3PL RFPs For Ecommerce Brands, How To Write One That Attracts The Right Partner

Executive TLDR

Writing a request for proposal for a third party logistics partner can feel like homework, but it is one of the highest leverage projects you can run as an ecommerce brand.

Done well, a 3PL RFP gives you apples to apples proposals, real pricing transparency, and a clear way to spot which partner will actually support your growth. Done poorly, it just creates a stack of PDFs that all sound the same and leave you guessing.

If you ship small, light, non fragile products such as supplements, vitamins, cosmetics, wellness products, snacks, or subscription boxes, the right 3PL can help you ship faster, cut errors, and protect margins. The right RFP is how you find that partner without losing six months to side conversations.

In this guide, you will follow a fictional brand, Northline Naturals, as they move from a loose vendor search to a focused 3PL RFP process, and ultimately choose a partner like
Product Fulfillment Solutions with a central
Cincinnati, Ohio fulfillment center.

You will see how to:

• Clarify whether you are truly ready to issue an RFP
• Structure your 3PL RFP so the right partners lean in and the wrong ones opt out
• Ask detailed operational questions without making the document overwhelming
• Standardize responses so you can compare proposals in hours instead of weeks
• Avoid common mistakes that lead to bad fits and hidden costs

If you want a 3PL RFP that attracts the right partners instead of generic sales pitches, you can start a conversation here,
Contact Product Fulfillment Solutions.

Table of Contents

• When a 3PL RFP makes sense for your brand
• Story, How Northline Naturals turned chaos into a clear 3PL RFP
• Key sections every 3PL RFP should include
• How to write a results driven 3PL RFP
• Evaluation criteria, how to compare 3PL proposals side by side
• Common 3PL RFP mistakes to avoid
• How a central Cincinnati 3PL strengthens your RFP
• A simple 3PL RFP outline you can adapt
• How Product Fulfillment Solutions responds to 3PL RFPs
• 3PL RFP FAQs

When a 3PL RFP makes sense for your brand

Not every 3PL search needs a full blown RFP. Sometimes a lighter process and a few discovery calls are enough.

A structured RFP starts to make sense when:

• You are shipping at least several thousand orders per month and expect that number to keep growing
• You are already working with a 3PL and are considering a change because of performance, price, or service
• Multiple stakeholders will be involved in the decision, operations, finance, procurement, and leadership
• You want to compare providers in a repeatable way instead of relying on whoever has the best slide deck

If any of those are true, an RFP is not “extra paperwork.” It is how you keep a high stakes decision organized, fair, and grounded in your reality.

Story, How Northline Naturals turned chaos into a clear 3PL RFP

Northline Naturals sells daily wellness packs, functional snacks, and seasonal bundles. For a while, they made their in house fulfillment work. Then growth caught up with them.

The “before” picture, emails, spreadsheets, and confusion

When they first started looking for a 3PL, their process looked like this:

• Operations asked a few 3PLs for “ballpark pricing”
• Sales reps replied with different rate cards and capabilities
• Finance built a spreadsheet to compare options, then realized each quote used different assumptions
• Leadership tried to make sense of it all, but every conversation felt like starting over

They knew they needed help with order fulfillment and inventory management. They just did not have a structured way to ask for it.

Calling a timeout to write a real RFP

After one particularly confusing meeting, Northline hit pause and decided to treat the search like a proper project.

They pulled together a small team from operations, finance, and ecommerce, and outlined three clear goals for a 3PL partner:

• Improve order accuracy and delivery times without pushing all shipments into premium air services
• Gain better visibility into inventory and performance by SKU and channel
• Stabilize fulfillment costs as they added new products and subscription programs

From there, they drafted a 3PL RFP that reflected their actual business, not a generic template. That is when the quality of proposals shifted.

The “after” picture, proposals they could actually compare

Once the RFP went out, something important happened.

• Some providers quietly walked away because they could not meet the requirements
• Others responded with detailed, structured proposals that matched the RFP sections
• Northline could compare responses side by side for pricing, service levels, and technology

That clarity made it much easier to identify a partner like
Product Fulfillment Solutions that specialized in small, light, non fragile products and shipped from a central Cincinnati hub.

Key sections every 3PL RFP should include

The strongest 3PL RFPs all cover the same core areas. The details change by brand, but the structure is familiar.

1. Company overview and objectives

Help providers understand who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Include:

• What your business does and who you serve
• Product categories and typical order profiles, single unit, bundles, subscriptions
• Where you are headquartered and where your customers are
• Your short term and long term goals for outsourcing fulfillment
• Why you are issuing the RFP now, outgrowing current setup, changing providers, or adding a new channel

2. Scope of work

Spell out what you actually need the 3PL to do. This is where you avoid assumptions.

• Inbound receiving, storage, and inventory management
• Order fulfillment for DTC, marketplaces, and any B2B or retail distribution
• Kitting, subscription box assembly, and value added services
• Packaging expectations, branded unboxing, inserts, gift notes
• Returns handling and basic rework requirements
• Any regulatory, lot control, or expiration date requirements

3. Operational data and requirements

Providers cannot give accurate pricing or service commitments without real numbers. Share data such as:

• Average daily and monthly order volume, by channel if possible
• SKU count and how that might change in the next 12 to 24 months
• Seasonality and peak events, launches, promotions, holidays
• Current order accuracy, on time ship, and transit performance
• Current fulfillment cost structure, high level is enough

The goal is not to impress anyone with perfect data. It is to give partners enough information to respond honestly.

4. Evaluation criteria and timeline

Tell providers how you will score them and when you plan to decide. Include:

• What matters most, service levels, cost, technology, location, industry focus
• Who will be evaluating proposals and how many stages you expect
• Key dates, RFP release, Q and A period, submission deadline, decision window

5. Questions for the 3PL

Finally, include a section of structured questions so providers can speak to real life scenarios. For example:

• Describe your experience with brands shipping small, light, non fragile products
• Where are your fulfillment centers located, and what percentage of the United States can you reach in one to three business days by ground
• What order accuracy and on time ship metrics do you commit to
• How does your warehouse management system integrate with our ecommerce platforms
• How do you handle peak season surges, flash sales, and new product launches
• What is your approach to billing transparency and fee breakdowns

How to write a results driven 3PL RFP

Once you know what to include, the question becomes how to actually write it so good partners stay engaged.

Start with your pain points and goals

Instead of starting with a template, start with your reality.

• List your top three logistics pain points today, accuracy, speed, visibility, cost, capacity, or something else
• Describe what “better” would look like in six to twelve months if you choose the right 3PL
• Turn those ideas into clear objectives and requirements inside the RFP

Involve cross functional stakeholders

A 3PL touches more than operations. Bring in:

• Operations and warehouse leadership for day to day realities
• Finance for cost, cash flow, and contract structure concerns
• Ecommerce and marketing for customer promises and expectations
• Technology leadership for integration and data requirements

The RFP will be stronger if everyone has a voice early instead of raising objections late.

Be honest about what has not worked

If you are moving away from a previous 3PL or internal setup, say why.

• Were there recurring service failures
• Was pricing confusing or unpredictable
• Were integrations unreliable

Good partners care about your history because it helps them avoid repeating it.

Evaluation criteria, how to compare 3PL proposals side by side

A strong RFP sets you up to evaluate proposals quickly and fairly.

Translate your goals into scoring buckets

For example, you might weight your decision across these areas:

• Service and performance, on time ship, order accuracy, responsiveness
• Network and location, ability to reach your customers in one to three business days by ground
• Technology and visibility, integrations, reporting, and real time data
• Costs and billing, transparency, fee structure, and predictability
• Cultural fit, communication style, and the sense of partnership

Standardize the way providers respond

In your RFP, include simple tables or forms for:

• Unit level pricing for picks, packs, storage, and value added services
• Performance commitments, targets and remedies for missed service levels
• Implementation timelines and support model

The more consistent the responses, the easier it will be to compare options in a single working session.

Common 3PL RFP mistakes to avoid

The fastest way to improve your RFP is to avoid the pitfalls that trip up most brands.

Mistake 1, Rushing the process

When you rush, you skip stakeholders, skip data, and end up with vague requirements. That leads to vague proposals and surprises later.

Mistake 2, Sharing vague or incomplete data

If providers do not understand your volume, mix, and seasonality, they have to guess. That guess usually shows up later as extra fees or operational strain.

Mistake 3, Focusing only on cost per order

Cost per order matters, but not at the expense of accuracy, speed, and customer experience. A slightly lower rate with a poor service record will cost more over time.

Mistake 4, Having no clear timeline or next steps

When the process drags on, good providers lose focus and internal support fades. A clear timeline keeps everyone moving and signals that you are serious.

How a central Cincinnati 3PL strengthens your RFP

Location is a strategic detail that belongs in your RFP thinking.

For brands that ship across the United States, a central hub like
Cincinnati, Ohio can reach a large share of customers within one to three business days by ground service.

That has real implications for your RFP:

• You can offer fast standard shipping for most customers without relying on air
• You can keep inventory in one primary hub instead of splitting it across coasts early
• You can set realistic cutoffs and delivery promises that marketing can confidently promote

A simple 3PL RFP outline you can adapt

Here is a straightforward outline you can copy into your own document and customize.

• Cover page and contact information
• Section 1, Company overview and product categories
• Section 2, Current logistics setup and why you are exploring 3PL support
• Section 3, Scope of work and service requirements
• Section 4, Operational data and performance expectations
• Section 5, Technology, integrations, and reporting needs
• Section 6, Evaluation criteria and decision timeline
• Section 7, Structured questions and pricing templates for the 3PL
• Section 8, Legal, data security, and contract considerations

You can keep the language simple. Clarity beats complexity every time.

How Product Fulfillment Solutions responds to 3PL RFPs

Product Fulfillment Solutions is a Cincinnati based 3PL that specializes in small, light, non fragile products such as supplements, vitamins, cosmetics, wellness products, snacks, and subscription boxes.

When brands include us in their 3PL RFP process, we:

• Map your current and projected order volumes to what our
  Cincinnati fulfillment center can support
• Share clear service level commitments for accuracy, on time ship, and responsiveness
• Describe how our technology integrates with your platforms and gives real time visibility
• Provide transparent pricing with clean breakdowns for storage, picks, packs, and projects
• Walk through an implementation plan so you know what the first ninety days will look like

The RFP is not just a formality for us. It is how we figure out whether we can realistically help you reach your goals and build a long term partnership.

3PL RFP FAQs

Can we use the same 3PL RFP template for all projects

You can start from a common base template, but you should always tailor each RFP to the project. A startup outsourcing DTC fulfillment for the first time has different needs than a mature brand looking to move from one 3PL to another or add retail distribution. Adjust the scope, questions, and data you share to match the situation.

How many 3PLs should we invite to respond

Most brands get the best results by shortlisting three to six serious candidates. That is enough to compare different models and approaches without creating an evaluation burden that drags on for months.

How important is technology in a 3PL RFP

Technology is central. Your 3PL’s systems will control how orders flow, how inventory is tracked, and how quickly you can see and fix issues. Make sure your RFP includes questions about integrations, data visibility, reporting, and how exceptions are handled inside the warehouse management system.

What timeline should we plan for a 3PL RFP

Every situation is different, but many brands follow a simple pattern, one to two weeks to finalize the RFP, two to four weeks for providers to respond and ask questions, and two to three weeks to evaluate proposals and run follow up calls. Complex transitions may take longer, but a clear timeline keeps everyone aligned.

How does Product Fulfillment Solutions support brands during and after the RFP

During the RFP, Product Fulfillment Solutions helps clarify operational assumptions, capacity, and service levels so your team can make an informed decision. If you choose to move forward, we follow a structured onboarding process that includes data mapping, system integrations, test orders, and a defined go live plan from our Cincinnati fulfillment center.