Prioritize location relative to end markets and ports, multimodal carrier access, scalable capacity and labor, WMS/API integration, clear SLAs and pricing (pick/pack, storage, inbound/outbound), bonded or temperature-controlled options if needed, and demonstrated experience with returns and peak-season surges.

Warehouses in Hebei reduce drayage time from Tianjin ports and shorten road transit to Beijing/Tianjin urban belts, lowering last-mile shipping costs and lead times. Multimodal access and regional DC placement enable zone-skewed inventory, optimizing carrier rates and delivery SLA consistency to dense consumer clusters.

Require a modern WMS with real-time inventory feeds, API/EDI connectivity, order orchestration and routing rules, shipment tracking, cycle-count and exception reporting, and dashboard KPIs (OTD, accuracy, dwell). Integration readiness with marketplaces, ERP and carriers is essential for omnichannel execution.

Negotiate scalable capacity and labor clauses, transparent surge pricing, clear SLA metrics with remedies, defined inventory ownership and insurance, documented returns-processing workflows, and customs/bonded handling terms if cross-border flows are involved to protect service continuity during peaks.