As your eCommerce business grows, order fulfillment becomes more complex and more challenging to get right.
Managing inventory, routing orders, and ensuring fast, accurate delivery can quickly overwhelm in-house operations. This is problematic because around 40% of global online shoppers want their orders within 24 hours.
This is where third-party logistics providers (3PLs) come in. By outsourcing your fulfilment operations to a 3PL, you can save time, lower operational costs, and focus on business growth.
However, working with a 3PL is only the beginning of the process. If you really want to benefit from these fulfillment services, you need seamless integration between your store, your systems, and your 3PL.
Without this integration, you’ll have a lot of manual work to do, which can lead to fulfillment errors and unhappy customers.
In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about 3PL integration, explore the right time to integrate, and show how one tool can make the entire process easier.
What Is a 3PL Integration?
3PL integration is when you connect your eCommerce or retail systems, such as your shopping cart, order management system, inventory management platform, or ERP, with a 3PL provider’s software.
This connection allows for the seamless data exchange between your business and your 3PL, enabling the automation of key logistics functions like order fulfillment, inventory tracking, and shipping.
Instead of manually sending orders to your 3PL or updating stock levels, a 3PL integration automates these tasks in real-time.
For example, when a customer places an order on your e-commerce site, the order is automatically sent to your 3PL’s system for picking, packing, and shipping.
Because inventory is depleted or replenished at your 3PL’s warehouse, those updates are sent back to your store so that product availability remains accurate.
While 3PLs serve a wide range of industries, 74% of these providers are used by the eCommerce market.
A typical 3PL integration handles several critical workflows, including:
- Order transmission: As soon as a customer places an order, it’s automatically sent to your 3PL for processing.
- Inventory sync: Your store or platform is updated regularly, often in real-time, to reflect inventory levels at your 3PL’s warehouse.
- Shipping updates: Tracking numbers and shipping statuses are sent from the 3PL back to your eCommerce platform, triggering customer notifications and updating order statuses.
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Returns management: Some integrations also support reverse logistics, which allows you to make return requests to be tracked and processed through your 3PL.
The Main Challenges of 3PL Integration
A recent research paper says that 3PLs positively impact supply chain efficiency, cost reduction, and improved service levels. However, there are some significant challenges for eCommerce store owners when integrating with a 3PL:
❌ Technical compatibility issues
Perhaps one of the most common challenges with 3PL integration is ensuring that your existing eCommerce systems are technically compatible with your 3PL provider’s software.
This is because not all 3PLs use modern integrations. Some still rely on older systems, which may not seamlessly connect with modern eCommerce platforms.
Even when these systems are available, there may be issues with data formats, fields, or workflows that you need to customize yourself. This can complicate integrations, especially if you’re using proprietary or highly customized systems.
❌ Lack of standardization
There’s no universal standard for exchanging data between eCommerce platforms and 3PLs. Each 3PL provider has different requirements for receiving orders, updating inventory, or sending tracking information.
This can make your integration efforts more time-consuming and expensive, especially if you work with multiple 3PLs or want to scale across different fulfillment providers.
❌ Data accuracy and synchronization
Maintaining accurate and synchronized data across multiple systems can be problematic. Even a slight delay in updating inventory or order statuses can result in you overselling, missed shipments, or customer dissatisfaction.
Ensuring your data flows correctly and in real-time between your eCommerce system and the 3PL requires advanced synching and continuous monitoring. Any breakdowns in this process can lead to bottlenecks and even financial losses.
❌ Communication gaps
Seamless integration requires good communication between your team and your 3PL provider.
However, support levels can vary widely depending on the provider. Some have dedicated account managers and responsive technical support, while others may only provide minimal support, especially for complex integration tasks.
In fact, the main challenge most 3PLs struggle with is failed partnerships due to poor customer service.
❌ Scalability concerns
As your eCommerce business grows, your logistics needs will change. An integration that works for your current order volume might not be able to handle spikes during peak seasons or when you expand into new channels.
Some 3PL integrations lack flexibility, making it difficult for them to adjust to changes in your fulfilment strategy.
For example, if you decide to work with multiple warehouses, support split shipments, or sell across various marketplaces, your integration may need a total rework.
The Four Main Types of 3PL Integrations
The way you integrate with a 3PL can vary depending on the technology you use and how complex your operations are. Understanding the different types of 3PL integrations is important for choosing the right approach. Let’s unpack these:
1. Application Programming Interface (API)-based integration
API-based integration is one of the most up-to-date and widely used ways to connect with a 3PL provider.
APIs allow different software systems to communicate with one another directly and in real-time.
When a 3PL offers an API, it typically provides endpoints for key functionality, such as sending data, retrieving inventory levels, updating tracking information, and managing returns.
This type of integration usually offers the most flexibility and speed for eCommerce store owners.
Because data is transferred in real-time, it ensures your inventory levels are accurate, orders are fulfilled quickly, and customers receive quick updates on their shipments.
API integrations are scalable, making them suitable for eCommerce businesses with high order volumes or multi-channel operations.
However, it’s worth noting that setting up an API integration typically requires in-house technical expertise or using a platform like Spark Shpping to manage the complexity.
2. Electronic data interchange (EDI) integration
Electronic data interchange (EDI) is a more traditional method of exchanging data, but it’s still used widely in logistics and supply chain management.
Unlike APIs, which usually work in real-time, EDI transfers data in structured formats during scheduled intervals, like hourly or daily.
It also uses standardized document types that both you and the 3PL agree to use.
Many large 3PL providers rely on EDI because it is reliable and widely used within the industry. EDI is most common in retail supply chains where strict compliance and structured communication are required.
However, in some cases, EDI is inflexible, expensive to implement, and difficult to customize.
3. File-based integration
Some 3PL providers still rely on more basic file-based integration, which involves exchanging order and inventory data via files, usually in formats like CSV or XML, and transferring these files to servers or cloud storage platforms.
In this setup, you would typically export a daily order file from your store, upload it to a shared location, and wait for the 3PL provider to download and process it.
Similarly, the provider would upload shipping updates or inventory files back to the same location for you to import.
While this method is quite simple and doesn’t need much development work, it’s also the most manual and prone to human error.
Additionally, file-based integration is often slower and less secure and can include formatting problems. While it may be a temporary solution for smaller retailers, it isn’t ideal for scaling operations.
4. Portal-based integration
In some instances, eCommerce businesses interact with their 3PL providers through a dedicated online portal or dashboard.
Orders may be manually entered or uploaded via spreadsheets, and tracking information is retrieved and copied into your system. This isn’t really integration in its true form, but rather a workaround used when no automated option is available.
Portal-based setups require a lot of manual work and are prone to human error. They can also bottleneck as order volumes increase. They’re not recommended for eCommerce businesses looking for streamlined fulfillment services or improved accuracy.
However, for a very small business or during the early stages of testing a potential 3PL provider, this may be a solution until a proper integration is implemented.
When Should You Integrate with a 3PL?
Deciding when to integrate with a 3PL provider for retail order fulfillment services is an important consideration for eCommerce store owners.
While not every business needs to outsource its logistics immediately, there comes a point when handling fulfillment and supply chain operations in-house becomes a bottleneck.
Here are some signs that it might be time to integrate with a third-party logistics provider:
✅ Your order volume has grown
One sign that it’s time to integrate with a 3PL provider is when your order volume becomes too large to handle internally without sacrificing accuracy and speed.
Managing a growing amount of orders manually can quickly lead to delays, stockouts, or fulfillment errors, all of which impact customer satisfaction.
✅ You’re expanding to new sales channels or marketplaces
If you want to expand your eCommerce business to platforms such as Amazon, Walmart Marketplace, or eBay, your fulfillment operations become more complex.
Each channel has its own order formats, shipping requirements, and customer expectations.
Manually managing orders across multiple platforms can quickly get out of control. A 3PL integration enables you to centralize your order processing and ensure consistent fulfillment across all your channels.
✅ Inventory management is becoming challenging
Maintaining real-time and accurate inventory visibility is vital for preventing overselling, back orders, and improved customer satisfaction.
If you or your team struggle to keep inventory records up to date across all your sales channels, it’s likely time to integrate with a 3PL.
✅ You’re experiencing frequent errors or shipping delays
As your order volume increases, even small inefficiencies can lead to big problems.
If you’re receiving more customer complaints about late deliveries, missing items, or incorrect shipments, it may be time to automate and scale your fulfillment process.
How Spark Shipping Simplifies 3PL Integrations
Integrating with 3PL providers can quickly become overwhelming, especially when working with multiple warehouses, suppliers, or fulfillment partners.
Our software removes this complexity by giving you a robust, flexible platform that handles all the manual work for you. Here’s how it works:
👉 A centralized platform for all fulfillment partners
Spark Shipping acts as a single hub where you can manage all of your 3PL providers, suppliers, and warehouses in your fulfillment network.
Instead of trying to manage multiple systems or relying on manual processes, everything is centralized in one intuitive dashboard. Importantly, this eliminates the need for costly, one-off custom builds whenever you add a new vendor.
👉 Supports all types of 3PL connections
As outlined above, not all 3PLs operate the same way, which is why Spark Shipping is built to support a wide range of connection types.
If your 3PL has a modern API, our software offers support for real-time data exchange. For providers using EDI, we handle all the complexity behind the scenes.
Even if your 3PL still relies on email or FTP, our platform can automatically handle order emails and attachments. This keeps your process moving forward without you having to intervene.
👉 Automates the entire fulfillment process
Spark Shipping fully automates the fulfillment workflow from start to finish. Orders are automatically routed to the correct 3PL based on rules you define, such as product type, location, or inventory availability.
Once shipped, tracking numbers are synced back to your online store and passed to the customer without any manual work. Inventory levels are continuously updated in real-time, helping you avoid overselling and stockouts across all your sales channels.
👉 Custom mapping and logic
As mentioned above, every third-party logistics provider has its own data requirements, and Spark Shipping makes it easy for you to meet them.
Our platform enables you to customize how product and order data is mapped, ensuring compatibility with any 3PL format.
We also support advanced logic, such as routing orders across multiple suppliers or splitting a single order between warehouses. This flexibility lets you fine-tune your operations while maintaining a seamless shopping experience for customers.
The Best Way to Integrate with Third-Party Logistics Providers
As your eCommerce business grows, efficient 3PL integration becomes important for scaling your operations, reducing manual work, and delivering a better customer experience.
But the integration process doesn’t have to be complex or time-consuming. With the right tools, you can connect multiple 3PLs, automate your workflows, and stay in control of your fulfillment strategy.
Spark Shipping is the easiest, most flexible way to integrate with third-party logistics providers. Whether you’re working with one 3PL or many, using modern APIs or older systems, our software brings everything together in one centralized platform with no custom coding needed.
If you’re ready to simplify your 3PL integrations and scale your eCommerce business easily, get a free Spark Shipping demo. We’ll show you just how effortless fulfillment can be.