The best 3PL logistics companies
Packing orders, printing labels, chasing tracking updates, handling returns, fulfillment can take over your day fast.
That’s why many e-commerce brands turn to 3PL logistics companies. Instead of managing storage, warehousing, packing, shipping, and delivery yourself, you partner with a fulfillment provider that handles the behind-the-scenes order fulfillment work for you, so you can focus on growing your store.
And more businesses are making that shift. The global 3PL market is already worth over $1 trillion and is expected to grow from $1.3 trillion in 2025 to $2.6 trillion by 2034. That growth is largely driven by brands outsourcing logistics, improving supply chain management, and looking for faster ways to deliver orders without building their own fulfillment infrastructure.
A 3PL company packs and ships orders to your customers for a fee, and you wouldn’t have to worry about managing numerous deliveries. Your worry is choosing the right 3PL company for e-commerce fulfillment, and we’re here to help. Here’s your detailed guide to the best 3PL logistics companies you can select in 2026.
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Top 10 third-party logistics (3PL) companies for e-commerce fulfillment
Not all 3PL logistics companies are built for the same kind of e-commerce business.
Some are best for fast two-day delivery across the U.S. Others are better for global shipping, bulky products, marketplace fulfillment, omnichannel fulfillment, or brands that need extra support with returns, custom packaging, and reverse logistics.
Below, we’ll break down 10 third-party logistics companies worth knowing, what each one does best, and the type of e-commerce business they’re most likely to fit.
Related article: The Best 3PL Software in 2026
ShipBob

ShipBob is one of the top 3PL logistics companies for businesses in the U.S.A. It tailors its fulfillment services to small and mid-sized businesses that need help with warehousing, inventory storage, picking, packing, and order fulfillment. With over 60 fulfillment centers, mostly in the U.S.A. and a few across Europe and Australia, ShipBob is perfect if your customer base is centered around North America and Europe. From its fulfillment centers, you can ship items to over 250 cities, whether standard or expedited shipping.
For cities in the United States, ShipBob offers shipping in as little as 2 days. Its spread-out domestic fulfillment network enables this fast delivery time. You can easily integrate ShipBob with your e-commerce platform and start processing orders.
ShipBob is also a strong option for brands that need omnichannel fulfillment across platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and other sales channels. Its dashboard functions like a warehouse management system, giving you visibility into inventory, orders, shipping performance, and fulfillment data from one place. That kind of WMS visibility can be especially helpful as your SKU count grows and you need to track inventory across multiple locations.
Red Stag

Red Stag fulfillment is a go-to provider for fast-growing e-commerce businesses. It has two warehouses, one in Tennessee and another in Utah, with enough coverage to deliver goods to U.S.A.-based customers within 2 days. Shipping times can be longer, depending on the customer’s location, but Red Stag is known for its reliability and customer service.
Red Stag is especially useful if you need a 3PL warehouse partner for heavier, bulkier, fragile, or higher-value products. It can also support brands that need more hands-on fulfillment help, including kitting, custom packaging, and careful inventory handling.
Integrating Red Stag into your online store doesn’t take much. It has direct integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and other popular e-commerce site builders. It’s also integrated with third-party marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart.
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FedEx

FedEx is the world’s largest express shipping provider. With over 130 fulfillment centers, 40 million+ square feet of warehouse space, and a fleet of 700+ aircraft, you can trust FedEx to deliver orders anywhere in the world within days. Its infrastructure is unbeatable among peers, making FedEx a top option for e-commerce businesses.
FedEx is a strong option if your business needs more than basic parcel shipping. It also offers warehousing, freight forwarding, cross-docking, and other logistics solutions that can support more complex e-commerce operations. These services can be useful if you’re moving inventory between suppliers, distribution centers, and end customers.
If you have a global customer base that needs quick deliveries, FedEx can deliver reliably. It’s a tried-and-tested 3PL company that has dominated its niche for decades.
Fulfyld

Fulfyld is a top 3PL choice for e-commerce businesses, known for fast deliveries and a seamless integration process. You can connect your Shopify or WooCommerce store to Fulfyld’s backend in a few steps, and any orders will be automatically sent to Fulfyld’s warehouse staff for fulfillment. You can track all pending and fulfilled orders from an intuitive dashboard.
That dashboard acts like a lightweight WMS, helping you monitor inventory, shipments, returns, and fulfillment activity without manually checking every order. For brands selling bundles, curated sets, or a subscription box, Fulfyld can also help with kitting and other value-added services that make the fulfillment experience feel more branded.
A robust shipping network enables Fulfyld to send goods across the U.S.A. within 2 days. If a customer decides to return a product, Fulfyld will process it seamlessly and issue a replacement based on your instructions. If you need customized packaging services, this 3PL fulfillment provider has you covered.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

Amazon is the world’s biggest e-commerce company, with an in-house fulfillment network spanning 1,300+ warehouses (over 300 in the U.S. alone). With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you can sell items on Amazon’s marketplace and leverage its vast fulfillment network to ship goods quickly. Amazon will store, package, and ship items to customers on your behalf, and you’ll focus more on promoting the items.
FBA suits small, mid-sized, and large businesses, with no limits on the number of products you can send. Its biggest advantage is scalability. If demand suddenly increases, Amazon’s fulfillment network can help you process more orders without hiring a warehouse team or expanding your own storage space.
The downside is that it’s mainly built for entrepreneurs selling through Amazon. If you sell across multiple channels, you may need a separate partner for full omnichannel fulfillment or compare FBA with other e-commerce-focused providers like ShipMonk, ShipBob, or Fulfyld.
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)

Walmart is the largest physical retailer and the second-largest e-commerce company in the U.S., only surpassed by Amazon. Like its counterpart, it offers a marketplace for third-party businesses to sell products and a fulfillment service to make the process easy. With Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), you’ll outsource product storage and shipment and focus on marketing.
For Walmart sellers, WFS makes outsourcing fulfillment simpler because Walmart handles storage, packing, shipping, and returns through its own network. This can reduce the burden of managing a separate 3PL warehouse and help prevent fulfillment bottlenecks during busy seasons.
As a Walmart seller, you’ll leverage the company’s vast distribution network to deliver items in as little as 2 days. There’s no minimum or maximum number of orders, making WFS suitable for all business sizes. Fees vary based on the volume and type of products you ship.
DHL

DHL is another dominant force in the express shipping sector. Its infrastructure spans over 1,300 warehouses in 50 countries, 39 million square feet of warehouse space, 188,000 supply chain employees, and a fleet of 250 cargo aircraft. These numbers indicate a well-heeled infrastructure that can deliver goods across the world within days.
DHL is especially useful for international e-commerce brands that need global transportation management, freight forwarding, ocean freight, and parcel delivery support from one provider. Its network can help businesses move goods across borders, manage customs requirements, and keep international deliveries moving.
You can trust DHL to deliver items to your global customer base, whether bulky items or fragile ones requiring careful handling.
Notably, DHL is one of the top reverse logistics providers, handling returns from global customers stress-free. With this provider, you’ll get end-to-end visibility into your delivery operations, and any issues can be quickly resolved by contacting the support team.
DHL may also be worth considering if you sell products that require specialized handling, such as items that need cold storage or refrigerated shipping. Not every e-commerce brand needs those services, but they can be critical for food, beauty, health, or temperature-sensitive products.
C.H. Robinson

C.H. Robinson is a freight transportation giant that provides first, middle, and last-mile delivery services. Its fulfillment infrastructure is concentrated in the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico, enabling deliveries within days to customers in these countries. It also ships to other continents, but not as fast as in North America.
C.H. Robinson is a strong fit for brands that need support with freight brokerage, freight consolidation, transportation management, and broader supply chain management. Instead of only handling small parcel e-commerce orders, it can help businesses coordinate larger shipments across road, air, and ocean routes.
With C.H. Robinson, you’ll get a trusted fulfillment partner that has operated for decades. Whether shipping via ship, air, or road, C.H. Robinson has you covered with its 5 million+ square feet of warehouse space. It can also be useful for companies moving into B2B fulfillment, wholesale shipping, or more complex freight needs.
XPO Logistics

XPO Logistics specializes in less-than-truckload (LTL) deliveries within North America. LTL means smaller freight from multiple shippers that can fit into one truck, allowing each shipper to share the cost at affordable rates.
This makes XPO a good option for e-commerce businesses that ship larger products but don’t need a full truckload for every shipment. Its LTL network can support transportation services, cross-docking, and freight movement across regional and national routes.
This 3PL provider works well for small and mid-sized businesses with their customer base concentrated in the U.S.A, Canada, and Mexico, and also in Europe. XPO’s distribution network spans 600+ fulfillment centers and 39,000 employees.
UPS

United Parcel Service (UPS) is the largest express shipping provider by revenue, ahead of arch-rivals DHL and FedEx. It’s a trusted 3PL company for shipping items anywhere in the world within tight deadlines. With 500+ cargo aircraft, you’ll have no issues sending items to any city through UPS. It employs 490,000 employees across 190+ countries, ensuring reliable deliveries for small, mid-sized, and large e-commerce businesses.
UPS is especially useful for e-commerce brands that want reliable parcel shipping, returns support, and access to a broad network of distribution centers. Depending on your shipping mix, you may also compare UPS rates with USPS and other carriers to find the best balance of speed, cost, and delivery coverage.
Detailed comparison of leading 3PL companies
| Company | Coverage | Best for | Fulfillment network in numbers | Shipping times |
| UPS | Worldwide (North America, Europe, South America, Oceania, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa) | Mid-sized and large e-commerce enterprises | 500+ cargo aircraft, 490,000 employees, and 500+ large warehouse facilities | 1 to 6 days, depending on location and choice of service |
| DHL | Worldwide | Mid-sized and large businesses | 1,300+ warehouses, 39 million+ square feet of warehouse space, 250 cargo aircraft, and 188,000 employees | 1 to 8 business days |
| FedEx | Worldwide | Mid-sized and large businesses | 40 million+ square feet of warehouse space, 700+ aircraft, and 500,000+ employees | 1 to 5 business days |
| ShipBob | North America, Europe, and Australia | Small businesses | 60+ fulfillment centers across the U.S.A, Australia, and Europe | 1 to 7 business days |
| Fulfillment by Amazon | Worldwide | Businesses of all sizes selling through Amazon | 1,300+ warehouses spanning over 190 countries | 1 to 7 business days |
How to choose the right 3PL provider
Choosing the best 3PL provider isn’t difficult. The right choice depends on your business needs, and you can find it by following these key considerations:
Global network of fulfillment centers
Research a 3PL company’s distribution network and ensure it has fulfillment centers close to your customers. For instance, if your customer base spans multiple continents, you need a large 3PL provider with fulfillment centers worldwide. If your customer base is in a single country, you can choose a 3PL provider with fulfillment centers concentrated in that country. The proximity to your customers ensures fast delivery.
You should also look at how each provider handles warehousing across different regions. A nearby 3PL warehouse can shorten delivery times, reduce shipping costs, and make it easier to replenish inventory before you run into stockouts.
Intuitive software
You’ll monitor all deliveries via your 3PL company’s software and handle payments, invoicing, and package customization with the same platform. User-friendliness becomes non-negotiable considering the amount of time you’ll spend on the platform. It should be intuitive and easy for the average person to navigate.
3PL companies offer both web and mobile apps to manage your deliveries. With a free trial, you can test a company’s app to ensure it’s intuitive. You may need some time to get used to the app’s interface, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to navigate.
Before choosing a provider, ask which fulfillment KPIs you’ll be able to track, such as order accuracy, on-time shipping rate, inventory turnover, return rate, and average delivery time.
Strong partner network
3PL companies have partnerships with shipping couriers to enable global delivery. By aggregating shipments and handing it over to courier partners, they receive bulk discounts that e-commerce businesses ultimately benefit from. Along with shipping companies, 3PL companies also partner with e-commerce platforms (e.g., Shopify and BigCommerce) to enable seamless software integration.
Consider these partnerships when selecting your 3PL company. A strong partner network helps you integrate your e-commerce store and ship goods without hassle.
Shipping discounts & cost efficiency
Explore cost-saving opportunities at different 3PL companies before making your decision. Shipping accounts for a sizable part of your operating expenses, so always seek deals to cut costs. The lower your shipping costs, the more profit you’ll make.
3PL companies charge based on the weight, value, and type of each shipment. You can obtain a price guide from a company’s website to estimate your shipping costs beforehand and make the right decision.
If you ship larger quantities, ask whether the provider supports freight consolidation. Combining smaller shipments into larger loads can reduce costs and improve efficiency, especially if you move inventory between suppliers, warehouses, and retail partners.
Integrations & APIs
Your 3PL company’s integration process matters a lot. You should be able to integrate its software with your e-commerce platform without jumping through many hoops. Preferably, it’s simple enough to handle yourself instead of hiring an external developer.
Integration is simpler when you use popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, as 3PL companies already have ready-made integrations with these platforms. Otherwise, you may need to build a custom integration, costing more time and money.
Customer service & support
When handling many deliveries, issues eventually arise, and you need excellent customer service to resolve them. Your 3PL company’s support team should be one email, phone call, or live chat message away. Along with being responsive, they should have skilled support staff capable of resolving issues quickly or escalating to the right team when required.
You should also have access to self-help support resources like a FAQs page, user manuals, and detailed API documentation when integrating the 3PL software with your online store.
Beyond basic shipping support, ask whether the provider offers value-added services like branded inserts, custom packaging, bundle assembly, product labeling, or kitting. These details can help your packages feel more polished and on-brand.
Fast shipping options
In an era where customers are used to receiving items within a few days, fast delivery is mandatory for e-commerce businesses. You need a 3PL company that can ship goods quickly to your customers, regardless of their location. That’s why we emphasized a robust fulfillment network as the first consideration. The best 3PL logistics companies have globally distributed service centers to process and ship goods in as little as two days.
Return management
A customer might return a product, and you’ll have to issue a refund or replacement because it falls within the standard 30-day return window. Return management is one of the key services provided by 3PL logistics companies. Your customer will send the product back to the 3PL company, and it’ll be logged into their system. After confirming the return, you can quickly issue a refund or send another item to the customer.
3PL companies charge extra fees for processing returns, so always aim to minimize return rates. Use precise product photos and descriptions so that customers order exactly what they want. If you sell clothing, post accurate size guides (e.g., on converting Asian to U.S. sizes) to help customers order the right items.
| 3PL company | Native e-commerce platform Integrations | Custom API integration? | Same-day shipping | Returns processing? | Customer service |
| ShipBob | Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Amazon, Wix, BigCommerce, eBay, and more | Yes | No | Yes | Email, telephone, and live chat |
| Red Stag | Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento, Shift4Shop, and Squarespace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email and telephone |
| FedEx | Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email, live chat, and telephone |
| Fulfyld | Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Ecwid, eBay, and more | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email and phone |
| Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) | Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email, live chat, and phone |
| Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) | Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email, live chat, and phone |
| DHL | Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email, live chat, and phone |
| C.H. Robinson | No native integrations (custom only) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email and telephone |
| XPO Logistics | No native integration (you can create custom ones) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email and phone |
| UPS | Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email, live chat, and phone |
Where Zendrop 3PL fits for high-volume dropshippers
Zendrop is not a traditional standalone 3PL like UPS, DHL, or ShipBob. Instead, it combines product sourcing, supplier coordination, fulfillment, and account-managed logistics support for e-commerce sellers.
For qualifying Private Agent clients, Zendrop can also support US 3PL services, allowing sellers to forward inventory from China to US warehouses for faster domestic delivery. This is especially useful for high-volume dropshippers who want to combine sourcing, inventory planning, and fulfillment support under one partner.
Zendrop may be a better fit if you want more than warehousing alone. If you need product sourcing, supplier relationships, custom branding, fulfillment support, and faster US shipping options, Zendrop can help you build the operational foundation around your store.
Final piece of e-commerce puzzle
The best fulfillment partner for your business should fit the way you sell today and support where you want to go next, whether that means faster shipping, simpler returns, better inventory visibility, or more room to scale.
Before making your final decision, compare each provider’s pricing, fulfillment network, integrations, customer support, and experience with your product category. A little extra research upfront can help you avoid delays, surprise fees, and operational headaches later.
Once your logistics are in place, you’ll be in a much better position to focus on the bigger picture: finding great products, creating a smooth customer experience, and growing your store with confidence.
What is a 3PL company?
A third-party logistics (3PL) company offers logistics services for e-commerce businesses. It arranges product shipments to your customers, while you focus on other aspects of your online store.
What are the benefits of using a 3PL company?
3PL providers have robust delivery expertise and infrastructure, enabling them to deliver goods faster than you would yourself. They also deliver goods more affordably because of their partnerships with shipping couriers.
How much do 3PL companies charge?
Shipping fees depend on an item’s value, type, weight, and fragility. There’s often a base shipping fee, plus additional fees based on the specific item. 3PL companies also charge storage fees for keeping items in their warehouse long-term.
What is the difference between 3PL and 4PL providers?
3PL providers focus on logistics services, such as packing and shipping products, while 4PL providers offer broader supply chain services, like inventory management and negotiating with suppliers on your behalf. Fourth-party logistics providers usually manage multiple logistics partners and oversee a larger part of your supply chain.
In other words, a 3PL usually handles execution, while a 4PL is more involved in strategy, coordination, and broader supply chain management.
Can 3PL companies help with international shipping?
Yes, 3PL companies can ship items to foreign customers cost-effectively. They use shipping couriers to process international deliveries quickly.
How do I evaluate a 3PL company for my business?
The key considerations when evaluating potential 3PL partners are user-friendliness, shipping fees and speed, fulfillment network, customer service, ease of integration, and returns management. These factors determine how reliable a 3PL company can be in the long run.