Fulfillment Focus September 4

Author

Slotted Admin
September 04, 2025

Coming out of the Labor Day weekend in the U.S., the industry feels like it’s in transition mode. With De Minimis (R.I.P.) now officially gone and Q4 on the horizon, most fulfillment teams are shifting focus to two things: locking down peak-season readiness and lining up Q1 moves and launches.

What’s Trending in Fulfillment

Instead of what’s “trending,” here are a few things I’ve found especially interesting in recent weeks:

  1. 3PLs Pulling Back the Curtain

    More providers are showcasing their operations and how they drive success for brands. This type of content not only demystifies fulfillment but also resonates with up-and-coming brands looking for transparency.

    1. Jordan Johnson has been producing strong “behind-the-scenes” content, spotlighting ops teams, QBR practices, and how Barrett leverages data both internally and with clients. See his post here.

    2. Drew Horner at Deliverzen has been sharing weekly snapshots of performance data and operational insights. Check out his updates here.

  2. Holiday & Peak Prep in Full Swing

    Providers and partners are pushing hard to get brands ready for the busiest stretch of the year. A couple of highlights:

    1. Fulfil.io is bringing together some of the biggest names in DTC operations for a webinar focused on delivering during BFCM. Register here.

    2. Sage Inventory Planning teamed up with Izba earlier this month for a session on holiday strategies. Watch the replay here.

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Vice President - Field Sales @ Penske | Pennsylvania

Head of Tranportation and Parcel Strategy @ Flexport | Texas & Illinois

Warehouse General Manager @ Ryder | Maryland

Warehouse General Manager @ CEVA Logistics | New York

General Manager @ Lineage Logistics | Iowa

Slotted Highlight: Updated Search Functionality

Search is a key component of any directory or discovery tool. It's no different for Slotted. But like with any warehouse operation, there is always room for improvement. So we got to (re)building our search functionality and display.

Brands can still search for specific providers, specific geographies, and specific capabilities, but now they can do it in in a more intuitive and streamlined way. Plus, based on feedback from brands and fulfillment providers, we've added some additional capabilities under Apparel Services, Customization, Kitting, Operational Services, and our most requested addition — Returns Integrations.

The benefit for brands:

They can quickly identify providers that already support the capabilities that are important to the brand like FTZ & Bonded facilities. Seller Fulfilled Prime, Photo Studios and QA abilities, and returns integrations.

The benefit for fulfillment providers:

Additional ways to stand out and differentiate themselves from their peers. All of the search criteria that brands can use are capabilities that providers can (and should) list on their company and location profiles.

Lastly, we updated the way search results are displayed so that brands can more easily review providers that fit their search criteria and take full control of their search and evaluation process. Brands can now review their search results in a split view, a map only view, a grid view, or a table view.

To the brands out there, happy searching!

To the providers out there, make sure you highlight the capabilities that make you great!