Decide what the first phase must accomplish
A phased move to a 3PL can have several purposes: free your team for other work, prove an integration, or establish a dependable shipping process. Those goals do not necessarily point to the same first batch of orders. Sending the easiest orders may be sensible for learning, but disappointing if the business case depends on removing a large workload.
Start with an order-cohort worksheet. Group orders by what people actually do: standard packing, customization, wholesale preparation and exceptions. Record volume and direct handling time separately. Use your own observed times before making a financial decision; the example below is deliberately illustrative.
Seventy percent of orders, less than a quarter of the work
Our constructed monthly mix contains 1,000 orders:
| Cohort | Orders | Assumed minutes per order | Total minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard parcel | 700 | 1 | 700 |
| Customized parcel | 200 | 6 | 1,200 |
| Wholesale preparation | 100 | 12 | 1,200 |
| Total | 1,000 | — | 3,100 |
Outsourcing all 700 standard orders removes 70% of order count but only 700 ÷ 3,100, or 22.6%, of these assumed handling minutes. The retained operation still needs 2,400 minutes. That does not make the first phase wrong. It makes an order-count claim an inadequate description of its benefit.
This calculation excludes receiving, replenishment, supervision, customer service and integration work. It also does not turn released minutes into payroll savings. A business retaining its warehouse and staff may gain capacity without eliminating either expense.
Make the boundary visible in the systems
Shopify recognizes physical locations and some third-party fulfillment apps as locations. That provides a useful starting point for distinguishing where inventory and fulfillment sit; it does not prove a particular integration implements your intended routing. Shopify locations.
Give the prospective 3PL three examples: an eligible standard order, an excluded customized order and a mixed basket containing both. Ask where each will go, what happens when stock is unavailable and who resolves an incorrect assignment. A split operation needs a rule for the boundary, not just a rule for each side.
Set an expansion decision before launch
Use two separate measures in the pilot review. First, check whether the eligible cohort reached the intended location with the right instructions. Second, compare the work remaining in-house with the baseline. Treat exceptions and coordination time as part of that remaining work.
If the first phase proves reliable but releases too little capacity, the next discussion should concern a more labor-intensive cohort. If it releases time but creates routing confusion, stabilize the boundary before expanding. Choose a partner who can explain the retained operation as clearly as the outsourced one. That is a more useful selection discussion than promising to take a percentage of orders off your hands.
Related reading
Sources
- https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/locations — accessed 2026-10-16