Prioritise transit corridors to major markets and ports, SLA history (OTIF, pick accuracy), WMS/API capabilities, racking and throughput capacity, labour availability, carrier diversity, and transparent pricing (storage, pick/pack, handling). Run scenario modelling on landed cost, transit time, and inventory days to compare providers.

Require WMS integration, scalable racking and mezzanine capacity, sufficient dock doors and staging, ceiling height for pallet stacking, ambient and cold storage options, cross‑dock capability, barcode scanning and returns processing, and defined KPIs for accuracy and lead time.

Closer proximity to ports and dense carrier networks reduces drayage, consolidates inbound shipments, shortens lead times, and lowers transport spend. That improves service windows and enables smaller safety stocks, which together cut landed cost and improve responsiveness to order spikes.

Negotiate transparent unit economics (storage tiers, pick/pack rates), volume bands and rebates, short notice throughput pricing, clear SLA credits, termination and scale‑up clauses, and data‑access rights for WMS reporting to enable agility as demand varies.