Retail Compliance for Shopify 3PL: How Growing Brands Avoid Chargebacks and Win With Retailers

Shopify brands that start in D2C eventually get noticed. A buyer from a major retailer reaches out. A distributor expresses interest. A wholesale test order arrives. This is the moment when fulfillment gets more complicated. Retailers expect strict compliance with labeling, packing, routing, documentation, and delivery windows. If a brand chooses a Shopify 3PL that cannot meet these expectations, the result is predictable: chargebacks, rejected shipments, and strained relationships. Retail compliance is not a nice-to-have capability. It is the cost of entry.

Many Shopify founders discover this the hard way when their first retail shipment fails inspection. Labels end up in the wrong position. Carton contents do not match digital paperwork. The ASN arrives late. Suddenly the opportunity that felt like a victory becomes a painful, expensive lesson. Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment, sees this all the time. "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." In retail, those mistakes carry a fee every single time.

Why Retail Compliance Matters for Shopify Brands

When a retailer issues a purchase order, it comes with a routing guide. That guide outlines every rule the supplier must follow: label placement, carton structure, pallet configuration, documentation format, and delivery timing. A Shopify 3PL that cannot follow these rules turns opportunity into liability. Chargebacks eat margins. Reputation suffers. Buyers lose confidence.

Retailers Expect a Higher Standard of Operational Discipline

A consumer forgives an occasional delay. A retailer does not. They expect accuracy, predictability, and complete compliance. Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience, explains the stakes. "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." That level of accuracy keeps doors open.

For Shopify brands, compliance is the difference between scaling into big-box retail and being quietly removed from vendor programs.

The WMS Determines Whether Compliance Is Possible

Most 3PLs claim they can fulfill retail orders. Very few can do it without manual workarounds that fail when volume increases. The real difference is the Warehouse Management System. A 3PL with a WMS built for B2B can handle carton-level detail, pallet instructions, ASN timing, and labeling precision. One without it struggles every single time.

Inventory Accuracy Supports Every Part of Compliance

Compliance breaks down immediately when inventory accuracy fails. If the system cannot track the exact quantity in each location, the brand risks sending incorrect counts to retailers. Bryan Wright, CTO and COO, explains the foundation. "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." Without that tracking, compliance is impossible.

B2B requires precision, and precision requires a system built for it. Bryan highlights the gap in the industry. "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." Retail compliance cannot be retrofitted. It must be designed.

Why EDI Is Part of Retail Compliance

Retailers expect electronic data to match the physical shipment exactly. This means Shopify brands need a 3PL with strong EDI capabilities. A mismatch between ASN data and carton contents can generate chargebacks even if the physical shipment is perfect.

System-Level EDI Integration Prevents Chargebacks

EDI ties together purchase orders, shipment notices, invoices, and confirmations. If the system generating that data is weak, errors appear everywhere. Bryan describes why G10 built EDI into the WMS itself. "They have routing guides that make you specific labels on and put them in a specific place on the box, and you have to send EDI, ASN, electronic information in a timely fashion. All of those kinds of things were built into our software from day one, and we have all of those capabilities for our customers." When EDI is native, accuracy follows.

This becomes even more important when expanding into new retailers. As Bryan explains, "It's not a one-off for us, it's an opportunity for us. It's an opportunity for us to build it in a fashion that it can be scalable, and it can be well tested and proven out, so that the next time we do it, we pretty much just have to turn it on." Retail compliance becomes easier over time.

Geography and Speed Also Affect Compliance

Retailers expect shipments to arrive at precise windows. Missing a delivery window generates costly fees. A Shopify 3PL must have both the geographic footprint and the operational discipline to hit windows reliably.

A Distributed Warehouse Network Reduces Risk

Shipping from a single warehouse increases the odds of delays. Multi-location fulfillment reduces transit time and protects against disruptions. Holly Woods, Director of Operations, explains the benefit. "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." Faster inbounds create more predictable outbound performance.

Peak Season Proves Whether a 3PL Is Retail Ready

Retail deadlines do not move for Q4 chaos. A 3PL built for D2C alone will fail. Holly shares a story that demonstrates G10's retail readiness. "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." Then she adds an example that shows real discipline. "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 level of execution is retail compliance in action.

Support Makes Retail Compliance Manageable

Retail requirements can overwhelm Shopify founders who have never seen a routing guide before. Having a 3PL that answers questions quickly and guides brands through every requirement prevents expensive mistakes.

Joel describes what support should feel like. "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 matters especially when retailers update their requirements mid-season.

Trust is also essential. Jen Myers, Chief Marketing Officer, puts it plainly. "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." Retail compliance requires a partner, not a vendor.

How Shopify Brands Know They Need a Retail-Ready 3PL

The signs appear fast. Retail orders take too long. Chargebacks accumulate. Labels get rejected. Deadlines get missed. The warehouse feels overwhelmed. This is when Shopify brands realize they need a 3PL built specifically for retail performance.

Connor summarizes the moment clearly. "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?" Retail compliance makes that question unavoidable.

If your Shopify brand is stepping into retail or preparing for wholesale demand, now is the time to choose a 3PL built for retail compliance. When the systems are strong, the people experienced, and the execution disciplined, retail stops being intimidating and becomes a powerful channel for growth.