Most brands start looking for a fulfilment partner too late, often under pressure and narrow the shortlist to whoever quotes lowest. Phil Rees, founder of Shipmax, joined Chain Reaction to break down why that approach consistently produces poor service, stalled growth and avoidable cost.

The conversation centres on operational fit rather than rate cards. A 3PL that handles ambient retail well may be entirely wrong for a fast-growing direct-to-consumer brand with seasonal spikes and high return volumes. Due diligence has to go deeper than a capability brochure: systems integration, SLA transparency and how a provider actually scales under demand pressure all determine whether the relationship holds.

AI is changing the matchmaking layer too. Rees discusses how intelligent matching between brand requirements and provider capability is reducing the trial-and-error that wastes months and damages customer experience in the process.

The underlying point is direct: logistics is no longer a back-office cost to minimise. For eCommerce brands, fulfilment is a customer-facing function and the wrong partner degrades the brand every time an order is late, mis-picked or impossible to track.