Value Added Services 3PL: Turning Logistics From Cost Center Into Growth Engine

When basic warehousing is no longer enough

Early on, warehousing feels simple. You store product, ship orders, and move on with your day. Then the real world shows up with custom packaging, retailer routing guides, Amazon content requirements, new channels, new bundles, and constantly changing demand. At that point, simple storage and shipping are not enough. You need a 3PL that can deliver real value added services.

Many brands land here after being let down by a previous provider. As Maureen Milligan explains, "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." She adds, "Even when they were getting their new inventory delivered to the warehouses, they weren't getting received and on the shelves in a timely fashion to satisfy customer orders."

Value added services exist to fix that gap. They turn the warehouse from a black box into an operational engine that actively supports your growth.

What value added services actually mean in 3PL

Value added services are everything that happens beyond simple receiving, storage, and outbound shipping. Kitting, bundling, relabeling, pallet reconfiguration, retail compliance work, content support, and integration help all belong in this category. Done right, they save your team time and unlock new channels.

John Pistone describes this evolution clearly: "We have created these other value-added services." He goes on to spell them out: "I can kit for them. I can bundle for them. I can build an Amazon seller central account, and I can do all the content build-up." That is a long way from just storing pallets.

These services matter most when you are growing fast. They absorb complexity so your internal team does not have to.

Why so many logistics providers stop at the basics

Most 3PL operations were built for volume, not flexibility. Their systems and processes focus on moving as many boxes as possible with as little variation as possible. That works until a customer needs anything outside standard flows.

Technology is often the sticking point. Bryan Wright warns, "A bad WMS system will not track inventory 100%, as it should." That is a problem even for basic warehousing. It is a disaster for complex work like kitting, subassembly, or custom labeling. He explains the inverse as well: "A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point that you touch it."

To deliver value added services, a 3PL needs more than decent software. It needs control over that software. Bryan explains the advantage this creates: "With G10 we can make that change extremely quickly because we have our own development staff." When your logistics team can alter workflows and integrations on demand, you can say yes to more opportunities.

How value added services support retailer and marketplace growth

As brands expand into retailers and marketplaces, the demands on their operations multiply. That is where a 3PLs value added services become critical. You are no longer just moving boxes; you are meeting specific rules from specific partners.

Retail compliance is one example. Joel Malmquist points out, "Walmart's pretty intense with their labeling rules. Dick's Sporting Goods is the same; if you don't do it right, you get those massive chargeback." That work lives squarely in the value added services bucket. The 3PL must prepare shipments in the exact way each retailer demands.

On the marketplace side, Amazon brings its own complexity. Jen Myers explains why brands seek help: "We also help them label products correctly." She notes what happens when that goes wrong: "If you send stuff to Amazon that has the wrong labels on, or it's not to their specs, or the wrong dimensions, you get chargebacks basically they fine you!" Institutional knowledge here is a service in its own right.

When a 3PL combines physical work like kitting and labeling with strategic knowledge of channels, it stops being a simple vendor and starts behaving like an extension of your operations team.

Going beyond operations with content and channel support

Some of the most powerful value added services do not involve boxes at all. They involve content, channel setup, and data.

Jen describes this broader role: "So a lot of it has been helping our customers navigate how to negotiate." That support touches price negotiations with Amazon and similar platforms. Physical logistics and commercial strategy begin to overlap.

John shares how 3PL teams can help brands expand their presence: "I helped them get into Walmart.com and they weren't there before. I helped them to get onto Amazon.com and they weren't there before." Those are value added services with direct revenue impact.

On the content side, John explains, "I can build an Amazon seller central account, and I can do all the content build-up. I can build the detail pages the brand store. I can do ads for them." For a founder who is already stretched thin, those capabilities can significantly shorten the path from idea to revenue.

Why flexibility and responsiveness matter so much

Value added services only matter if they show up when you need them. Launching a new kit six months late is not helpful. Neither is missing a retailer deadline because nobody could adjust a process in time.

Joel talks about what real life looks like: "There are going to be situations that we cannot plan for or forecast." Those situations are where value added services get tested. Can the 3PL react when a promotion takes off or a retailer suddenly increases orders?

He shares how his team responds: "We are able to help them get through that big surge and develop and grow their business as it comes in." That is value added work in motion. It is the difference between growth helping you or breaking you.

Culture as a value added service you cannot buy off the shelf

Technology and service menus can be copied. Culture cannot. Yet culture is often what determines whether a 3PL can really deliver on value added promises.

Mark Becker captures the mindset at the top: "Yeah, I live in the grind every day." Founders recognize that attitude because it mirrors their own. It matters when a project gets hard.

Bryan explains what he expects from his teams: "You go 110% and make sure that when they're done, this project is something they're going to remember." That is not a line you normally hear about warehousing. It is what value added looks like from the inside.

Maureen describes how that plays out when things go wrong: "We say, We made a mistake, this is what happened, this is how we're correcting, it and this is how we're going to make it right by you." Owning mistakes, fixing them, and learning from them is a service too.

Why value added services turn logistics into a growth engine

In the end, value added services are about leverage. They let you launch new products faster, enter new channels with confidence, refine packaging and labeling without tearing apart your own team, and tap into deep channel knowledge you do not have to build yourself.

Sometimes, as Jen puts it, "Sometimes companies become 3PLs a little bit by accident." They bolt services on top of basic warehousing. The stronger model is one where value added services are part of the design from day one.

Connor Perkins reminds us what is at stake: "To be successful and grow rapidly you have to sell a lot of your products. That boils down to having a good product, but also having a good supply chain." Value added services are the part of the supply chain that turn a decent operation into a growth platform.

If you are spending more energy patching gaps in your logistics than chasing new opportunities, it might be time to look at which value added services your 3PL actually offers and which ones you wish it did.