Prioritize transit times, dock and staging capacity, WMS/API integrations, pick/pack throughput, and SLA guarantees. Evaluate carrier density, returns capabilities, accuracy metrics, labor flexibility, and the provider’s experience with your product categories to quantify cost-per-order and operational risk.

Request lane maps, carrier contracts, parcel and LTL pricing tiers, and historical transit data. Verify last-mile partners and intermodal options, then model delivery windows and costs to priority ZIPs. Use this to estimate service performance and landed cost across channels.

Onboarding commonly takes 6–12 weeks: site assessment, WMS integration and EDI/API testing, SKU and inventory set-up, pick-path design, staff training, and test shipments. Add buffer for compliance checks, custom packaging, and peak-season stress testing before full go-live.

Negotiate explicit SLAs with service credits, inventory reconciliation frequency, liability and insurance limits, termination notice, and change-order pricing. Include caps on rate adjustments, audit rights, data security obligations, and defined remedies for SLA breaches to mitigate operational and financial exposure.