As your direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand grows, it becomes harder to manage warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping on your own. That’s when many companies start looking for a third-party logistics partner, or 3PL. If you’re based in Canada or shipping to Canadian customers, the search becomes even more specific. You need a logistics partner who can meet your volume today and scale with you tomorrow.

But comparing 3PL providers isn’t easy. Many offer similar services on the surface, but key differences in warehousing, shipping speed, integrations, and kitting capabilities can have a long-term impact on your business.

This guide walks through what to consider when evaluating Canadian 3PL companies, especially if your brand is growing fast and your fulfillment needs are becoming more complex.

Warehousing Capabilities Matter More Than Square Footage

Many 3PL companies advertise the size of their facilities, but space alone doesn’t tell you much. What matters is how that space is managed. Ask how inventory is stored, whether products are scanned into a warehouse management system, and how quickly items can be picked and packed.

If your brand carries a wide range of SKUs, you’ll want to know how the 3PL handles bin locations, slotting, and reordering. A warehouse that supports high inventory turnover is more valuable than one that simply has room to store boxes.

How Shipping Speed Affects Customer Retention

Shipping times are one of the biggest factors in customer satisfaction. Even if your marketing is strong and your product is great, a late delivery can lead to a refund or lost customer. When evaluating a 3PL in Canada, pay attention to how fast they can ship, not just how inexpensively they can offer to do it for.

Find out how close their fulfillment centers are to your customers. A central location (like the Greater Toronto Area) can help reduce shipping times to most parts of the country. Also ask how orders are handed off to carriers. Do they batch shipments at the end of the day or send them out throughout the day? This will affect not only transit time but also your cut-off time for same-day shipping.

The Importance of Software Integrations

As your business grows, manual order entry becomes a bottleneck. Look for a 3PL that offers software integrations with your ecommerce platform, whether that’s Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, or others. These integrations – which solutions like Shiptop are able to accommodate – should include real-time syncing of orders, inventory updates, and tracking info.

You don’t need flashy dashboards. You need clean, reliable data flowing between systems. If a 3PL can’t support that, it will slow down your fulfillment and increase the chance of errors. You should also ask how technical support works. If something breaks, will you speak with someone who understands APIs and webhooks, or will you get passed between teams?

What to Know About Kitting Services

Kitting is when multiple products are bundled and sold as one unit. This could be as simple as pairing a few items together or as complex as building subscription boxes or limited-edition product drops.

If your business offers bundles, seasonal boxes, or gift sets, you need to work with a 3PL that understands how to build and ship them accurately. Kitting services should be flexible. Some companies require you to send pre-assembled kits, which limits your options. Others offer 3PL kitting services that allow you to store individual components and have them assembled on demand.

Ask whether kitting is done manually or if they use barcode scanning to verify kit contents. Manual assembly without quality control leads to errors, and errors cost you money.

Choosing a Provider That Offers Custom Kitting Solutions

Every brand is different. Some need tissue paper and product cards in every box. Others need shrink-wrapping, safety seals, or protective inserts. Look for custom kitting solutions that align with how you want your product to appear when it arrives at a customer’s door.

A good 3PL will treat kitting as part of your brand experience, not just a logistical step. That means offering custom kitting services that include branded packaging, printed materials, and even SKU-level customization. If you’re scaling a beauty brand, for example, you might want one version of a kit for first-time customers and another for subscribers.

Ask how much control you’ll have over packaging instructions and how updates are managed.

How Kitting Solutions Support Product Launches

Many DTC brands build hype around new product drops or seasonal collections. These campaigns often rely on short fulfillment windows and large order volumes. If your 3PL can’t support those bursts, you’ll lose momentum and customers.

Strong kitting solutions can help you scale faster by reducing prep time and keeping packaging consistent. The ability to pre-assemble kits ahead of a launch, or adjust kit components based on inventory levels, gives you more control. Make sure your provider can handle this without forcing you to lock in plans months in advance.

Why Custom Kitting for Brands Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

If a 3PL says “we do custom kitting,” dig deeper. Many providers have a narrow definition of what that means. You should ask:

• Can you include variable printed materials (like personalized notes)?
• Can you change kitting instructions by order type or region?
• Do you offer secure handling for fragile or regulated items?

Real custom kitting for brands should allow for flexibility. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work if your product lines are diverse or if you offer a mix of DTC and wholesale shipments.

Working with a Kitting Company That Understands Brand Experience

You’re not just shipping boxes. You’re delivering a brand experience, so make sure to choose a kitting company that treats unboxing as part of your marketing strategy. That means caring about how tissue is folded, how tape is applied, and whether the customer sees a thank-you card on top or tucked under the product. Small details matter: if your 3PL rushes through kitting or treats it as a secondary service, your customers will notice.

Managing Packaging and Kitting Without Losing Control

Some growing brands worry that outsourcing fulfillment means giving up control. That’s a fair concern. But if you choose a partner that offers custom packaging and kitting, you can preserve your standards while freeing up time.

Effective 3PLs like Shiptop will let you test packaging options, approve final samples, and provide detailed specs. They’ll give you visibility into inventory levels for all packaging materials. They’ll also help you find efficiencies like reusing filler for different kit types or using pre-printed inserts to reduce hand assembly time. The goal isn’t to hand over everything, but rather to hand over the right things while keeping a firm grip on quality.

Packaging Kitting Should Be Part of Your Growth Plan

If you expect to grow, you need a fulfillment plan that doesn’t break under pressure. That includes your packaging kitting strategy. Whether you’re sending 100 orders a week or 10,000, the process should stay consistent, scalable, and easy to update.

A good 3PL will act like an extension of your team. They’ll flag issues early, propose improvements, and keep your brand consistent at scale. Packaging and kitting shouldn’t be a fire drill every time you launch something new – and with Shiptop, it can be a process you trust.