How to Get Started with Fulfillment
Last updated: 27 July 2026 • 6 min readA scene we see often: the living room isn't a living room anymore, it's a shelf. Shipping bags on the couch, boxes in the hallway, still printing labels at eleven at night. Sales are going well, and that's exactly the problem. At some point, your day stops being about selling products and starts being about packing orders. That's precisely where fulfillment comes in: handing off the whole chain of storage, packing, and shipping to an outside provider. Let's walk through how the transition works and where it tends to get stuck.
Key Takeaways
- Fulfillment isn't a single service but a chain: storage, order picking, packing, shipping, and returns management.
- What tells you it's time to switch isn't your order count, but how much of your day order prep is eating up.
- Your stock count should be finished before the handover; gaps between your records and the shelves only grow later.
- Don't hand over products that don't sell, because you'll pay rent on the space they take up every month.
- Don't schedule the handover during a sales campaign week; mistakes made at peak times are costly.
What Does Fulfillment Cover?
Think of it this way: every step from the moment an order comes in until it reaches the customer's door. Your products wait on shelves or pallets. When an order arrives, someone goes to the shelf and grabs the product (this is called picking), puts it in suitable packaging, hands it off to a partner carrier, and the tracking number is entered into the system. If the customer returns the product, the package comes back to the warehouse and gets inspected; if it's in good condition it goes back into stock, and if not, it's reported. Five links, one chain.
The full scope is on our fulfillment service page.
When Should You Switch?
This is the question we're asked most, and the answer isn't a number. What matters more than how many orders ship each day is what those orders cost you, in terms of time. If packing is the longest task of your day, if your home or office has turned into a stockroom, if you can't keep up with orders on campaign days, if wrong shipments and return rates are climbing, if you're wondering "should I hire someone?" but your volume can't justify it yet, then the time has come. If two or three of these are happening at once, don't wait.
How Does the Transition Work?
Six stages, in order.
1. Product analysis
How many SKUs do you have, what size are your products, how many orders ship each month, and how do they fluctuate by season? These answers determine how much space and what type of shelving you need.
2. Space planning
Shelving, pallets, or a mix of both, depending on the product type. Volume and turnover rate are read together; a heavy, slow-moving product and a small, fast-moving one don't go in the same place.
3. Inventory handover
Products are moved to the warehouse, counted, and entered into the system. The quantity on the shelf should match your records at this point. If there's a discrepancy, it gets resolved now; later it won't be.
4. Barcoding
Products without barcodes get labeled. It seems simple, but barcodes are the most basic tool for reducing picking errors.
5. Integration
Your online store or marketplace accounts are connected to the system. Orders come in automatically, and stock updates on both sides at the same time.
6. Testing and go-live
First it's tested with a limited number of orders, then the full volume is handed over. Don't schedule it during a campaign period; we'll say that again shortly.
What Should You Have Ready Before the Transition?
- An up-to-date stock count
- The dimensions and weight of every product; these determine your shipping costs, not estimates
- A cleared-out list of slow-moving products
- A packaging standard: which box, which fill, and whether to include a card
- A written return policy
Common Mistakes
In our view, the most expensive is switching during a campaign period. When you're already busy and the system changes too, mistakes become inevitable. The second is skipping the stock count; when a record discrepancy turns up after the handover, figuring out whose fault it was, which product, and when it went missing is very hard to resolve. The third is handing over dead stock. There's no point paying rent on space month after month for products that haven't sold in months; clear them out first. The fourth is not setting a packaging standard.
That box is the customer's first physical contact with your brand; we covered this side in detail in our article on proper packaging for e-commerce.
Fulfillment or Your Own Warehouse?
Your own warehouse means rent, staff, a shelving system, insurance, and your own management time; all fixed costs, whether you make sales or not. With fulfillment, these become variable costs, and you pay for what you use. If your orders fluctuate month to month (as they do for most e-commerce businesses), that flexibility becomes the deciding factor.
Frankly, not everyone needs fulfillment. If you just want to keep products somewhere, a business storage service may be a better fit.
How to Get Started
Three pieces of information are enough: number of SKUs, monthly order volume, and product type. With these, the conversation can begin. Fill out the quote form or call 0850 888 66 15.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does fulfillment start to make sense?
When preparing orders starts eating up most of your day. As your monthly order volume grows, the unit cost of running your own warehouse rises above the cost of fulfillment; that's when you've reached the threshold.
How do I hand over my products?
Your inventory is handed over to the warehouse in a single batch; products are counted, barcoded, and entered into the system. Later shipments can come directly from your supplier to the warehouse, taking you out of the loop.
Can I use my own shipping agreement?
Usually, yes. Your existing carrier contracts can be set up in the system; how the integration will work is clarified during the consultation.
How are returns handled?
The returned package comes back to the warehouse and is inspected. If it's in sellable condition, it goes back into stock; if it's damaged, it's reported separately and you're notified.
For the storage solution that suits you best, Fill out the form and we'll get in touch!
