Over the last couple of years, something unusual has been happening across the logistics and eCommerce fulfillment industry.
A growing number of 3PLs have quietly shut down, entered bankruptcy, or exited the business entirely.
For brands, this can be extremely disruptive.
When a fulfillment provider closes its doors, it often means:
• emergency inventory relocation
• unexpected delays shipping orders
• lost sales and customer complaints
• rushed onboarding with a new partner
• thousands of dollars in unexpected logistics costs
At West Coast Prep 3PL, we’ve had multiple brands reach out recently because their previous fulfillment partner either closed suddenly or gave them notice to move inventory quickly.
So the obvious question is:
Why is this happening?
Let’s look at some recent examples - and what the industry is learning from them.
