One of the first signs that fulfilment is taking over is when the space meant for living becomes a storage unit.
Think of small brands where the spare room turns into a warehouse and weekends vanish under piles of tape and boxes. It usually starts small, just a few weekly orders, but grows quickly. Before long, packing takes priority over product development, customer communication, and everything else that builds the business. That’s when many e-commerce brands begin to consider outsourcing seriously.
This guide walks you through the most critical factors to consider, from when it’s time to outsource to what a trusted 3PL partnership looks like. If you’re considering taking the next step in your logistics journey, here’s what you need to know.
What to Consider Before Outsourcing Fulfilment in Australia
Location
You want your orders arriving quickly, especially if your customers are spread across metro areas like Sydney or Brisbane. Having fulfilment close to them makes a noticeable difference in speed and cost. And it’s not just about geography, it’s also about the routes, the couriers, and whether your parcels are spending too long sitting idle.
Pick Packers operates from key logistics corridors in New South Wales, enabling faster turnarounds and reliable nationwide distribution. We help eCommerce brands reduce time-in-transit and improve customer experience.
Technology and Integration
If your systems don’t talk to each other, you’ll spend your days copy-pasting order numbers or wondering whether a package left the warehouse. The best fulfilment partners make this seamless. They’ll integrate with your Shopify or WooCommerce store so you can see, in real time, what’s in stock and what’s on its way. It shouldn’t feel like you’ve lost control. It should feel like you’ve gained visibility.
Pick Packers offers seamless integration with all major platforms, giving you complete control over stock, orders, and dispatch, all in real time. There are no manual uploads and no surprises.
Scalability and Expertise
Your provider should support today’s needs and tomorrow’s growth. Whether you’re handling 100 orders a week or 10,000, your 3PL should scale without friction.
Right now, you might be shipping 30 orders a day. But what if a flash sale doubles that? Or you land a collab that suddenly brings in thousands of new customers? You don’t want to turn away sales because your packing table can’t keep up. A good partner can flex with your growth without the whole thing falling apart.
Pick Packers is purpose-built for scale. Our experience handling everything from single-product brands to extensive, complex catalogues means we grow with you while maintaining speed and precision.
Cost and Compatibility
3PL pricing can vary, some charge by order, some by SKU or storage volume. What matters is how well their services align with your products, workflows, and customer expectations.
It’s easy to compare line items on a pricing sheet, but you must also look at what’s included. Does the service handle fragile packaging? Can they manage bundles? Are they charging you for every tiny touchpoint? Compatibility with how your business works, what your products need, how often they ship, and how your customers expect them to arrive, is usually more important than the lowest quote.
At Pick Packers, we design fulfilment plans around your business, not the other way around. Whether you ship fragile items, bundled kits, or subscription boxes, we match the service to your needs.
When to Outsource
It probably is time if you’re asking whether it’s time to outsource. Here are clear signs that your business has outgrown its current fulfilment setup:
- You’re running out of space to store inventory
- Orders are growing faster than you can pack and ship
- You’re spending more time handling parcels than running your business
- Your storage area is overflowing into your office space or your garage
- Customer complaints about delayed orders are increasing
Pick Packers helps you make the transition without the growing pains. One of our clients, a subscription-based skincare brand, scaled from 100 to over 5,000 monthly orders without hiring fulfilment staff or adding warehouse space. They went from weekends spent packing boxes to focusing entirely on growth, content, and customer retention. Our onboarding is fast, tailored, and designed to get you moving quickly, without interrupting your operations. You stay focused on growth. We handle the logistics behind it.
The Fulfilment Process with a 3PL in Australia
Here’s what a typical Pick Packers fulfilment flow looks like:
Receiving inventory: Scheduled inbound shipments ensure everything arrives as expected and damage-free
Secure warehousing: Inventory is stored safely with 24/7 monitoring
Picking and packing: Our team follows item-specific packing instructions for consistency and protection
Labelling and dispatch: Orders are shipped quickly using reliable courier networks
Live tracking: Inventory, order status, and delivery info are updated in real time
With same-day dispatch available for eligible orders, Pick Packers helps you deliver on every promise. Our order accuracy rate exceeds 99.8%, which means fewer refund requests, fewer unhappy customers, and a stronger reputation for your brand. Most in-stock orders are packed and dispatched in under 24 hours, helping you maintain consistent customer expectations, reduce churn, and outperform competitors who miss their SLAs. If fast, accurate fulfilment is critical to your customer experience, we’re built for it.
Summary
So if you’ve reached the point where logistics are slowing you down or keeping you up at night, maybe it’s time to explore what outsourcing could look like.
We work with growing Australian eCommerce brands that want their orders out quickly, reliably, and carelessly.
Everything we offer, from platform integrations to same-day dispatch, is designed to help businesses scale without chaos. Let’s talk if that sounds like the kind of partner your brand needs.
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