about my business almost as much as I do." A great 3PL relationship is built on trust earned through consistent performance.

Shopify Brands Know When It Is Time to Work With a 3PL

The signs show up slowly. Orders take longer. Mistakes creep in. Customers ask questions more often. Inventory no longer matches what is on the shelf. These signals tell the founder that fulfillment is becoming a roadblock. Connor captures the turning point. "As a growing business, the goal is to scale over time. Entrepreneurs need to look at their 3PL provider and say, can I scale with these guys and grow my business?" A strong 3PL helps a brand answer yes with confidence.

If your Shopify brand is growing and fulfillment is slowing you down, now is the time to explore a 3PL built specifically for the challenges of e-commerce. A great 3PL becomes the engine behind your growth, giving you the freedom to focus on building products, customers, and the future of your brand.