Prioritize location relative to main highways, dock density and bay configuration, clear height and racking options, WMS and integration APIs, workforce skill and shift flexibility, security and compliance, and available value‑add services (kitting, returns). Assess these against your order profile, SKUs, and peak season variability.

Compare fixed and variable costs: land/rent, labor rates, utilities, and racking; then layer transport costs and transit time impacts on customer promises. Run scenario analyses (inventory carrying, per‑order handling, and last‑mile rates) and include service failure or delay costs to quantify total landed cost and customer experience trade‑offs.

Require a modern WMS with real‑time inventory, barcode scanning, multi‑channel order orchestration, EDI/API connectivity, reporting and KPI dashboards, automated shipping label generation, and clear SLAs for inventory reconciliation and exception handling to support omnichannel flows.

Conduct site visits and operational audits, run a pilot or phased onboarding, request performance data and client references, validate IT integrations in test environments, negotiate clear KPIs and penalties, and confirm surge capacity plans for seasonal demand and contingency operations.