Running an eCommerce business leads to numerous opportunities as well as challenges. On one hand, digital storefronts open the door to global markets, allowing brands of every size to compete with industry giants. On the other hand, the order fulfillment process — delivering customers’ products to their doorstep with as few mistakes and delays as possible — can be daunting.
These days, one mistake, such as a delay, broken product, or lack of proactive communication on your part, can be enough to lose a customer for good. Online shoppers today want more than just good products — they also expect accuracy, speed, and convenience with every purchase. And because customers don’t distinguish between your brand and your fulfillment provider, any failure in fulfillment reflects directly on you.
That’s why choosing the right eCommerce order fulfillment partner is so critical. The wrong partner can exacerbate common challenges, resulting in stockouts, higher shipping and inventory costs, disorganized returns, and a failure to scale during peak seasons. All of these issues directly affect customer satisfaction, profitability, and brand reputation.
Learn about the most common eCommerce fulfillment challenges and clear, actionable strategies to overcome them. Whether you’re a startup scaling rapidly or a mature brand navigating seasonal surges, you need to understand and address these challenges to maintain customer trust and drive business growth.
Managing Inventory and Stockouts
One of the most common challenges is managing inventory. If you have too little inventory, you’re likely to experience stockouts. These not only lead to lost sales but also damage the brand’s reputation. When customers see “out of stock” messages repeatedly, they may stop checking your site altogether and buy from competitors instead.
On the other hand, if you’re overstocked, your capital will be tied up in warehouse space and handling fees while products sit unsold.
The good news? There are clear ways to get ahead of these issues. To understand how, let’s look at why inventory accuracy matters, what typically causes stockouts and overstocking, and the technology that helps businesses solve these problems.
Why Inventory Accuracy Matters
Accurate inventory management isn’t just about knowing how many units you have — it directly affects customer satisfaction. Poor inventory management can lead to stockouts and wrong deliveries, among other issues. Such bad experiences can damage your brand. According to Emplifi’s 2025 report, The Social Pulse: A Consumer Survey, 46% of consumers leave brands after two bad experiences.
Accuracy is required to remain competitive. According to a Simbe Robotics report, retailers lose an average of 5.5% of gross sales to in-store inefficiencies in 2025, up from 4.5% in 2024, due to inventory management issues like inefficiencies from out-of-stocks. That adds up to $162.7 billion in lost revenue across sectors, including mass merchandise, grocery, drugstores, and DIY.
Common Causes of Stockouts
Stockouts can occur for many reasons, and the frustrating part is that many are preventable. Here are some of the most common causes:
- Supplier delays. When suppliers don’t deliver on time, warehouses are left waiting with empty shelves. Over time, repeated supplier delays chip away at customer confidence and force brands to scramble for backup options.
- Overselling across multiple platforms. Without a centralized inventory system, a product may appear “in stock” on one sales channel when it’s already sold out elsewhere. This disconnect can lead to canceled orders, frustrated shoppers, negative reviews, and an overall lower bottom line.
- Manual entry errors. A single miscount of the number of units in a popular SKU — say, logging 1,200 instead of 120 — can leave your system showing hundreds of items available that don’t actually exist. The result is oversold products, canceled orders, and unhappy customers.
- Poor demand forecasting. Brands that fail to anticipate seasonal peaks, marketing campaigns, or sudden surges in demand often find themselves unprepared.
Common Causes of Overstocking
Overstocking can be as damaging as stockouts. The main causes include:
- Ordering too much inventory. Over-ordering ties up working capital, increases storage fees, and raises the chance of spoilage or obsolescence, especially with products in beauty, food, or electronics.
- Poor demand forecasting. Brands often overestimate sales for seasonal peaks or promotions, leaving excess stock once demand cools.
- Lack of sell-through visibility across multiple channels. If a product is moving slowly on one platform, businesses may not realize it until warehouses are overflowing.
How 3PL Technology and Providers Solve Inventory Issues
To avoid stockouts and overstocking, you need to invest in inventory management software that syncs in real-time across sales platforms. These tools provide visibility into where inventory is located and sync in real-time across sales channels. This helps prevent overselling and alerts you when stock levels dip below a threshold.
These platforms also come with predictive analytics, which analyzes historical sales and seasonal trends to forecast demand. For example, fashion retailers can predict when certain styles will surge in popularity, reducing the risk of selling out too early or over-ordering.
When these systems are paired with a third-party logistics provider (3PL), you experience even more benefits. A 3PL is a partner that takes on core fulfillment tasks, such as storing inventory, picking and packing orders, and managing shipping, so brands like you can focus on sales and growth rather than back-end logistics.
Relentless Fulfillment is an example of a 3PL with an integrated platform that automatically updates counts across sales channels. For example, a purchase on Amazon will instantly reflect in Shopify. This real-time visibility eliminates overselling and reduces the chance of disappointing a customer.
Balancing Shipping Costs and Delivery Speed
Thanks to Amazon’s two-day and same-day deliveries, customers today expect their orders to arrive quickly and with little to no extra cost. Because this has become the de facto industry standard, small and mid-sized brands are pressured to meet these expectations while still turning a profit.
The biggest hurdle is the steady rise in carrier costs. Due to fuel surcharges, labor shortages, and increased demand across global networks, shipping fees keep going up. If brands absorb those costs, margins take a hit. If they pass them on to customers, customers are likely to ghost. And when delays creep in — whether from supply chain bottlenecks or simply the distance between warehouse and customer — loyalty suffers.
So what’s the answer? Finding the sweet spot between cost and speed. Brands can achieve this by:
- Partnering with 3PLs. Such partners often have access to negotiated carrier rates that smaller businesses can’t get on their own.
- Implementing multi-warehouse strategies. Businesses can ship online orders from the facility closest to the customer to cut down on transit times and expenses.
- Setting realistic expectations and being transparent with clients. Being upfront about delivery timelines — without overpromising — builds trust even if the shipping isn’t lightning fast. Many customers would rather wait an extra day and get exactly what they were told than be promised two-day shipping and receive it late.
Handling Returns and Reverse Logistics
Returns are an unavoidable part of running an eCommerce business. Customers often find reasons to return goods, whether it’s a shirt that doesn’t fit or a gadget that arrives defective. Thanks to retail giants like Amazon, shoppers now expect returns to be just as easy as placing the order — just tap a few buttons, print a slip, drop the package off, and move on.
Unfortunately, reverse logistics, the process of managing returns, is often one of the most complicated and expensive aspects of fulfillment. There are several reasons why.
First, return shipping expenses often add up quickly, especially for cross-border commerce. Restocking items also requires labor costs, warehouse space, and careful inspection to ensure products can be resold.
Additionally, unclear or overly strict return policies can frustrate customers, prompting them to seek alternatives with more flexible options. Ultimately, a complicated return process usually discourages repeat purchases, while a smooth experience builds customer retention and trust.
To make reverse logistics easier for you and your staff, follow these steps:
- Create a clear, customer-friendly return policy. Lay out the process step by step so customers know exactly what to expect, whether that’s requesting a return or receiving their refund. The more transparent a return policy is, the less confused customers will be, and the less back-and-forth will be required.
- Automate return labels and let customers initiate returns online. Giving shoppers the ability to print their own labels and track returns reduces friction for them while cutting down on manual work for your team. It also shortens the turnaround time, which helps build trust by showing that you prioritize speed and convenience.
- Work with a fulfillment partner that specializes in reverse logistics. Experienced 3PLs like Relentless Fulfillment can handle inspections and restocking, freeing your staff to focus on growth. Our infrastructure ensures products move quickly back into circulation — or out of your system entirely — without bottlenecks.
Scaling Fulfillment During Growth or Seasonal Peaks
Every eCommerce business wants growth, but that often comes with challenges. Holiday rushes, big product launches, or seasonal spikes in demand can easily overwhelm in-house fulfillment operations. Without the right systems in place, these surges lead to delays, errors, and frustrated customers.
One of the most significant challenges during scaling is staffing. Hiring temporary workers for peak seasons is difficult, particularly when labor markets are tight. Even when you manage to secure additional staff, training them quickly enough to maintain accuracy and efficiency is another obstacle.
Space is another hurdle. During surges, warehouses that work most of the year can suddenly feel cramped, creating bottlenecks and slower order processing. For small teams in particular, limited resources make it hard to keep up, and the result can be missed deadlines, dissatisfied customers, and stalled momentum.
The best way to mitigate these risks is to partner with a scalable 3PL vendor. These fulfillment providers bring the infrastructure, technology, and trained staff needed to handle demand surges seamlessly. Automation in order processing, inventory updates, and warehouse picking further reduces errors and accelerates turnaround times. 3PLs also provide access to forecasting tools to prepare for spikes by aligning inventory, staffing, and warehouse space with anticipated demand.
All in all, eCommerce businesses can maintain flexibility without the overhead burden by outsourcing fulfillment to 3PLs during periods of growth or seasonal peaks. This scalability ensures they can consistently meet customer expectations, regardless of fluctuating demand.
How Relentless Fulfillment Turns Fulfillment Challenges Into Growth Opportunities
Every eCommerce brand faces order fulfillment challenges, such as inventory accuracy, shipping costs, returns, and scalability. But with the right tools and partners, they can become opportunities to enhance customer experience and drive long-term success.
That’s where Relentless Fulfillment comes in. We specialize in helping eCommerce businesses overcome hurdles. From integrated inventory management to scalable warehousing, our solutions are designed to streamline fulfillment operations and support growth at every stage, including seasonal spikes.
Ready to see how Relentless Fulfillment can streamline your operations, cut costs, and exceed customer expectations? Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your growth. You can also get a custom quote from us.
