Marketplace-to-D2C Integration

When marketplaces grow up, D2C joins the party

Many brands start life on marketplaces. Amazon, Walmart, or other platforms give them instant reach, built-in traffic, and a clear playbook. For a while, that is enough. Then the brand matures. Customers start searching for the company name instead of just the product. Someone on the team says, "We really should have our own store." That is the moment marketplace-to-D2C integration becomes a real question, not a theoretical one.

The friction shows up on the warehouse floor almost immediately. Pallet builds for marketplace replenishment compete with small-order pick waves for the same pickers, the same locations, and the same dock time, while supervisors reshuffle priorities to protect SLAs on both sides. Without integration, teams pause waves to reallocate stock, split labor mid-shift, and hold completed work because outbound schedules no longer line up cleanly. Marketplace-to-D2C integration is what allows both flows to move through the building without constant intervention, keeping pick paths stable, labor assignments predictable, and outbound handoffs intact as volume increases.

What goes wrong when D2C is bolted on

Adding D2C on top of marketplace operations can create chaos if systems are not integrated. Inventory might live in separate silos. Orders may be processed through different workflows. Marketplace replenishment gets planned, while D2C orders get handled ad hoc. That is how brands end up shorting Amazon because D2C drained inventory, or delaying D2C shipments because marketplace orders consumed all the attention.

Maureen Milligan hears about these problems constantly. She said, "Most of the customers who come to us from another 3PL, their challenges have always been access to their data, order accuracy and efficiency, and basically just meeting the committed requirements." When D2C is bolted on without proper integration, those requirements become harder, not easier, to meet.

Integration starts with a single operational brain

Marketplace-to-D2C integration works only when both sides of the business share one operational engine. Orders from Amazon, Walmart, or other marketplaces have to flow into the same warehouse management system as orders from Shopify or another D2C platform. When everything runs through one system, the operation can decide, in a calm and rational way, what gets picked first and how inventory should be allocated.

Connor Perkins highlighted the impact of that kind of structure. He said, "Our clients get best-in-class visibility and transparency. They can see their daily orders, they can see KPIs, and they can see historical transactions." That visibility is what makes it possible to grow marketplace volume and D2C volume at the same time instead of letting them fight for resources.

Unified inventory keeps every promise aligned

Inventory is where marketplace-to-D2C integration either shines or fails. Without unified inventory, every channel acts like it owns the same units. Amazon expects its allocations to be available. D2C expects to ship same day. Retailers assume their purchase orders will be filled in full. When numbers do not match, someone gets disappointed, and usually it is the end customer.

Bryan Wright explained why a strong warehouse management system sits at the center of this. "A bad WMS system will not track inventory 100 percent as it should," he said. If the system cannot see what is on the shelf, how it moves, and which channel it is committed to, no amount of clever integration will save the operation. A solid WMS lets marketplaces and D2C share one source of truth instead of negotiating over ghost inventory.

Robots help D2C join the marketplace workflow

Even with a strong system, marketplace-to-D2C integration depends on how work actually gets done on the floor. D2C orders tend to be higher volume and more unit heavy, while marketplace replenishments are often carton or pallet based. A warehouse that tries to handle both with pure manual routing will lose time and accuracy.

Holly Woods described how automation helps solve this. "The robot is round, it looks like an industrial Roomba," she said, talking about the robots that carry carts and guide pickers. By following optimized routes, those robots allow teams to pick D2C orders and marketplace shipments efficiently in the same building without tripping over each other.

D2C storefronts plug into existing marketplace strength

When the foundation is right, adding D2C does not mean starting over. It means plugging your storefront into systems that already know how to do logistics well. Joel Malmquist described how direct integrations keep things clean. "There is 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 has been completed, which then fires an email out to the customer." That same backbone can support marketplace orders and retailer shipments without needing separate workflows.

In practice, this means a brand can be strong on Amazon, strong on D2C, and strong with retailers, all using one integrated operation instead of three separate setups fighting for attention.

Omnichannel planning reduces panic during spikes

Marketplace-to-D2C integration becomes especially important when demand spikes. A successful Amazon promotion, a D2C launch, and a retailer reorder can easily collide in the same week. Without integration, teams rush from one fire to another. With integration, they plan ahead, monitor capacity, and make informed tradeoffs.

Holly talked about that planning process. She said, "We do forecast models, staffing models, and we audit inventory, equipment," describing how G10 prepares for high volume periods. Those models only work when every channel, including new D2C efforts, runs through the same set of numbers.

Joel offered a good stress test example. A brand asked if G10 could handle a scenario where "Target drops 10 POs and gives us 48 hours to turn it around." His answer was, "Yes we can." That same resilience applies when D2C orders jump at the same time as marketplace or retailer demand. Integrated systems bend. They do not break.

Customer service needs one story, not three

Without proper marketplace-to-D2C integration, customer service teams end up with conflicting stories. Marketplace portals show one status. D2C systems show another. The warehouse has its own view. By the time a customer writes in, support has to piece together what happened from scattered data.

Joel explained how a different model works. "Every single account at G10 has a direct point of contact," he said. That person can see marketplace orders, D2C orders, and retailer shipments from one place. When logistics are integrated, customers get clear answers instead of long delays and confusing explanations.

Founders want both reach and control

Marketplace-to-D2C integration is really about giving founders both reach and control. Marketplaces provide reach. D2C provides control over brand, data, and margin. The right logistics approach makes those two strengths reinforce each other instead of pulling the brand apart.

Jen Myers has seen that evolution often. "Someone might be a Shopify brand, so they are only selling D2C, and their path to growth might be to start selling on Amazon next," she said. The reverse happens too, as marketplace-first brands add their own storefronts and wholesale channels. Integration keeps that journey from getting messy.

Marketplace-to-D2C integration gives brands a structure that can expand without destabilizing execution. As new channels are added, inventory allocation, pick priorities, and outbound timing adjust within the same system instead of being renegotiated by hand. Growth no longer forces the warehouse to choose which channel to protect, because the operation is built to support both reach and control at the same time.

Taking the next step toward integrated growth

If your brand currently runs marketplaces and D2C as separate worlds, you are probably spending more time reconciling than you would like to admit. Orders get rekeyed. Inventory gets adjusted manually. Teams wonder whether the numbers are right. Marketplace-to-D2C integration replaces that friction with one clean operational picture.

When marketplaces and D2C share a warehouse, a WMS, and a single set of rules, the whole system becomes easier to manage. You can say yes to new channels, new launches, and new promotions with far less hesitation, because you know the logistics side can keep up. That is how a brand stops improvising and starts compounding its growth.