Omnichannel Wholesale Shipping Without the Chaos

Omnichannel wholesale shipping is one of those terms that sounds tidy until you actually try to pull it off. Direct to consumer orders are flying out the door, retail shipments are coming in hot, and somewhere in the mix you realize your inventory is being tugged in two directions like a rope in a county fair contest. Search trends show how many operators look up phrases like how do I unify my inventory or why does wholesale break my D2C flow. Those questions come from brands that are growing fast and suddenly discovering that omnichannel is only simple when the warehouse knows what it is doing.

If you have ever wondered why your inventory behaves like it has a secret life, you are in the right place.

Why omnichannel gets confusing so quickly

Omnichannel is not difficult because the concept is complicated. It is difficult because your systems, partners, and workflows must all agree on what is happening. When D2C and wholesale fight over the same inventory pool, the results can get messy. A unit that should be on a Target pallet ends up fulfilling an online order. A retailer requests two pallets but your system thinks you have three. Then the reconciliation begins, and you feel like you are chasing ghosts.

Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience at G10, described the pattern. "If you are selling D2C and B2B at the same time, you need your inventory to flow in one unified system. Otherwise you oversell, undersell, or miss opportunities completely." When the warehouse cannot see everything at once, chaos begins.

Where most omnichannel setups break

The biggest omnichannel failures come from systems that were not designed for wholesale. Many 3PLs begin as D2C specialists. They do not understand the complexity of retail routing guides, pallet building, ASN accuracy, or retailer compliance. When those requirements collide with D2C speed, the warehouse buckles. Warehouse teams resort to improvisation, and improvisation is where costly mistakes appear.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO, pointed out why G10 avoids those pitfalls. "Our WMS was written around B2B from day one. D2C was added on top of that. So the system can handle both without compromising either." That detail matters because most systems in the market evolved in the opposite direction.

The inventory accuracy problem

Omnichannel success depends entirely on clean inventory. If you cannot trust your inventory, nothing else matters. Retail orders will misfire. D2C orders will oversell. Customer confidence will drop. Retailers will become frustrated. This is why scan-based workflows matter so much.

Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment, explained the pain point that new G10 clients bring up most often. "One of the pain points our clients have experienced with previous 3PLs is inventory accuracy. Maybe their previous 3PL was not great at picking the orders accurately. So they were losing money by shipping wrong items or wrong quantities of items." When your system manages both B2B and D2C, those errors multiply.

Why unified systems outshine patched systems

Some warehouses try to glue multiple systems together. One platform for D2C, another for B2B, spreadsheets for inventory, and then a prayer over the entire operation. That model works until it does not. The moment a retailer places a large order, the warehouse has to scramble to reconcile what is available.

Bryan explained how the right setup avoids that pain. "A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point you touch it." That means dock, forklift, pallet, pick bin, pack station, and outbound staging. When all those movements are unified, omnichannel becomes predictable instead of theatrical.

Communication: the missing ingredient in most omnichannel operations

Technology solves a lot of problems, but human responsiveness closes the gaps. Many 3PLs hide behind ticket queues. Every update takes a day. Every reply comes from a different support agent. Meanwhile, retailers expect pallets built correctly and D2C customers expect same-day shipping.

Joel contrasted G10's model with what clients face before coming over. "At some 3PLs you get thrown into a ticketed queue, and you get different people replying every time. It can take days, if not weeks, to get a resolution." That speed simply does not work when you are serving two channels fighting for the same inventory.

G10 uses a different approach. Each customer has one dedicated point of contact. "You call one person. That is it. And things get done," Joel said. When an operation spans retail and consumer channels, this responsiveness is not just helpful. It is essential.

What successful omnichannel workflows look like

A successful omnichannel setup has three traits. First, all inventory is stored in one unified view, not scattered across systems. Second, the WMS is strong enough to support both retailer compliance and D2C speed. Third, the team behind the system responds immediately when something unexpected happens.

Connor described how G10 sets this up for brands expanding into major retailers. "When we onboard a client who sells into places like Amazon or Walmart, the process changes depending on where they are selling. We work through all of their routing guide requirements and make sure the warehouse is ready before the first order ever drops." That preparation keeps the omnichannel workflow clean.

How G10 performs when omnichannel pressure hits

Omnichannel stress is highest when unexpected events happen. A retailer increases forecast without warning. A social media post drives a D2C spike. Inbound shipments arrive late. Those are the moments that show whether the system works or falls apart.

Joel shared a moment that captures G10's outlook. A client's inventory arrived late from the ports, leaving almost no time to complete a Target routing. "Our supervisor, warehouse manager, and several employees worked the entire day into the night, then came back at 5 a.m. to make sure we had the routing completed." That level of grit keeps omnichannel operations intact.

He shared another example from a viral surge. "The client asked, Can you help us? And we said, Yeah, we gotcha. Then we sent a truck to the carrier at midnight." When omnichannel demand spikes, you need a warehouse that sprints, not stumbles.

The bottom line for brands building omnichannel reach

Omnichannel wholesale shipping only works when inventory, workflows, and communication operate as one system. When your warehouse can serve both retailers and consumers without losing track of units or missing deadlines, your growth becomes smoother and your margins stronger.

If you want omnichannel shipping that behaves reliably instead of unpredictably, reach out to G10. You will get unified inventory, cleaner workflows, and a team that treats your business as something worth protecting every single day.