Ecommerce Logistics: The Full Chain

Ecommerce logistics is everything that moves a product from the factory to your customer and back: sourcing, freight, storage, fulfillment, last-mile delivery and returns. This guide gives a map of the chain, who does what and where brands usually lose time or money.

The chain

1. SourcingSupplier and production.
2. Freight and customsSea, air or road, with import paperwork.
3. WarehousingReceiving and storage.
4. FulfillmentPick, pack, ship.
5. Last mileCarrier delivery.
6. ReturnsReverse flow.

Who handles which step

Details: what a 3PL is and what ecommerce fulfillment is.

Where brands lose time and money

• Delays at customs due to incomplete paperwork.
• Receiving errors that create stock mismatches.
• Rising shipping costs without carrier review.
• Slow returns that lock up inventory.

Connecting the steps

Fewer handoffs mean fewer errors. A partner that covers port, warehouse and shipping reduces gaps. We are near the Port of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. See Sea freight and customs, E-commerce Warehousing Solutions and the end of de minimis for import rules.

Inbound freight options

Product costSupplier price

FreightInternational shipping and insurance

Duties and feesCustoms charges

Inbound deliveryPort to warehouse

Fulfillment and shippingStorage, pick and pack, delivery

Landed cost: what makes up the total

• Product cost.
• International freight and insurance.
• Customs duties and fees.
• Inbound delivery to the warehouse.
• Storage, pick and pack, and outbound shipping.

Metrics to watch

• Lead time from supplier to sellable stock.
• Dock-to-stock time.
• Order accuracy and on-time delivery.
• Landed cost per unit and cost per order.

Logistics vs. supply chain vs. fulfillment

The three terms overlap, and mixing them up leads to unclear contracts. Supply chain is the widest: sourcing, production, planning and every movement of goods. Logistics is the part that moves and stores goods and manages the flow of information with them. Fulfillment is the narrowest: the warehouse work of turning a customer order into a delivered parcel. A seller who needs only pick and pack does not need a full logistics partner, and a seller who imports from overseas usually does.

Domestic and cross-border logistics

For a domestic seller, the chain is short: stock arrives at a warehouse, orders ship by ground carrier, returns come back. Cross-border adds customs clearance, duties, longer lead times and more paperwork, and each of these needs an owner. If you import into the United States, check the current rules on low-value shipments and de minimis before you plan stock movements, because they affect landed cost directly.

A worked example of the chain

A brand orders 5,000 units from a supplier overseas. The units leave the factory on sea freight, clear customs at the port, and a truck takes the pallets to the warehouse. Receiving checks the count against the shipping notice and puts stock into pick locations. Customer orders then flow from the store to the warehouse, are picked, packed and handed to a carrier, and returns come back to the same warehouse. Every arrow in that chain has a lead time and a cost. The most useful exercise for a seller is to write the chain down for one product and put a number next to each step.

How to evaluate your own logistics

1. Write the chain for your best-selling product, from supplier to doorstep.
2. Name the owner of every step. A step with no owner is where problems stay hidden.
3. Record lead time and cost for each step, using real invoices.
4. Mark where information is passed by hand, such as emails, spreadsheets or re-keyed orders.
5. Fix the step with the largest cost or the most delays first, then repeat.

When the chain has too many handoffs, a single partner for warehouse, fulfillment and shipping often costs less than the sum of separate providers. Our third party logistics service covers this scope.

Frequently asked questions