Prioritize carrier connectivity to ports and airports, IT and WMS integration (APIs for marketplaces and carriers), inventory accuracy and real-time visibility, scalable racking and temperature-controlled capacity, transparent pricing and cost-to-serve analysis, and proven peak-season scalability.

Warehousing and labour costs in North Sumatra are generally lower than Jakarta and Greater Java, reducing fixed operating expense. However, consider inland transport to major consumption centers and total landed cost; sometimes higher inter-island transport offsets rent savings. Run a zone-based cost model to decide.

Key corridors include feeder shipping lanes from Belawan and Kuala Tanjung, road links to Medan and northern Aceh, and airfreight via Kualanamu. Reliability depends on carrier schedules, port congestion, and last-mile road conditions; choose 3PLs with multimodal options and contingency routing.

Require SLAs for order accuracy, inventory accuracy, pick-to-ship lead time, on-time-in-full (OTIF), returns processing time, and visibility metrics. Include penalties or recovery plans for SLA breaches and ensure the 3PL can scale labour and throughput during promotional peaks.