Questions To Ask Your 3PL Partner Before Signing a Contract

Choosing a 3PL is a big commitment, after all, it’s a big deal to pass over one of the most critical parts of your ecommerce brand – your fulfilment – to an external source.

It’s completely understandable to feel cautious about making the switch. Fulfilment is absolutely critical, and the idea of outsourcing it can feel like giving up control at a time when you can least afford disruption. Many brands worry about service levels slipping, onboarding headaches, or being locked into a partnership that doesn’t quite live up to the promise.
 

But for those that get it right, the payoff can be significant. Brands that outsource fulfilment often report lower operating costs, faster delivery times, and higher customer satisfaction - with 89% of companies acknowledging that a 3PL partnership has contributed to improved service. In other words, while the switch can feel daunting, but the payoff can be huge – if you’re working with a fulfilment partner who is aligned with your goals.

Before you sign on the dotted line, it’s crucial to know exactly what you’re committing to. These are the key questions every ecommerce brand should ask their 3PL partner, and the answers you’ll want to hear, before making the leap.

Questions To Ask Your 3PL Partner Before Signing a Contract

• How does your pricing system work?
• What technology will I have access to, and how will it help me?
• What plans do you have in place to manage peak season?
• Who is my day-to-day point of contact?

How Does Your Pricing System Work?

A successful 3PL partner search isn’t necessarily about finding the cheapest option, but good value for money is still an important factor.

Before signing a contract, it’s vital to understand exactly how your 3PL charges and what’s included. Are fees usage-based or fixed? Do storage costs fluctuate with inventory levels? Are pick and pack fees charged per item, per order, or per SKU?

Hidden costs tend to appear later in the relationship, often in the form of peak surcharges, minimum order volumes, or additional handling fees that weren’t clearly explained upfront.

A good 3PL will be transparent, happy to walk you through sample invoices, and able to explain how costs scale as your business grows. If pricing feels vague or overly complicated at this stage, it’s unlikely to get clearer once you’ve onboarded.

What Technology Will I Have Access To, And How Will It Help Me? 

Fulfilment technology isn’t just a welcome benefit, it’s essential for keeping your operations visible, accurate and scalable.

When you’re first enquiring with a new 3PL partner, it’s important to ask what systems you’ll be using day to day and, crucially, how they benefit you.

Don’t let logistics jargon confuse you, it’s essential that your new partner can explain exactly what their technology does, how it can benefit your operations, and who will be responsible for overseeing its management.

The right technology should reduce manual work, improve forecasting, and give you confidence in your data, not create another system you dread logging into. If a 3PL can’t clearly explain how their tech supports better decision-making, that’s a red flag worth paying attention to.

If you need to revisit any specific technical queries, note that a reputable 3PL should have their contact details available, so you can contact them with any additional questions at any point during the transition.

What Plans Do You Have In Place To Manage Peak Season?

Peak season shouldn’t be unexpected, and yet, it’s where many fulfilment setups fall apart.

A reliable 3PL should have a clear, well-rehearsed strategy for handling demand spikes, whether that’s Black Friday, Christmas, product launches, or promotional campaigns.

Make sure to query how they scale labour, extend cut-off times, and manage carrier capacity during busy periods. Do they plan collaboratively with clients ahead of peak, or react when things get busy? How do they protect service levels when volumes double or triple overnight?

Peak season means pressure. Lots of it. So, it’s essential that you can trust your 3PL partner implicitly with your operations during such a pivotal period. A strong answer here shows operational maturity. A vague one suggests you may be left firefighting at the exact moment your brand should be capitalising on demand.

Who Is My Day-To-Day Point of Contract?

This question is often overlooked, and it really shouldn’t be.

When something goes wrong (and occasionally, it will), knowing who to contact makes all the difference. Will you have a dedicated account manager who understands your business, or will you be routed through a general support inbox? How quickly can you expect responses?

Fulfilment works best as a partnership, not a ticketing system. A clear, named point of contact means better communication, faster resolutions, and fewer things slipping through the cracks, especially as your operation grows in complexity.

Final Thoughts

The right partner doesn’t just move boxes from A to B; they protect your customer experience, support your growth, and quietly remove friction from your day-to-day operations. Asking the right questions upfront helps you spot whether a 3PL is built to scale with your brand, or whether you’ll outgrow them just as quickly as your in-house setup.

It’s also worth remembering that no fulfilment partnership should feel like a leap of faith. A good 3PL will welcome scrutiny, answer questions clearly, and be transparent about where they excel, and where they may not be the right fit. If conversations feel rushed, unclear, or overly sales-led, that’s valuable information in itself.

At GNOC, we make sure that we’re the right fit for any brand looking to come onboard, and just as importantly, that we’re honest when we’re not. We don’t believe in forcing brands into fulfilment models that don’t suit their products, volumes, or growth plans.

Every partnership starts with understanding how your business actually operates: your order profile, inventory complexity, peak season patterns, and customer expectations. From there, we design a fulfilment setup that’s built around your reality, not a one-size-fits-all warehouse process.

If you’re considering making the switch, take the time to compare providers, ask the difficult questions, and think long-term. The right 3PL partnership won’t just solve today’s fulfilment challenges - it will help future-proof your operations as your brand continues to grow. 

If you think GNOC could be the right choice for your fulfilment journey, chat to our friendly team and learn how we could take your business from strength to strength