Third-party logistics providers serve a wide range of businesses. Amazon's own guide to 3PLs lists ecommerce, high-tech manufacturing, healthcare, automotive, chemicals, construction and the public sector, and the list keeps going. That answer is true and not very useful if you run an online brand, because the question you're actually asking is narrower: will a 3PL take my product, and what changes when it's my product on the shelf?
Two kinds of 3PL customer
A 3PL is a company that stores inventory and ships orders for other businesses. Under that one label sit two very different customers. Manufacturers, construction suppliers, pharmaceutical companies and large retailers use 3PLs for freight, contract warehousing and inbound parts: pallets and truckloads, long contracts, sometimes a dedicated building. Online brands use 3PLs for parcel fulfillment: an order comes in from Shopify or Amazon, someone picks the item, packs it and hands it to a carrier.
This page is about the second group. If you sell physical products online and ship individual orders, the practical question isn't which industry outsources fulfillment. It's what your product needs from a warehouse, and whether a given 3PL can provide it. The rest of the page takes that one product type at a time.
Apparel and footwear
Variants are the first problem. One T-shirt design becomes dozens of SKUs once you count sizes and colors, and a mispick in apparel means an exchange, not just a refund. Fit can't be checked until the box arrives, so returns and exchanges are a normal part of the operation rather than an exception. Shoe boxes are part of the product, so how the box is protected in transit matters too.
What to ask: how they pick by variant, whether returns are inspected and restocked or just logged, and which services count as extras: poly-bagging each garment, applying hangtags, steaming.
Simpl handles apparel fulfillment and footwear with flat-pack packing included. Per-garment poly-bagging, hangtag and barcode application and steaming are available on request, and returns are inspected, re-bagged and refolded before they go back into stock.
Beauty and personal care
Liquids leak, glass breaks and compacts crack, so the packing spec decides whether the customer opens a product or a mess. Many beauty products carry batch codes and expiration dates, so ask whether the warehouse tracks them and ships the oldest-dated units first. Formulation and labeling stay the brand's job: under the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act, facility registration falls on manufacturers and processors. Whether the warehouse holding your product has registrations of its own to carry depends on the product category, so ask.
What to ask: whether they track lots and expiry dates, how they pack glass and liquids, and whether your formulas can sit in ambient storage, because not every warehouse offers anything else.
Simpl's beauty fulfillment stores and ships sealed finished goods, tracks batch codes and expiration dates, and keeps storage ambient. Ingredient and label compliance stays with the brand, and Simpl isn't FDA-registered as a food facility.
Supplements
Supplements share the beauty checklist (lot tracking, expiry, glass bottles) and add one document question: whether the 3PL wants a certificate of analysis (COA) at receiving. Subscription reorders are common in this category, so ask how recurring orders flow from your store into the warehouse.
What to ask: lot and expiration tracking, COA requirements at receiving, storage temperature, and how they pack glass.
Simpl's supplement fulfillment tracks lots and expiration dates, stores at ambient temperature, and doesn't require a COA at receiving; it's handled case by case.
Food and beverage
Temperature is the first filter. Shelf-stable packaged, canned and bottled goods can live in an ambient warehouse. Anything refrigerated or frozen needs a cold-chain 3PL, which is a different and shorter provider list. After that come best-by dates (first-in, first-out picking so old stock ships first) and bottles that need leak-proof packing.
What to ask: storage temperature, FIFO and best-by tracking, how liquids are packed, and whether they hold whatever registrations your product category requires.
Food and beverage fulfillment at Simpl covers ambient, shelf-stable products only; there's no refrigerated or frozen storage. Orders pick first-in, first-out, with expiration and best-by dates tracked in the warehouse system.
Electronics and accessories
Lithium batteries change the shipping rules. USPS treats them as hazardous materials: small consumer cells are mailable domestically under conditions, and some battery shipments can't go through USPS at all. Screens and glass need padding, and high-value devices attract theft and claims. Phone cases, cables and chargers are the opposite problem: small, light, cheap to ship, and a long SKU list that makes pick accuracy the main job.
What to ask: whether they ship products containing lithium batteries and under which carrier services, what insured shipping looks like, and how they keep accuracy up across hundreds of near-identical SKUs.
Simpl's electronics fulfillment asks you to flag fragile or high-value items during onboarding so packaging can be matched to them. Products with lithium batteries count as hazmat, which Simpl handles case by case.
Jewelry and other high-value small goods
Value per cubic inch is the issue. Packaging is part of the product (boxes, pouches, inserts), a lost parcel costs real money, and exchanges for sizing are routine.
What to ask: insured shipping and declared value, gift packaging and inserts, and how returns and exchanges are processed.
Simpl's jewelry fulfillment supports gift packaging, kitting and custom inserts. Insured shipping is available, with coverage depending on the carrier.
Fragile goods: candles, ceramics and glassware
The packing spec is the product here. Void fill, box strength and how items are separated decide the breakage rate, and every break costs you a replacement and a second shipment.
What to ask: how they pack glass, what the damage-claim process is, and whether insured shipping is available.
Simpl's fragile product fulfillment packs glass, candles and ceramics with breakage held near zero, and offers insured shipping for high-value fragile orders.
Heavy and oversized products
Carrier math takes over. Parcel carriers add charges above size and weight thresholds, and dimensional weight means a big, light box is billed as if it were heavy. USPS Ground Advantage caps combined length and girth at 130 inches, and FedEx's surcharge schedule lists additional handling and oversize charges on top of the base rate. Past parcel limits you're into freight, which is a different service with its own pricing.
What to ask: whether they take your dimensions and weights at all, how carrier surcharges are billed (passed through or marked up), and whether they coordinate freight for the largest items.
Heavy and oversized fulfillment is in scope at Simpl, priced on a custom quote that depends on size, weight, storage, handling and destination. Some items may be limited by size, weight or material, so send specifics. Carrier oversize surcharges can apply.
Hazmat: aerosols, perfume, nail polish and cleaning products
Carrier rules decide what ships and how. USPS treats aerosols, perfume containing alcohol, flammable nail polish and hand sanitizer as hazardous materials, with ground-only limits on several of them. USPS Ground Advantage is the postal option for hazmat that can only travel by ground, and FedEx Ground requires an approval process before it accepts hazmat packages. If you sell household cleaning products, check each SKU's safety data sheet: some are hazmat and some aren't. A 3PL that isn't set up for this will decline the product or ship it wrong.
What to ask: which hazmat classes and quantities they accept, which carrier services they're approved for, and what paperwork they want beyond your safety data sheet.
Hazmat fulfillment is accepted at Simpl, with the details confirmed per product.
CBD and hemp
Whether a 3PL will take CBD depends on the provider and on rules that are moving. The federal hemp definition changes on Nov 12, 2026 and may exclude many Delta-8 products. Brands are responsible for their products' legality, and nothing here is legal advice.
What to ask: whether they take your product category at all, what documentation they want, and how they plan to handle the definition change.
Simpl accepts CBD and hemp products; that page carries the compliance note and the handling details.
Books and media
Books are dense, corners dent, and multi-book orders need a box that doesn't let them slide. Qualifying books can go USPS Media Mail, which is slower and can be the lower-cost option on some shipments but not all, so ask whether the 3PL compares it against regular parcel rates.
What to ask: how they pack single titles versus box sets, whether they rate-shop Media Mail, and how they handle bulk runs to one address.
Simpl's book fulfillment handles single titles, multi-book orders, box sets and bulk runs from the Austin warehouse; flag fragile or oversized formats during onboarding so the packaging matches.
Kids' products and toys
Toy boxes are large and light, so dimensional weight applies, and orders often go to a gift recipient rather than the buyer. If your sales cluster around the holidays, how the 3PL staffs peak season is the first thing to ask about.
What to ask: peak-season capacity, gift options (wrap, a handwritten note), and kitting for bundles.
Simpl's kids product fulfillment offers gift wrapping and handwritten notes, and kitting and assembly for bundles.
Promotional products, merch drops and corporate gifts
This isn't steady order flow. A campaign ships 500 kits to one address, or to 500 addresses, on one day, and then nothing for a month. What matters is kitting, deadlines and clean address handling.
What to ask: whether they do both bulk sends and individual recipient sends, how kitting is priced, and what deadline commitment they'll put in writing.
Simpl's promotional product fulfillment and corporate gift and merch drop fulfillment handle bulk sends to one address and individual recipient addresses, with kitting and assembly in house.
Samples, subscription boxes and kits
Sample programs are a brand's own sample products going to its customers, usually in small packaging with a low value per order. Subscription boxes are a kit assembled on a schedule and shipped in one batch. Both are kitting jobs more than picking jobs.
What to ask: minimum quantities for sample programs, how kits are assembled and quality-checked, and how batch ship dates are scheduled.
Simpl's product sample fulfillment has no minimum order quantity for sample programs, and subscription box fulfillment includes the kitting and assembly.
Household and packaged goods
Household cleaning products, office supplies, pet supplies and other consumer packaged goods mix direct-to-consumer orders with wholesale, and a share of the SKUs are liquids or hazmat. The questions above about leak-proof packing and hazmat approval apply, plus one more: can they ship cases and pallets to a retailer alongside single orders to a customer?
Simpl's consumer packaged goods fulfillment covers direct-to-consumer orders and B2B wholesale orders, with hazmat accepted per product.
Manufacturers, healthcare and construction
These businesses use 3PLs too, but for a different service: inbound parts, freight, contract warehousing and distribution to other businesses. The questions there are about dedicated space, EDI, freight lanes and compliance programs, and the providers are different ones. None of that is covered on this page.
Does your business fit a 3PL?
If you're packing orders yourself and your product falls into one of the categories above, a 3PL that takes that product type is worth a quote. If the question is which 3PL to pick, or whether your order volume is there yet, our guide to choosing a 3PL as a small business covers that. Simpl's ecommerce fulfillment runs from one warehouse in Austin, Texas, with ambient storage, and each category page linked above says how we handle that product.