The Ultimate 3PL Peak Season Toolkit

Posted by:

Kristina Mustenikov

Get your team, tech, and 3PL workflows ready for Cyber Sales season!

Early sales have kicked off and the peak busy period will be here soon! Get up and running in days to keep ahead of the rush.

Now’s the time to fine-tune your workflows, prep your team, and make sure your warehouse is ready to handle high order volumes right before the rush begins.

Here is everything you need to make this your smoothest e-commerce sale season yet — with 3PL fulfillment workflow tips and expert advice, to customizable marketing templates to show your customers you’re ready for the rush.

TL;DR — What’s inside this 3PL peak season toolkit:

📦 Expert tips to handle high-volume e-commerce orders with accuracy and speed
🎥 Video tutorial: Learn how to use Pick to Tote and Pack Screen to process high-volume orders with ease
💬 On-demand webinar: Hear from our experts on how to optimize e-commerce fulfillment for peak season success
📘 Free e-book: Read The Smooth Operator’s Playbook for 3PL e-commerce fulfillment alongside your B2B operations
🎨 Free, ready-to-edit Canva templates (email banners, social posts, and reels) to share on your email signature and socials

Pick to Tote + Pack Screen: Your Secret Weapon for the Sales Rush

Our number one piece of advice for this upcoming Cyber Sales season? Streamline your warehouse order fulfillment with time-saving, accuracy-boosting workflows!

Pick to Tote and Pack Screen are our expert team's top recommended workflows for handling high-volume warehouse orders faster and with fewer errors.

Don’t have a tote trolley yet? Not to worry — there is still plenty of time to get your tote trolleys ready and your pack station organized before the season ramps up! We recommend using a trolley equipped with about 30 totes, so your team can pick multiple orders in one trip and keep everything organized as you move through the warehouse. Or, if you’re short on time, you can also create a makeshift tote trolley with barcode-labeled tubs.

Watch our short tutorial video below to see Pick to Tote and Pack Screen in action.

E-commerce Fulfillment Tips from the Experts

We asked our CartonCloud logistics experts for their top advice to help 3PLs and warehouses stay fast, accurate, and stress-free this peak season — here’s what they had to say.

Olivia Trankina, North American Operations Manager, CartonCloud

“What we see with our highest-volume customers is the use of designated pick locations (smaller picking bins or shelving areas) where cartons are broken down and loose stock is kept accessible. ‍since items are already exposed and easy to grab." — Olivia Trankina, North American Operations Manager, CartonCloud.

Javier Hernandez, Implementation Consultant, CartonCloud

“When it comes to invoicing for e-commerce, it’s important to automate as much as possible. You might have a flat order fee, a per-pick fee, a per-carton fee, or even a per-pallet fee. The key is to let the system track all of that automatically, so you’re generating revenue per order and keeping everything in one place.” — Javier Hernandez, Implementation Consultant, CartonCloud.

Watch our on-demand webinar for more e-commerce fulfillment tips from Olivia and Javier!

Got more questions about e-commerce? Check out our blog where Olivia and Javier break down the top questions 3PLs are asking about e-com fulfillment here.

Top Tips for a Smooth Peak Season

Your 3PL’s peak season success hinges on your preparation, precision, and the right tools — and we’re here to help make sure you get there! These quick wins will help your team stay organized, efficient, and confident no matter how high order volumes start to get.

Keep your customers in the loop. Share access to CartonCloud’s Customer Portal with your customers for real-time order visibility and tracking.
Use e-commerce-specific workflows for each order type. Use Pick to Tote for multi-item orders and Split Pick & Pack for large single-SKU batches to boost accuracy and speed.
Optimize your packing station. Print your labels straight from Pack Screen and keep your essentials (scales, tape, labels, printer) close by for quick access.

For more expert tips, download our Smooth Operator’s Playbook to unlock everything you need to know about e-commerce fulfillment.

Free Marketing Templates: Show Customers You’re Ready for the Rush (in under 5 minutes)!

Win more business and show your customers your strengths with peak-season marketing!

Our team created this free marketing swag kit that you can easily customize, for peak season marketing in a flash! ⚡Simply add your logo, swap in your brand colors, and you’re set.

Watch our quick, 3 minute Canva tutorial here to see how easy it is to personalize your templates.

Email Banner Template

Reach your customers where they are! Your email signature is one of the most visible (and underused) marketing tools you have! In fact, emails that include a banner in their signature get 3x more clicks!

Adding a professional email banner is a simple way to build confidence with clients, show off your capabilities, and remind them you’ve got fulfillment under control. Simply pop these email banners to your email signature for an extra touch in your customer communications this peak season.

Edit your copy of the banner here.

Influence your customers with a peak season readiness announcement!

Let your network know you’re ready for the rush! A quick post on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram can help to show your clients you’re prepared — and positions your business as their go-to partner for reliable fulfillment.

Don’t know what to post? Highlight your team, your setup, or your favorite workflow — or use our ready-to-edit template for a quick post you can get up and running in less than 5 minutes.

Edit your copy of the social post here.

‍Get your business seen with video

Short video reels are one of the most powerful ways to connect with your audience — and they’re perfect for showing the real people and energy behind your warehouse. Businesses that participate in viral trends are able to 2.4x their audience growth!

It’s the season to keep things moving — and what better way to show off your 3PL hustle than with a reel that captures the action?

Our team’s created a fun “Pass the Parcel” reel template that you and your crew can easily recreate and share! Just grab a package, pack it, scan it, and pass it along to your team (or even your warehouse mascot! 🐶).

Sharing fun team moments like this helps your brand pop up in more feeds, puts some personality behind your operations, and shows customers the people who make their deliveries happen (helping to build some extra trust!).

Check out this quick video tutorial to see how to bring it to life, and edit your copy of the reel here.

Turn the Post-Season Calm into Customer Loyalty

From prep to post peak season, we’ve got you covered! Once the dust settles, that’s your golden opportunity to reconnect with your clients and celebrate the wins.

We’ve pulled together a helpful guide packed with ways to keep your clients happy long after the chaos — from sharing your peak-season performance results to turning client wins into success stories that build loyalty year-round.

👉 Save this guide and keep it handy for when the rush dies down!