Prioritize proximity to major roads, dock and cross-dock capacity, available racked and bulk storage, cold-chain if required, and labor scalability. Also evaluate WMS capabilities, EDI/API connectivity, slotting strategies, reported throughput metrics, and historical SLA performance.

Request transit time matrices, carrier partner lists, and sample route ETAs. Run pilot shipments, review carrier SLAs, check parcel and freight tender success rates, and require monthly performance reports showing on-time delivery, exceptions, and transit variance.

Compare storage (per pallet/cubic meter), pick & pack per-line or per-order rates, inbound receiving fees, minimums, dimensional weight billing, and value-added service charges. Examine volume discounts, billing transparency, chargeback policies, and potential labor surcharges during peaks.

Require real-time inventory sync, order acknowledgements, shipment notifications, ASN support, and APIs or EDI for orders and inventory. Ensure access to dashboards for inventory accuracy, order cycle time, and exception reporting, plus regular exports for reconciliation.

Include order accuracy targets (%), order cycle time (hours to ship), on-time shipment rates, inventory accuracy, dock-to-stock times, and clear chargeback clauses for missed SLAs. Define review cadence, remediation steps, and scalability thresholds tied to volume growth.