Questions to Ask an Apparel 3PL

1. How do you keep look-alike sizes and colors from being mixed up?

Start here, because one design turns into hundreds of look-alike polybagged SKUs once every size and color is counted. Ask whether each variant gets its own barcoded bin, and how many times an order is scanned before it ships. We give every size, color and style its own barcoded location. Each order is scanned when it's picked and again at the packing table. That way the scanner, and not someone's eye, catches a 32-inch waist packed where a 34 belongs.

2. Do returns have their own process, and how soon is a returned garment back on sale?

Clothing comes back more often than most things sold online. When a warehouse treats returns as an afterthought, your money sits in a pile of garments nobody has processed. Ask whether each return is:

• inspected
• graded
• refolded
• re-tagged
• re-bagged
• restocked as sellable

Then ask how long that takes. We run returns as their own process. A garment that passes is back on sale, and one that's worn or damaged is pulled for B-stock or disposal. Your inventory reflects the result as soon as a piece is checked. Our apparel returns processing timeline follows a return from start to finish.

3. How do you keep returns from tying up my money?

Most clothing returns come down to fit and sizing, so they keep coming no matter how good the product is. What a warehouse controls is how soon a returned garment can sell again. Ask how quickly an inspected piece goes back into stock, and when your inventory count shows it. Our inspect-and-restock process is set up to get sellable garments back into available inventory fast, so they can sell again instead of waiting in the returns area. For what heavy returns and bracketing do to margins, see high return rate and bracketing management.

4. Can you ship garments on hangers as well as folded in polybags?

Folded in a polybag suits most direct-to-consumer orders. Tailored pieces, suiting and anything else that creases easily may need to arrive ready to wear, so ask how a partner protects them. Our DTC orders ship folded to a standard and polybagged, from scan-verified bins for each variant. Hanging needs differ from one line and channel to the next, so we work out garment-on-hanger (GOH) handling for each line rather than offering one program for all.

5. Can you meet retailers' shipping rules (routing guides, advance ship notices, GS1 labels)?

Selling to retailers as well as direct brings strict rules. A retail account can set its own routing guide, advance ship notices and GS1 carton labels, and a single shipment that misses them can bring a chargeback. Ask any partner how it handles each one, since they change from retailer to retailer. We run direct, marketplace and retail orders from one inventory pool. Routing guides and EDI requirements belong to each account, so the setup is built around the retailers you actually sell to. Bring their requirements when you ask for a quote.

6. How do you handle the labels children's clothing must carry?

Children's clothing carries labeling rules that adult clothing doesn't. Under CPSIA, the brand is responsible for children's tracking labels. Under the FTC Care Labeling Rule, it is responsible for care labels. A warehouse's part is to keep those labels with the units from the day they're received, so if any of your line is children's wear, ask how a partner does that. What a product needs depends on what it is and how it's regulated, so tell us what your line carries when you request a quote. We'll confirm how we record those labels when your stock arrives.

7. How do you get through Q4 and product drops without mistakes or late orders?

A drop, a flash sale or Q4 can bring roughly three times your usual volume overnight. A warehouse that can't add capacity in time ships late, and your support inbox fills up. Ask whether capacity is planned from your forecast before the surge or scrambled for after the orders land, and whether accuracy holds through it. We plan labor and warehouse capacity against your forecast and your calendar, so the extra hands and space are in place before the drop. Peak season and product-drop fulfillment goes into how that planning works.

8. What finishing work do you do, and where does it stop?

How a garment looks out of the box helps it sell. Ask exactly which finishing and packing work a partner does, and ask where it stops, because a 3PL is not a manufacturer. Our value-added work for apparel includes:

• hang-tag and price-ticket application
• poly-bagging and folding to a standard
• tissue wrap and branded inserts
• lookbook, influencer and welcome kits, assembled to a defined spec

We put finished garments in the box; cutting, sewing, dyeing and decoration all happen before stock reaches us. More detail is in apparel value-added services.

9. What technology runs the inventory, and do I get a view of it?

Once your line runs to thousands of variants, the software has as much to do with accuracy as the people do. Ask which order and warehouse systems a partner uses, how your sales channels connect, and whether you can see your own inventory. Ours is BestOMS for orders and your inventory view. Deposco runs the warehouse floor, and Dropstream connects your stores and marketplaces. All three draw on one inventory pool for direct, marketplace and retail orders. You can look over the systems and the customer portal on our technology page.

10. How is your pricing broken out, and how do you keep shipping costs down?

A single bundled price per order hides which part of the work is expensive. Ask any partner to price these separately:

• receiving
• storage
• pick and pack
• returns handling
• freight, including dimensional weight

Then ask who chooses the carrier and service, and where your inventory would sit, since both move the freight cost. The same team that packs your order picks its carrier and service. You can also keep stock in several of our warehouses, which together reach 99.77% of the US in 1-3 day ground. Each cost is covered in turn in apparel fulfillment cost.