EZDC 3PL’s Dave Gulas on Why the Right Fulfillment Partner Can Make or Break an Ecommerce Brand

EZDC 3PL’s Dave Gulas on Why the Right Fulfillment Partner Can Make or Break an Ecommerce Brand

Fulfillment rarely gets the spotlight in ecommerce success stories; but when it fails, customers notice immediately. In a recent appearance on The Ecommerce Toolbox, Dave Gulas, President and Co-Founder of EZDC 3PL, shared practical insights on why fulfillment should be treated as a strategic advantage rather than a back-office expense.

Drawing from nearly two decades in medical and pharmaceutical distribution where speed, accuracy, and accountability are mission-critical, Gulas explained how high-touch service and operational discipline translate directly into better outcomes for ecommerce brands.

“There’s about 10,000 3PLs just in the U.S. alone,” Gulas said. “If brands aren’t used to comparing them, it’s easy to think it’s just a cost center. But the wrong 3PL can break your business.”

Fulfillment Is Not a Graduation by Volume

One of the biggest misconceptions in ecommerce is that there’s a magic order number where outsourcing suddenly makes sense.

Gulas disagrees.

“It’s different for everybody,” he explained. “When it becomes a headache, when you’re spending more time on logistics than growing your business, that’s usually when you know it’s time.”

Instead of focusing on order count alone, brands should evaluate complexity. SKU growth, shipping rate pressure, tech limitations, and time drain are stronger signals than hitting arbitrary benchmarks of 500 or 1,000 orders per month.

Technology Is the Baseline; Not a Bonus

A major theme of the conversation was the importance of warehouse management systems.

Gulas admitted he’s still surprised by how many operations lack proper WMS infrastructure.

“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Wait, can you connect to my Shopify?’” he said. “It should be automatic. Literally takes a minute to plug in and orders flow right through.”

For ecommerce brands, seamless integration with platforms like Shopify, Amazon, and other channels is no longer optional. A modern WMS enables:

• Real-time inventory accuracy
• Automated order flow
• Scalable operations
• Fewer fulfillment errors

Without it, brands risk inefficiencies that lead to fulfillment issues and quietly erode customer trust.

The Three Biggest Mistakes Brands Make

Gulas outlined three recurring issues he sees when brands choose the wrong 3PL:

1. No robust WMS or poor integrations

Technology gaps create friction from day one.

2. Undefined escalation processes

“If something goes wrong, what happens?” Gulas asked. Brands should never be stuck emailing a support inbox for days waiting on answers.

3. Unclear SLAs and ship cutoffs

Brands must know exactly when orders are placed on a given day ship and what happens if they don’t.

Partnership > Pricing

Perhaps the most overlooked insight from the episode was about fit.

Gulas shared that in the early days, EZDC 3PL took on clients that weren’t ideal fits. That changed and relationships blossomed. 

“We’ve gotten a lot better about defining who our ideal client is and saying no to anything that isn’t going to fit,” he said. “We want to be a good partner and own our mistakes, but we expect the customer to do the same thing.”

That means brands need operational readiness too, including clean data, routing compliance, and an understanding of their own systems.

When both sides execute, logistics become invisible.

“When orders come in, they just flow right through and go out on time,” Gulas explained. “Our goal is that our customers don’t even have to think about logistics.”

AI Will Grow Ecommerce, Not Replace Fulfillment

While AI dominated the broader retail conversation in 2025 and early 2026, Gulas sees it as a volume accelerator more than a warehouse disruptor.

“I don’t see how it changes fulfillment fundamentals,” he said. “The product still has to go to the warehouse and ship. But it’s going to make it easier for people to click and buy something.”

AI may automate claims processing, tracking, and workflow optimization. But picking, packing, and shipping still depend on operational discipline and strong operating systems and principles.

And as ecommerce volume grows, how you execute your fulfillment strategy becomes even more critical.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Gulas expects ecommerce to continue expanding in 2026 and sees Q1 and Q2 as the key window when many brands reevaluate their fulfillment strategy.

That steady, partnership-first approach has helped EZDC 3PL carve out a strong position in an increasingly crowded 3PL market. As brands prepare for another growth year, companies like EZDC are aiming to be more than just service providers, but true extensions of the teams they support.

Listen to the full episode here: The Ecommerce Toolbox