Fulfillment Center RFP: The Complete Guide to Finding a 3PL Partner That Actually Fits

Running a fulfillment center RFP is one of the most high-stakes procurement exercises a growing brand will ever undertake. Get it right, and you gain a logistics partner who scales with you. Get it wrong, and you're mid-contract with a 3PL that can't handle your peak volume, doesn't communicate proactively, and treats your account like a commodity. Most brands get it wrong, not because they're careless, but because they're using the wrong tools. A messy spreadsheet, a few Google searches, and a gut-feel shortlist is not a process. It's a guess with extra steps. This guide walks through what a fulfillment center RFP actually is, what to include in one, how to evaluate responses, and how to tell the difference between a 3PL that fits and one that just sounds good on a call. --- ## What Is a Fulfillment Center RFP? A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a structured document you send to potential fulfillment partners outlining your business requirements and asking them to respond with their capabilities, pricing, and approach. But here's a framing shift worth making: a fulfillment center RFP isn't just a procurement tool. It's a relationship design document. The way you structure your RFP signals to 3PLs exactly how you plan to operate as a partner. A vague, disorganized RFP tells providers you may be difficult to work with. A clear, data-rich RFP attracts serious operators who want to build something durable. --- ## When to Run a Fulfillment Center RFP Not every brand needs a formal RFP. But you should run one if: - You're outgrowing your current 3PL and evaluating alternatives - You're launching in a new geography and need regional coverage - Your fulfillment costs have become a meaningful drag on margin - You've had recurring service failures and want to start fresh - You're approaching a significant scale inflection (new retail channel, new product line, major growth milestone) If any of these apply, a structured process protects you from picking the loudest 3PL in the room instead of the right one. --- ## What to Include in Your Fulfillment Center RFP A strong RFP gives 3PLs enough context to respond accurately and gives you enough structure to compare responses fairly. Here's what to cover: ### 1. Business Overview Start with who you are. Not a marketing pitch, but operational context. Include: - What you sell and your product category - Where you sell (DTC, retail, wholesale, marketplace) - Current annual order volume and SKU count - Average order value and average units per order - Your peak seasons and what peak looks like (orders per day, volume spikes) This helps 3PLs self-select. Providers who can't handle your volume or category will ideally tell you upfront. ### 2. Current Fulfillment Situation Describe where you are today. If you're moving from another 3PL, what broke down? If you're moving out of self-fulfillment, what's driving the shift? This context shapes how a provider will respond and what solutions they'll propose. ### 3. Operational Requirements This is the technical core of your RFP. Be specific. Include: - Inbound requirements (freight types, container receiving, cross-dock) - Storage requirements (ambient, temp-controlled, hazmat, oversized) - Pick and pack complexity (kitting, custom packaging, inserts, personalization) - Outbound requirements (carrier preferences, SLA expectations, same-day cutoffs) - Returns processing expectations - Technology requirements (WMS integrations, EDI, API connectivity) Vague RFPs produce vague proposals. Every requirement you leave out is a gap that shows up post-contract. ### 4. Geography and Network Where do your customers live? Where does your inventory ship from? Do you need multi-node fulfillment to reduce transit time and shipping cost, or does a single facility work? Include your current shipping origin(s) and a breakdown of your customer distribution by region if you have it. This is one of the most underused inputs in a fulfillment center RFP and one of the highest-leverage. ### 5. Pricing Request Structure Ask for pricing in a format that lets you compare apples to apples. Request: - Receiving rates (per pallet, per carton, per hour) - Storage rates (per pallet, per bin, per cubic foot. Whatever applies) - Pick and pack fees (per order, per unit, per line item) - Outbound handling - Returns handling - Any account minimums or setup fees Ask every provider to price the same sample scenarios. Without this, you'll get proposals structured in completely different ways, and comparison becomes nearly impossible. ### 6. Reporting and Communication Expectations How often do you expect to meet with your account team? What KPIs matter to you: order accuracy, on-time ship rate, inbound processing time? What does your team need to see in a dashboard? 3PLs that are serious about partnership will have answers to these questions. Ones who aren't will give you vague commitments. ### 7. Transition and Implementation Ask specifically: what does onboarding look like? Who owns it? What's the timeline? What have past onboardings looked like for brands at your volume? Transition is where a lot of 3PL relationships go sideways early. The way a provider answers this question tells you a lot about how they operate. --- ## How to Evaluate Fulfillment Center RFP Responses Getting responses back is only half the process. Evaluation is where most brands lose discipline. ### Compare on Structure, Not Story A well-constructed response is itself a signal. If a provider's proposal is disorganized, full of marketing language, and thin on specifics, that's a data point, not just a formatting issue. ### Score Across Four Dimensions A reliable evaluation framework covers: **Operational Fit** — Can they actually handle your volume, product type, and channel requirements? Do they have the integrations you need? **Geographic Fit** — Are their facilities in the right locations relative to your customer base? What's the modeled transit time and cost impact? **Financial Fit** — Is the pricing competitive and transparent? Are there minimum commitments or escalators buried in the contract? **Cultural Fit** — How do they communicate? Are they forthcoming about limitations? Do they ask smart questions back? That last one is often overlooked. A 3PL that asks good questions during the RFP process is likely to be a better partner than one that just tells you what you want to hear. ### Don't Skip the Reference Calls Ask every finalist for two or three references — specifically brands with similar volume and channel mix to yours. Ask references about communication, how the 3PL handled service failures, and whether they'd sign again. References are one of the most high-signal inputs in the entire process. Most brands do them too late or skip them entirely. ### Site Visits Matter For your top one or two finalists, visit the facility. Walk the floor. Meet the operations team, not just the sales team. Watch how they handle inbound. Look at how inventory is organized. Ask to see the WMS in action. You're evaluating a physical operation. Seeing it is part of the process. --- ## Common Mistakes in the Fulfillment Center RFP Process **Sending the RFP to too many providers.** Five to eight is a reasonable initial list. More than that and you're collecting noise. Narrow to two or three finalists for in-depth evaluation. **Focusing on rate over fit.** The cheapest proposal is rarely the right one. A 3PL that under-prices to win your business and then cuts corners on service costs more than the savings. **Not standardizing pricing scenarios.** If you don't give every provider the same scenario to price, you can't compare them fairly. **Treating the RFP as one-directional.** The best RFP processes involve back-and-forth. Encourage providers to ask clarifying questions. The ones who do are more likely to be engaged partners. **Ignoring transition complexity.** How you get from where you are to a new 3PL is as important as who you pick. Build transition planning into your evaluation criteria. --- ## How to Know When Fit Is Actually Good Fit isn't just "they can do what we need." That's table stakes. Real fit looks like: - The operations team understands your business model, not just your SKU count - They've worked with brands in your category before and can speak specifically to the challenges - Their technology stack connects to yours without a major integration lift - Their facility location meaningfully improves your transit time or cost structure - They were honest about what they can't do, not just what they can - When something goes wrong during the evaluation (a slow response, a missed detail), they address it directly The best fulfillment partnerships are built on transparency from the start. If a 3PL is overselling in the RFP stage, that behavior doesn't improve after you sign. --- ## Fulfillment Center RFP Template: What to Include Use this as your framework when building your RFP document. Customize each section to reflect your actual operation. **Section 1: Company Overview** Business summary, product category, channels, revenue range, growth trajectory **Section 2: Current State** Where you fulfill from today, what's working, what's not, why you're running an RFP now **Section 3: Volume and SKU Data** Annual orders, monthly breakdown, peak vs. off-peak, SKU count and velocity tiers **Section 4: Operational Requirements** Inbound, storage, pick/pack, outbound, returns, special handling, technology integrations **Section 5: Geography** Origin points, customer distribution by region, transit time expectations **Section 6: Pricing Request** Standardized scenarios with required line items; request fully loaded cost examples **Section 7: Reporting and KPIs** Required reporting cadence, dashboard access, key metrics you track **Section 8: Transition Plan Request** Onboarding timeline, ownership, references from comparable transitions **Section 9: References** Request two to three client references with similar profile to yours --- ## Run Your Entire Fulfillment Center RFP Through Slotted The process above works. It's also a lot of spreadsheets, back-and-forth emails, and manually structured comparison matrices. Slotted is purpose-built for exactly this process. You submit your requirements once. Qualified 3PLs respond in a standardized format. You compare responses side by side without reformatting a single proposal. No steering toward any particular provider. No commission-based incentives. Just structured data and a process that helps you make a confident decision. [Run your fulfillment center RFP on Slotted →](https://slotted.com) --- ## Final Thought The brands that find durable 3PL partnerships don't just get lucky. They run a disciplined process, send a clear RFP, evaluate on fit rather than price, and treat the selection as the beginning of a relationship, not the end of a transaction. The fulfillment center RFP is where that relationship starts. Build it carefully.