Since 2005, Vertex Logical Solutions has provided order fulfillment services from fulfillment centers across North America. Every order is supported by scan-confirmed picking at 99.98% accuracy, receipt-to-pickable under 24 hours, and pick and pack pricing from $1.05 per order. With a month-to-month contract and a named account lead from day one, we’re easy to compare on cost per order.
What goes wrong at non-ecommerce-native 3PLs
Most ecommerce 3PLs began as B2B warehouses that started pulling Shopify orders five years ago. Integration depth never arrived, and DTC order accuracy is where that shows up first. Two structural patterns account for nearly every migration conversation, both inside fulfillment companies that never rebuilt the fulfillment process for DTC and marketplaces.
Some 3PLs claim Shopify integration when orders are exported manually once a day. That means a 4 PM order may not reach the WMS until the next morning, so the same-shift cutoff time cannot hold. Real ecommerce integrations use continuous order webhooks, inventory sync, and tracking writeback. Without them, order processing runs a day behind and delivery times slip.
FBA prep is often routed to another fulfillment center, creating inventory transfers, duplicate storage fees, extra pick fees, and 3 to 5 days of delay. Subscription box fulfillment breaks the same way when SKU swaps, flavor changes, or one-time additions fail to reach the WMS. The original recurring SKU ships instead, leaving customer service to manage refunds, replacements, and chargebacks.
Returns processing can sit for 5 to 10 days, leaving brands with no order visibility into return queues, SKU-level trends, or product problems until months later. Kitting is equally rigid when promotions require thousands of pre-assembled bundles. Without kit-on-the-fly workflows, short campaigns end with unused bundles in storage, generating storage fees after the promotion finishes.
What ecommerce fulfillment covers
Ecommerce fulfillment is order fulfillment services plus the channel logic a DTC catalogue needs. The physical workflow is familiar: receiving, storage, picking, packing, shipping, and returns processing. What changes is how orders enter the WMS, how inventory moves across sales channels, and how exceptions such as subscriptions, FBA replenishment, kits, promotions, and reverse logistics are handled without manual rekeying.
Orders enter the warehouse management system through direct platform integrations, not daily CSV imports. Shopify and Shopify Plus push order webhooks in near real time, with API polling as a fallback. Amazon Seller Central, TikTok Shop, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Etsy, eBay, and Magento follow the same principle.
Receiving is dock-to-stock in under 24 hours. Warehousing and storage run on cycle counts. One inventory pool holds inventory accuracy and real-time visibility across DTC, MFN, and FBA.
Every pick uses barcode scanning against the order, which holds our order accuracy at 99.98% or better. Orders received before the local cutoff time ship the same shift. Carrier rates and shipping costs are rate-shopped before label print.
Subscription orders are treated as standard live orders, so SKU swaps and one-time additions propagate before picking and packing begins. Batch subscription waves run on fixed ship windows, which supports demand forecasting through peak season.
Amazon FBA prep runs alongside DTC fulfillment, with FNSKU labeling, poly-bagging, multi-pack bundling, and replenishment handled from the same inventory pool. Seller Fulfilled Prime and Prime orders draw on that pool too.
Kit-on-the-fly workflows assemble bundles from component SKUs during picking, so brands run short GWP promotions without pre-kitting thousands of units. Custom packaging and branded inserts are photographed and approved during onboarding. Insert placement, void-fill, and unboxing experience are checked against a QC reference.
Returns arrive with an RMA number and return label and move through a dedicated inspection workflow. Units are graded as sellable, refurbishable, damaged, or fraud-flagged, then returned to the inventory pool or dispositioned accordingly.
The returns dashboard tracks disposition rates at the SKU level, giving you clear visibility into return causes, product quality trends, and restock velocity so reverse logistics run on data, not guesswork.
Share your order volume, product mix, sales channels, and fulfillment requirements. Vertex builds a 3PL fulfillment quote around your actual operation.
One inventory pool
One inventory pool feeds every channel. A unit on the rack can ship DTC, ship MFN through Seller Central, or move into FBA replenishment without a transfer, a second storage bill, or a second SKU ID. That is what omnichannel fulfillment means operationally: rules-based routing per channel SLA, not multi-channel fulfillment across warehouses pretending to be one.
Native Shopify, Shopify Plus, and Shopify Markets: Shopify 3PL fulfillment handles order webhooks, inventory sync, tracking writeback, market-specific shipping rules, and subscription renewals so one-time and recurring orders move through the same workflow.
Native Amazon Seller Central and FBA Prep: MFN, FBM, and FBA prep run through one WMS, with replenishment controls plus poly-bagging, labeling, bundling, and hazmat compliance in the same operation.
TikTok Shop, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Etsy, and Walmart: Major ecommerce platforms and marketplaces connect through direct API integrations, with near-real-time inventory tracking and automated Klaviyo and Postscript triggers. Retail fulfillment and B2B fulfillment add EDI compliance on the same order pipeline.
Subscriptions, GWP, and Kit-on-the-Fly Bundles: Subscription orders, gift-with-purchase rules, and dynamic kits run through the WMS, with bundles assembled from component SKUs at pick time instead of pre-kitted.
Returns Processing with Brand-Spec Inspection: Returns arrive with RMAs, are inspected against brand criteria, then restocked, reworked, liquidated, or fraud-flagged, with photo capture and SKU-level reporting for order visibility.
Who this service is for
Ecommerce fulfillment fits brands whose order mix and workflow depth would break a generic pick-and-pack operation. Below are the four profiles we run ecommerce fulfillment for most often.
Built on Shopify, growing fast, has 600 to 4,000 orders per day at peak. Wants native Shopify integration, branded packout, subscription support, and Klaviyo transactional triggers. Not interested in 3PLs that "support Shopify" via a generic CSV import.
Runs DTC on Shopify and a parallel Amazon Seller Central business with FBM and FBA. Wants one 3PL handling both with consistent SKU IDs, consistent packout, and FBA prep on the same dock. Tired of explaining the brand twice to two different 3PLs.
Monthly or quarterly recurring box, 3,000 to 80,000 active subscribers, plus a one-time accessories or upsell SKU catalog. Needs predictable batch pick-pack on ship-window days alongside daily one-time orders, with insert and kit logic that does not break under load.
Has a working Shopify operation, just opened TikTok Shop, BigCommerce, or international Shopify Markets, needs a 3PL that supports the new channel without a 90-day integration project. Wants the same SLA at the new channel as the established one.
Book an operations review with the account manager who will run your fulfillment. Discuss order volume, workflows, and integrations before building the plan.
Channel comparison
Integration depth, by channel
Click a channel to see how we integrate, what the sync cadence is, and what the catch is. Honest about every line.
Shopify · Shopify Plus · Shopify Markets
Native order webhooks. Near-real-time ingest. Frequent inventory sync.
How we integrate
Direct Shopify Plus app integration with order webhooks, inventory sync, and tracking writeback. Multi-region (Shopify Markets) and subscription apps (Recharge, Bold, Loop) integrate at order level.
Sync cadence
Order webhook from purchase to WMS in near-real time. Inventory sync on a frequent cadence. Tracking writeback promptly after label print. Klaviyo trigger fires on ship event.
The catch
Shopify rate-limits the Admin API at 2 requests/sec on standard plans and 20 requests/sec on Plus. For high-throughput brands we recommend Plus to avoid sync throttling.
Where this service runs
Vertex operates a fulfillment network across 26 metro markets in the U.S. and Canada, connected through one WMS and inventory pool. Each market has its own carrier network, cutoffs, and labour costs, so fulfillment operations and pricing are quoted against your actual order profile.
Network
Warehouse locations directly affect shipping costs and delivery times. One node serving both coasts pushes more parcels into higher zones, while splitting inventory across multiple warehouses reduces blended ground costs and buys faster delivery. FBA follows a similar principle, with high-volume brands positioned closer to Amazon inbound facilities.
U.S. + Canada
Section 321 de minimis is gone, and the tariff stack has changed the economics of low-value parcels moving south. Cross-border fulfillment and logistics records the CUSMA origin your customs broker determines for each SKU and splits nodes so domestic parcels stay domestic.
Duty deferral, bonded storage, and the non-resident importer route change who carries the compliance burden and when the money leaves the supply chain.
Pricing
Pick and pack starts at $1.05 per order, first item included. Receiving, storage, FBA prep, kitting, returns, and freight are value-added services quoted against a real order mix, with trigger conditions written down before signature. Returns must arrive with an RMA number and a return label. Cost per order is the number worth comparing, not the pick rate.
There is no annual contract: a month-to-month contract, 60 days’ written notice, and order minimums of 500 orders a month. Storage fees are quoted, not discovered. If a provider cannot price a service before you sign for it, do not sign for it. Published fulfillment pricing lists every line.
Vertex does not bill four lines a fulfillment vendor commonly does:
Why Vertex
Vertex combines established experience, measurable operational efficiency, and ecommerce-specific workflows under one fulfillment network. Brands get order visibility, a dedicated account manager, and fulfillment solutions built around real order complexity, not a generic warehouse model.
Proven Ecommerce Fulfillment Experience: Vertex has run ecommerce fulfillment since 2005 for DTC, marketplace, subscription, FBA, returns, and multi-channel workflows across North America.
Transparent Performance and Accountable Operations: Scan-confirmed picking, published service metrics, a defined service level agreement, and named account leadership give a direct point of accountability.
Flexible Workflows Built for Growing Brands: Native integrations, kit-on-the-fly, subscription handling, FBA prep, branded packout, and returns processing let brands add channels without rebuilding the operation.
Our FAQs
Third-party logistics describes the provider; a fulfillment center describes the facility. A 3PL provider operates warehousing plus WMS, carrier management, returns, and compliance. A 4PL manages external fulfillment providers instead. The distinction matters when comparing outsourced fulfillment models and fulfillment centers on cost.
Receipt-to-pickable is under 24 hours. It measures when inventory becomes available for picking, not put-away. Vancouver's same-shift cutoff is 12 PM PT. Vertex publishes order accuracy, inventory accuracy, DIFOT, and SLA performance weekly.
Fulfillment cost varies by unit count, weight, packaging, and channel mix. Pick and pack starts at $1.05, with other services quoted separately. The minimum is 500 orders monthly, and the fulfillment service provider you talk to is the fulfillment partner running the account.
