E-commerce fulfillment center with parcels being sorted and dispatched for DTC delivery
Fulfillment Desk · DTC / Omnichannel

Fulfillment at
Peak Velocity.
3× Surge. Zero Gaps.

Your Q4 volume will triple in six weeks and your carrier will ghost you on Black Friday. Qeep runs a 3× peak surge program so your cart never outpaces your capacity.

Get a fulfillment quoteTalk to our desk
2.4M
Orders shipped / month
99.7%
Order accuracy
3×
Surge capacity above baseline, Q4
48 hrs
Returns-to-sellable-inventory cycle time
Signature Fulfillment Pipeline
  1. 01
    OrderCart confirmed
  2. 02
    WaveBatch released
  3. 03
    PickUnit located
  4. 04
    PackVerified & sealed
  5. 05
    ManifestCarrier rated
  6. 06
    CarrierParcel injected
Stacked cardboard parcels and DTC delivery boxes staged at a fulfillment center dock
Parcel mix — carrier-neutral injection

From cart to carrier in under four hours on same-day cut-off lanes.

Our manifest engine rates every outbound order in real time against FedEx, UPS, USPS, OnTrac, Lasership, and Purolator — selecting the lowest landed cost that meets your delivery promise. Zone-skip intermodal injection fires automatically on eligible long-haul parcel lanes, typically saving 18–25% on parcel spend.

FedExUPSUSPSOnTracPurolatorCanada Post
Why E-Commerce Freight Is Different

3PL Fulfillment & Freight for E-Commerce Brands That Ship at Scale

2.4MDTC orders shipped per month
99.7%Order pick-and-pack accuracy
3×Surge capacity above baseline, Q4
48 hrsReturns-to-sellable-inventory cycle time
E-commerce logistics is a different animal from traditional B2B freight. SKU counts run into the thousands, orders arrive in microsecond bursts, and customers expect next-day delivery as a baseline. Qeep Logistics operates 18 distribution centers across North America — 4.2 million square feet of pick-and-pack, B2C fulfillment, and WMS-connected inventory — plus a carrier-neutral parcel desk that shops FedEx, UPS, USPS, and regional carriers in real time to find the cheapest, fastest option per parcel. We handle DC bypass for retail giants, flow-through for omnichannel brands, and a returns-processing program that gets product back to sellable inventory within 48 hours.
Fulfillment center pick station with flow racks and scan-verify pack benches processing DTC orders
Pick station with flow racks — 99.7% accuracy, barcode-verified pack
The Hard Part

Five challenges that break
generalist 3PLs every Q4.

Peak Season Demand Spikes Up to 3× Baseline

Black Friday through Christmas can push parcel volume to three times a brand’s typical weekly output. Most small 3PLs hit labor and space ceilings by Cyber Monday. Without pre-committed surge capacity, brands face pick backlogs of 5–10 days, missed carrier cut-offs, and customer service meltdowns that scar NPS scores through Q1.

SKU Proliferation Driving Inventory Complexity

A DTC health-and-wellness brand might run 800 active SKUs with 200 seasonal variants. Poorly slotted WMS environments cause pickers to walk 40% more distance per order. Kitting, bundle-pack configuration, and subscription-box assembly add another layer of complexity that generic 3PLs handle with manual spreadsheets, introducing error rates above 2%.

Carrier-Neutral Parcel Optimization

Locking into a single parcel carrier is the most expensive mistake a growing DTC brand makes. Zone-skipping with regional carriers, cubic-weight versus actual-weight arbitrage, and dimensional-weight optimization can cut parcel spend by 18–25%. But it requires daily rate-shopping software and the volume leverage to negotiate carrier agreements.

Returns (Reverse Logistics) at Scale

Industry average e-commerce return rates run 15–25% — with apparel exceeding 30%. Each returned unit that sits unprocessed in a returns cage is tied-up inventory and a potential write-down. Returns processing requires grading, restocking, refurbishment routing, and liquidation disposition — functions that most order-forward 3PLs were never designed to perform efficiently.

Retail Vendor Compliance Chargebacks

Selling into big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, or Costco via a DC bypass program requires near-perfect compliance with their routing guides, carton label specs, EDI transaction sets (940/943/944/945), and delivery appointment windows. Non-compliance chargebacks typically run 2–5% of invoice value and are assessed without negotiation.

How We Operate

Five capabilities. One fulfillment desk.

  1. 01

    1. Distributed Fulfillment Network Placement

    We model your customer zip-code density against our 18-DC network to identify the 2–3 fulfillment nodes that minimize average zone-distance to your buyers. Most brands drop average parcel transit from 4.2 days to 2.1 days and cut zone-4+ shipments by 60% — directly reducing carrier cost per unit.

  2. 02

    2. WMS Integration & SKU Slotting

    We connect to your Shopify, BigCommerce, or ERP via API or EDI in under five business days. Our WMS runs velocity-based slot optimization — fast movers in golden-zone pick positions, slow movers in reserve. Order accuracy targets are 99.7%, backed by barcode verification at pack.

  3. 03

    3. Carrier-Neutral Parcel Manifest

    Every outbound order is rated in real time against FedEx, UPS, USPS, OnTrac, Lasership, and Canadian Purolator/Canada Post. Our manifest engine selects the lowest landed cost that meets the customer’s delivery promise. Zone-skip intermodal injection is applied automatically on eligible long-haul parcel lanes.

  4. 04

    4. Peak Surge Capacity Program

    Q4 surge is pre-committed in writing in March. We reserve labor, space, and parcel injection volume for your brand’s projected peak — plus a 30% buffer. Daily huddles start October 1st. Inbound cut-off calendars are issued by Halloween so your inventory is in position before Black Friday.

  5. 05

    5. Returns Processing & Recommerce

    Returns arrive at your nearest DC and are processed within 48 hours: inspected, graded A/B/C, restocked to sellable inventory, or routed to refurbishment or liquidation per your disposition rules. Our portal gives you real-time visibility into returns by SKU, return reason code, and disposition outcome.

Compliance & Standards

The specs that govern
e-commerce fulfillment.

EDI 940 / 943 / 944 / 945 — Warehouse Transaction Sets

Retail vendor programs and TMS integrations rely on standardized EDI transactions: 940 (warehouse shipping order), 943 (warehouse stock transfer shipment advice), 944 (warehouse stock transfer receipt), and 945 (warehouse shipping advice). Qeep supports all four natively via AS2 or VAN, meeting the spec requirements of Walmart, Target, Costco, and Amazon.

FedEx / UPS / USPS Manifest Specifications

Each parcel carrier publishes detailed label and manifest specs — barcode formats, DIM weight rules, service codes, and address validation requirements. Non-compliant manifests result in carrier surcharges or refused pickups. Qeep’s manifest engine is certified to current FedEx Ship Manager, UPS Worldship, and USPS PostalOne specifications.

Shopify / Amazon / Walmart Vendor Compliance

Each marketplace or big-box retailer publishes a routing guide that governs carton labels, pallet configuration, delivery appointment scheduling, and chargeback triggers. Qeep’s compliance desk maintains current versions of all major vendor manuals and flags non-compliant orders before they ship.

CPSC Product Safety for Consumer Goods

E-commerce brands selling consumer products — toys, electronics, apparel, personal care — must comply with CPSC regulations on labeling, country-of-origin marking, and product recall procedures. Our WMS supports SKU-level lot-and-batch tracking to enable rapid recall isolation without shutting down the entire inventory.

American conventional semi-truck hauling DTC freight on a US highway for store-direct DC bypass delivery
DC bypass & store-direct freight
High-bay warehouse racking aisle in a modern fulfillment center with inventory stored for DTC orders
4.2M sq ft · 18 DC network · bonded & GMP space
Recommended Modes

The freight modes e-commerce brands depend on.

Warehousing

Bonded and ambient warehousing, pick-and-pack, B2B and DTC fulfillment with WMS visibility.

Learn more →

Expedited

Time-critical freight — sprinter, straight-truck and team-driver expedites with under-hour cover.

Learn more →

Less-than-Truckload (LTL)

Shared trailer space for shipments under a full load — predictable rates and reliable transit.

Learn more →
High-bay warehouse racking aisle inside a large North American distribution center

18 DCs. 4.2M square feet. Your inventory two zones closer to every buyer.

Common Questions

Questions e-commerce shippers ask us.

How quickly can you onboard a new e-commerce brand onto your fulfillment network?
Standard onboarding — WMS integration, SKU setup, inbound receiving, and first outbound — runs 10–15 business days for Shopify, BigCommerce, or API-connected brands. EDI-only enterprise accounts typically require 20–25 business days. We assign a dedicated implementation manager from day one.
Do you support kitting, subscription-box assembly, and custom packouts?
Yes. Our value-added services desk handles kitting, bundle assembly, subscription-box pick, insert placement, tissue wrap, and custom packaging. SKU-level work instructions are uploaded to our WMS so every packout is consistent regardless of which DC is fulfilling the order.
How does your carrier-neutral parcel program actually save money?
Our manifest engine rates each parcel against all contracted carriers in real time at the point of label generation. It accounts for DIM weight, zone, service level, and surcharge profiles for each carrier. Most brands see an 18–25% reduction in parcel spend within the first 90 days by routing lighter, closer packages to regional carriers and heavier ground packages through the lowest-cost national carrier.
Can you handle DC bypass programs for retail giants like Walmart or Target?
Yes. Our retail compliance desk manages routing-guide adherence, carton label compliance, and EDI transaction sets for all major big-box retailers. DC bypass programs require perfect appointment scheduling and label accuracy — we track compliance by retailer and share monthly scorecards so you can see chargeback exposure before the retailer invoices it.
What does your returns processing look like end-to-end?
Returned parcels arrive at the nearest DC and are scanned in within 24 hours of receipt. Each unit is inspected and graded (A: sellable as-is, B: needs repackage, C: refurbish or liquidate) per your disposition rules. Grade-A units are restocked to live inventory within 48 hours. You receive a daily returns report by SKU, return reason, and disposition outcome.
How do you manage peak season without dropping service levels?
We lock in Q4 surge capacity in writing by April — labor headcount, floor space allocation, and parcel injection volume. Daily ops huddles start October 1st. We issue an inbound cut-off calendar so your inventory arrives at our DCs before carrier peak surcharges and space constraints hit. Our SLA targets during peak are identical to off-peak: 99.5% same-day ship on orders received before the daily cut-off.
Related Industries

Adjacent verticals we serve.

Retail & Consumer freight logistics
Industry

Retail & Consumer

Peak-season ramp, DC bypass, omni-channel fulfillment and DTC last-mile orchestration.

Paper & Packaging freight logistics
Industry

Paper & Packaging

Paper rolls, corrugated, packaging materials — high-density, high-volume freight specialists.

Technology & Electronics freight logistics
Industry

Technology & Electronics

High-value, sensitive freight — semiconductors, data centers, consumer electronics, IT hardware.

Let’s move it

Have a shipment? Get rates in 10 min.

Tell us the origin, destination and mode. A Qeep specialist replies within 10 minutes with live capacity, lane price, and a transit window you can actually plan around.

Get a quoteTalk to a specialist