Got your eye on a big client you’re keen to land — but they need e-commerce fulfillment? No problem. It’s easier to add e-commerce operations alongside your general warehousing than you might think. I’ve got a few deal-winning tips to strengthen your pitch, turning your WMS capabilities into genuine selling points for your ideal clientele — to help you seal the deal with confidence!

I have years of experience in warehousing and logistics software solution design, and work with new clients daily to unlock their warehouse capabilities with CartonCloud. 

In this blog, I’ll answer the most common questions that come up when securing large e-commerce clients, including:

• What high-volume e-commerce clients actually look for before they sign with a 3PL provider.
• How real-time stock visibility and clear communication help you win trust fast.
• The automation workflows that let you take on more work without adding headcount or headaches.
• Plus, the top #WarehouseHacks you can use in sales conversations and on your website to attract the customers you're looking for.

TL;DR: How you can leverage your warehouse's most client-valued tools to win large clients with confidence! I’ll be sharing the most important service offerings and workflows you need, as well as top WMS automation features that will help your 3PL stand out in competitive sales conversations and win more deals.

Key Takeaways

• Real-time visibility helps you stand out and win trust. Giving clients direct access to live inventory, order status, and historical data makes your operation easy to understand and easy to trust — positioning your 3PL as a reliable source of truth while reducing admin on both sides.
  
  
• E-commerce clients expect visibility, updates, and data security by default. Real-time tracking, automated notifications, and secure systems help e-commerce brands feel confident and in control. When clients know their data is protected and their orders are being handled accurately, they’re far more likely to choose your 3PL as a growth partner.
  
  
• Automations make peak season manageable. Clients look for 3PLs that can handle volume spikes without friction. Automated workflows give you the ability to process more orders smoothly during peak periods without adding chaos to your operation.

Q: How can I enhance my customer experience through my 3PL WMS?

A: Your 3PL WMS is a great tool to elevate your customer service — especially when you use it as a real-time data-sharing hub.

You can offer clients their own unique login into your WMS, to view real-time information about their stock anytime, giving them the transparency they need to run their side of the business, as well as eliminating incoming inquiries on your side.

#WarehouseHack: Become your customers’ trusted source of truth by giving them real-time access to their data through your WMS customer portal. 

The data sitting within your WMS is an easy ticket towards providing your clients with excellent customer service. Clients love when you can provide them with access to real-time information about their stock. It helps them plan better for the future by seeing different trends (like what item of stock is most popular), how stock is performing historically over time, and also eliminates the need for them to be asking you and your team for that information. 

What’s the best way to give your 3PL clients transparent reporting? In CartonCloud, we have a special portal in our WMS just for your clients! They have their very own login and can access the following 24/7:

• Live and historical stock levels
• Stock movements
• Use real data and generate reports to plan replenishments, promotions, or for seasonal demand.

A great example of a 3PL who truly made customer access to data their distinguished selling point is Logística Patagonia in Argentina. Founder Santiago Zubillaga was in the position of competing for a fast-growing client that had high expectations around visibility and reporting. In this case, price wasn’t the deciding factor of winning the deal — real-time data was.

Using the data from CartonCloud, Santiago made data his point of difference.

“We actually have more visibility of the information than our customer does. We are almost like their data source of truth.

I build dashboards using the data CartonCloud gives us, and our clients are blown away from day one. In our monthly meetings, we show their data live — and they keep discovering insights they never had before.” — Santiago Zubillaga, Founder, Logística Patagonia

Q: How can my WMS real-time visibility help win + retain e-com clients?

A: To win and retain e-commerce clients, it helps to think beyond the warehouse and keep their end-customers in mind. Real-time visibility into order status and delivery tracking isn’t just helpful for e-commerce clients, it’s an expectation!

To remain competitive, e-commerce clients need to ensure their customers can clearly see exactly when an order was fulfilled, when it shipped, and how long it will take to reach their doorstep. Good thing your WMS already has all the answers they’re looking for. 😌

In CartonCloud, all of your clients can have access to their own customer portal so they can keep an eye on inventory levels, order progress, and delivery updates (as mentioned above). Ready to take visibility one step further? You can easily set up automated notifications to send updates when orders are received, shipped, or delivered. That means they don’t even need to login to stay updated, and their business can run smoothly — making you a trusted and preferred 3PL partner.

#WarehouseHack: Set up automated notifications for every stage of fulfillment.

It might seem like a small detail, but it goes a long way in positioning you as a reliable, dependable 3PL — and takes a huge admin task off your client’s plate too.

Q: How can I handle volume peaks and fluctuation in my 3PL?

A: To handle moments of volume peaks and adjust for fluctuation demands, you want to ensure your warehouse is set up to flex with demand (meaning having automated workflows in place, taking a look at seasonal trends to stock up on popular products ahead of time, as well as creating pick faces to make stock easy to grab).

1. Let the Data Do the Heavy Lifting

First things first, having the proper prep for peak season can make a big difference when it comes time for fulfillment. When you know what to expect, you can adjust your pick faces and plan for replenishment cycles much easier.

#WarehouseHack: Analyze seasonal trends to prepare your 3PL for spikes in volume.

Your reporting tools in CartonCloud are absolute gold for this. You can use them to:

• Review seasonal order trends by client.
• Identify fast-moving SKUs ahead of sale periods.
• Compare year-on-year volume.
• Forecast labour and space needs.

Pro Tip: Be proactive with your customers! If you see Black Friday approaching, jump on a call and use your data to confirm their expected volumes (it’s much easier to prep when you and your client are on the same page!).

2. Match Your Workflow to the Order Type

Not every period looks the same. For example, picking 5,000 identical "viral" products is a completely different beast than fulfilling 5,000 unique subscription boxes. To get orders out faster, you need to match your picking strategy to the order profile for the most efficiency. 

#WarehouseHack: Match your workflow to the order type to get more orders out the door faster.

In CartonCloud there are workflows that I recommend that are the best for each individual case. Let’s say you have:

• Large batches of identical single orders → Use Split Pick & Pack. It allows you to batch-pick everything in one pass, which is a total game-changer for speed.
• For multi-item or bundled orders → Use Pick to Tote. This keeps individual orders separated during the pick all in one tote, making packing much easier (just grab the tote and you have everything you need for that one order).

3. Optimize Your Physical Space

Now the way your warehouse space is set up can make a big difference when it comes time for peak periods, because when volume increases, so does your foot traffic. Small layout tweaks can have a massive impact on your overall efficiency when you’re dealing with thousands of orders. You want your most popular products in areas that are easiest to reach to keep the floor flowing.

#WarehouseHack: Use your warehouse space strategically to accommodate for higher volumes and optimized pick paths.

Before a busy period, I always recommend moving your fast-moving SKUs closer to the pack station into a pick face (loose stock kept in bins). 

CartonCloud has a great replenishment feature where you can ensure these bins are always topped up and ready to go. Say if your bin threshold dips below a certain number, the system will alert you to top it up from bulk storage automatically. You can learn more about replenishment here.

For more warehouse layout tips, check out our free guide!

Want to know more?

If you’re ready to turn real-time visibility, automation, and smarter workflows into a real competitive advantage — and win more high-volume e-commerce deals along the way — our team is here to help!

From customer portals and e-commerce integrations to peak-ready picking workflows, we’ll walk you through how CartonCloud supports scale during busy periods in a free demo, where you can see the software in action, ask questions,  and see how it fits into your day-to-day operations. Book your free demo today to get started.