Sneaker and Footwear Fulfillment

Sneaker customers, especially for limited releases, often keep the box. A crushed corner, a shipping label stuck straight onto the lid, or a box that arrives soaked can turn a great pair of shoes into a complaint. Other footwear, such as slides or everyday styles, can ship more simply.

There are two common approaches, and many brands use both depending on the product.

Packing follows your own standard operating procedures, so we follow the rule you set per style. Write down which styles go in an outer box, whether tissue or stuffing comes out or stays in, and what inserts go in. Read apparel packaging and unboxing.

A sneaker style might run in whole and half sizes across a wide range, sometimes in men’s and women’s sizing, across several colorways. A single style can easily be fifty or more SKUs, and the boxes look identical apart from a small label.

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.

Every unit is scanned at the pick before it is packed, so a 9.5 cannot ship in place of a 10. On your side, every box needs its own barcode for its exact size and color, on the box, not only on the master carton. Read apparel barcodes and size and color variants explained.

Half sizes also sell unevenly. The middle of the run usually moves first and the ends sit. Watch weeks of supply by size, not just by style, and reorder the sizes that sell. Read size curve planning and reorder points for core styles.

Inbound cartons are checked against your advance shipping notice, inspected for damage, scanned and photographed, then slotted within one business day. Anything that does not match is flagged in your portal.

For footwear, receiving also checks the shoeboxes for damage before they go on the shelf. A crushed box at receiving is far easier to deal with than one discovered when a customer posts it. Photos taken at receipt give you evidence to take back to your factory or into a freight claim.

Help receiving go fast by packing master cartons by style and size, labeling each carton with what is inside, and sending an advance shipping notice with quantities by SKU. Mixed cartons take longer and are easier to miscount. Read receiving apparel from overseas factories and apparel imports through LA and Long Beach.

Limited footwear releases behave like any streetwear drop: a burst of orders in the first hour, then quiet. The difference is the product. Boxes are bigger and heavier than tees, take more space at the packing station, and need more care.

1. Share the release date, styles, size run, expected order count and packaging rules at least a week ahead.
2. Inventory arrives with an advance shipping notice and is received, checked and slotted before launch.
3. Outer boxes, tissue and inserts are staged at packing so release day is only picking and packing.
4. Orders flow in from your store. Every pair is scanned at the pick. Your account manager is on site watching the queue.
5. Orders imported by 12 PM PST ship the same day.

Per-customer limits, raffles and bot filtering happen in your store, before an order reaches us. If your store cancels orders after review, tell us how and when, so a cancelled order is not packed. Read bots, cancellations and order holds around a drop and apparel drop fulfillment.

Customers return footwear for size more than anything else, so a fast exchange keeps the sale. They also try shoes on, which is why inspection matters.

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.

For footwear, inspection looks at the soles for signs of outdoor wear, creasing, the condition of the shoebox, and whether everything that shipped came back: extra laces, tissue, tags. Your rules decide what is restocked as new, what is set aside, and whether a refund triggers on receipt or after inspection.

Monthly return reports show reasons by SKU. If one style keeps coming back as running small, tell customers to size up. Read exchanges vs refunds and apparel returns and exchanges.

A pair of sneakers in a shoebox, inside an outer box, is a large package for its weight. Carriers price larger packages by size as well as weight, which is dimensional weight. Right-sizing the outer box is one of the few levers you control. Read what is dimensional weight?.

Packages are rate-shopped across carriers, including UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL and regional partners, and shipping is billed at what the carrier charges. Our warehouse sits near major carrier sorting hubs in Southern California, so packages can be handed off later in the day and still make that night’s outbound. Read carrier strategy for West Coast apparel brands.

When footwear ships alongside apparel, the packing rule needs to cover mixed orders: does the hoodie go inside the outer box with the shoebox, or in its own mailer? Shipping together usually costs less, but the shoebox must not be crushed by a heavy item packed on top.

Write the rule down for mixed orders and it will be followed. Read multi-item apparel orders for the cost side.

Because footwear and apparel share one inventory, wholesale accounts can order both. Purchase orders are reviewed and routed per retailer, with retail-compliant and GS1 labels, advance shipping notices, EDI for major retailers and palletized freight.

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.

All client requests are acknowledged within two hours, and support is never outsourced. If a size was labeled wrong at the factory or a box shipment arrived damaged, you hear about it from your account manager, who can go and look. Read about on-site account management.

For the full list, read the apparel 3PL checklist. For what the invoice looks like, read apparel fulfillment pricing.

1. Talk to us about your footwear and apparel catalog, channels, monthly order volume and release calendar.
2. We connect your store, map every style, colorway and size, and run test orders before any inventory moves.
3. You write down your packing rules per style, including which go in an outer box, with photos of a finished pack.
4. You send inventory with an advance shipping notice. It is received, checked, photographed and slotted within one business day.
5. Orders switch over, and your account manager sends weekly reporting on service levels, shipping costs and inventory status.

If you are moving from another warehouse, plan the switch well before a release, not the week of. Read switching apparel 3PLs.