Switching apparel 3PLs
Moving thousands of variants without a stockout or a missed drop.
Signs You Have Outgrown Your 3PL
The warehouse that worked at 200 orders a month is not always the one that works at 2,000. Here is how to tell, and what to do about it.
The Signs
Each of these is a symptom of a warehouse that is not set up for apparel at your volume. One bad week is a bad week. The same problem every month is a pattern.
Wrong sizes ship
Mixed bins and no scan at the pick. Each mistake costs an exchange, a second label and a customer’s trust.Drops go out late
Nobody planned labor for launch day, so orders wait in a queue while the hype fades.Returns sit for weeks
Exchanges stall, refunds are late, and sellable stock is stuck in a corner instead of back on the shelf.Counts do not match
Your store says a size is in stock and the shelf disagrees. You oversell some sizes and sit on others.Nobody is there
Answers take days because nobody you can reach is in the building where your inventory is.
What to watch for:
What Each Sign Is Really Telling You
A symptom points to a cause. Find the cause before you decide to move.
Wrong sizes and colors
When the wrong size goes out, the cause is almost always in slotting or scanning. If several sizes of one style share a bin, a picker in a hurry grabs the wrong one. If the pick is not scanned, nothing catches the mistake before the box is sealed. Ask your current warehouse two questions: are sizes slotted separately, and is every unit scanned at the pick? If the answer to either is no, the error rate will rise with your volume.
Late drops
A drop that ships days late usually means the warehouse did not plan labor for it, or did not have stock received and slotted before the link went live. Both are planning failures. A partner set up for apparel asks for your drop date and forecast ahead of time and schedules the floor for it.
Stuck returns
Returns that sit for weeks mean returns are treated as a side job. For apparel, that is expensive: a returned medium that is not back on the shelf cannot be sold, and a customer waiting on an exchange is a customer you may lose.
Drifting counts
Counts that drift come from receiving that is not checked against the advance shipping notice, unscanned picks, or returns that are not processed. See apparel inventory accuracy for the checks that keep counts right.
Silence
If you cannot reach a person who can see the problem, every other problem lasts longer. This is the one sign that no process document fixes. It depends on where your account manager works and how quickly they answer.
Is It the Warehouse, or Is It Us?
Be honest about which problems start on your side.
Some problems that show up at the warehouse start upstream. Before you move, check your side of the handoff. A good partner will tell you plainly which is which.
| Problem | Often the warehouse | Often the brand |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong size shipped | Mixed bins, no scan at the pick | Two sizes sharing one barcode |
| Inventory does not match | Receiving not checked against the ASN | No ASN sent, or cartons not labeled |
| Drop shipped late | No labor plan for launch day | No forecast sent, stock arrived the day before |
| Returns slow | Returns handled when someone has time | No written rules for restock, discard or donate |
| Bundles wrong | Kits not verified by scan | Bundle rules changed without notice |
If most of your problems sit in the left column, the warehouse is the issue. If they sit in the right column, fix those first. Moving to a new 3PL with the same inputs gives you the same outputs.
What Good Looks Like at Your Volume
Hold any warehouse, including us, to a clear standard. At OC3PL:
- Every style is slotted by size and color, so a picker reaching for a medium in black is not digging through a bin of mixed sizes. A new collection is slotted and ready to ship within one business day of receipt.
- Orders imported by 12 PM PST ship the same day. Every pick is scanned.
- Returns are processed and logged within 48 hours of receipt, and many are handled the same day. Each item is inspected and restocked, discarded or donated by the rules you set.
- Labeled inbound is received, photographed and slotted within one business day, and discrepancies are flagged in your portal.
- All client requests are acknowledged within two hours, and support is never outsourced. Your dedicated account manager works on site in Anaheim.
Scale is part of the standard too. One apparel brand on our results page grew from 500 to 5,000 orders a day over two years and moved into big-box retail without changing warehouses. The question is not only whether a warehouse handles you today, but whether it handles you at three times the volume.
What to Do Next
- Write down the last three months of problems, with dates and order numbers.
- Sort them using the table above: warehouse, brand, or both.
- Raise the warehouse problems with your current 3PL in writing and give them a fair chance to fix them.
- If nothing changes, use the apparel 3PL checklist to compare alternatives.
- Plan the move for a quiet stretch. See when to switch apparel 3PLs.
If you want to talk it through with someone who runs an apparel floor every day, call us. We are here. We got you.
Where to Go From Here
The next pages to read.
On-site account management
Why it matters where your account manager works.
The apparel 3PL checklist
Twenty questions to ask any warehouse, with our answers.
Talk to someone on site
Your account manager works on site at our Anaheim fulfillment center, in the same building as your inventory. When something is urgent you call and talk to a person who can walk to the shelf and fix it. Call anytime. We are here. We got you.
Common Questions
Look at where each error starts. Wrong sizes from mixed bins and late shipments from unplanned labor are warehouse problems. Missing barcodes, unlabeled cartons and late forecasts are yours. A good partner will tell you which is which.
After, or well before. Never in the weeks just before a drop or Black Friday. Moving in a quiet stretch lets daily orders run cleanly before the first big event.
Any repeated mistake with the same cause is too many, because it shows nothing has been fixed. Track errors by type and by month, and ask your warehouse what changed after each one.
Yes, and you should. Put the problems in writing with dates and order numbers, ask for a plan, and set a date to review it. If nothing changes, you have your answer.
Your dedicated account manager, directly. Your account manager works on site at our Anaheim fulfillment center, in the same building as your inventory. When something is urgent you call and talk to a person who can walk to the shelf and fix it. Call anytime. We are here. We got you.
Most clients go live within five to ten business days, depending on complexity.
Related Reading
More detail, in OC3PL’s own guides.
High-Volume Apparel Fulfillment at OC3PL
The overview: what we handle, how a garment moves through the building, and every apparel guide.
7 Signs You’ve Outgrown Your Subscription 3PL Partner
7 signs your subscription box brand has outgrown its 3PL, from surge-week chaos and kitting fees to shaky inventory and rising shipping costs.
5 Signs It’s Time to Switch Your Fulfillment Partner
5 warning signs it's time to switch fulfillment partners, from slowing orders and costly mistakes to a warehouse that has outgrown your brand.
Signs It’s Time to Switch Fulfillment Partners
Discover the most common red flags that signal it’s time to change your fulfillment partner and protect your brand’s growth.
Can’t Reach Your 3PL? What to Do When It’s Urgent
Account manager off site and nobody at the fulfillment center answering? What to do today, what to document, and how to tell a bad day from a pattern.
Switching Apparel 3PLs Without a Stockout
How an apparel brand moves thousands of size and color variants to a new 3PL: what to export, how to sequence the move, and how to protect your next drop.
How to Compare New 3PLs After a Rough Peak Season
Peak season disaster? Learn how to choose a new 3PL by comparing services, pricing, and technology. A complete guide to upgrading your fulfillment partner.
Talk to Us About What Is Going Wrong
Send us your monthly order volume, SKU count and where you sell. You will get a line-item quote, and a person on site you can call.