From cosmetics and fragrances to hair care and grooming supplies, personal care products consistently sell, making the health and beauty sector a resilient market with significant sales opportunities. But to tap into these available profits, suppliers need to safely and speedily store, fill, and send out customers’ orders.
Third-party logistics (3PL) companies specializing in warehousing and fulfillment for health and beauty providers have the resources and expertise to efficiently store and ship your health and beauty products while maintaining compliance with industry standards. Explore what qualities to look for in a 3PL partner, including value-added services that elevate the consumer experience, and learn how the right fulfillment service helps you deliver.
Table of Contents
- Why Specialized Fulfillment Matters for Health and Beauty Brands
- Key Qualities to Look for in a Fulfillment Partner
- Value-Added Services That Enhance Customer Experience
- Ensuring Compliance and Product Safety
- How Relentless Fulfillment Supports Health and Beauty Brands
Why Specialized Fulfillment Matters for Health and Beauty Brands
Health and beauty products require a special touch from your fulfillment provider, so it’s important to use a 3PL partner familiar with the unique needs of your industry.
For example, many health and beauty solutions have strict temperature control specifications and must employ expiration tracking to ensure that products maintain their freshness. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has multiple compliance requirements for many of these products, and any business shipping to Europe or other regions must also comply with regulations abroad. Otherwise, you may risk incurring a costly violation.
Choosing a generalist provider can risk your products’ integrity and your brand’s reputation. Specialized 3PLs typically have a deeper understanding of the packaging, labeling, and storage requirements unique to this industry. For instance, items may come in fragile bottles or containers, so they may need customized packaging to prevent being damaged before they reach the consumer.
It’s also especially important for health and beauty products to have an aesthetic appeal, so custom branding and packaging that delights the customer is a must. Specialized fulfillment partners have the capabilities to support every aspect of your brand.
Key Qualities To Look for in a Fulfillment Partner
Because the health and beauty industry has so many unique requirements, it’s important to find a 3PL partner whose services align with your specific needs. These are some of the key qualities to look for in your health and beauty fulfillment provider:
- Experience. Does your 3PL partner fill a high volume of health and beauty solutions each month? Specialized 3PL partners should have a proven track record with cosmetics and personal care products, so inquire about their throughput of products in your vertical.
- Scalability. One of the main advantages of using a 3PL is the ease with which companies can toggle their fulfillment resources up or down to meet fluctuating demands. When you search for a specialized beauty fulfillment, make sure their flexibility gives your fulfillment operations the ability to grow with your brand.
- Transparency. A 3PL provider should offer clear pricing models that transparently show which fulfillment services you’re paying for and how much it would cost to scale your processes as needed. They should also communicate with you throughout the fulfillment journey, so that you have full knowledge of your operations and a clear picture of where each order stands.
- Integration. Consumers ordered 41% of their health and beauty products online in 2024. Platforms like Amazon and Shopify have become the norm in today’s eCommerce world, so specialized 3PL beauty fulfillment providers should offer client portals that integrate with customers’ preferred mode of fulfillment.
Another key factor to consider in a 3PL provider is their supply chain. A quality fulfillment partner not only will have access to high-volume discount rates from major carriers but will also have strategically located fulfillment centers near major consumer hubs. For example, Relentless Fulfillment’s distribution center is stationed in Reno, Nevada, for optimum shipping and delivery speed for all West Coast consumers.
Value-Added Services That Enhance Customer Experience
Customer engagement and satisfaction are a must for the beauty industry, and value-added services can go a long way in adding the personal touch that elevates the buyer experience. Look for a 3PL partner that offers these specialized solutions:
- Kitting, packaging, and assembly. Health and beauty products can be more complicated to fill, as many come in the form of subscription boxes or contain an assortment of related components. Kitting and assembly services ensure that your products are bundled together according to specifications, complete with custom packaging options.
- Branded inserts and labeling. From thanking your customers for their business to informing them of seasonal offers, custom inserts are a great way to engage with your buyers. Combine them with your own unique labels and branding, and give customers a premium unboxing experience.
- Sustainable packaging. In a 2024 survey, consumers said they would be willing to pay up to 9.7% more for sustainably sourced or produced goods. Even if the beauty product itself isn’t sustainably sourced, offering sustainable packaging such as biodegradable packing materials aligns your brand with your buyers’ values — and benefits the planet at the same time.
- Automated shipping updates. 90% of consumers prefer to receive notifications about the status of their order. The leading 3PL partners offer automated shipping updates to your customers, keeping your mind at ease until your beauty product reaches their door.
- Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). As the leading fulfillment channel, Amazon has a range of strict requirements regarding how sellers’ products must be stored, tagged, and shipped if they’re to be sold on the Amazon Marketplace. 3PL partners that offer FBA prep ensure that their clients’ products are properly labeled, packaged, palletized, shipped, and inspected for quality, giving your beauty brand access to the world’s leading fulfillment platform.
- Reverse logistics. When a health and beauty product doesn’t match the customer’s standards, an efficient returns management pipeline becomes essential for seamless customer service. Reverse logistics plays a critical role in maintaining customer satisfaction, and products that pass inspection can be placed back on the shelves for resale, maximizing your profits.
From customizing your package with branded inserts and labels to ensuring that all returns occur smoothly, the tailored solutions that value-added services offer enhance the buyer experience. The result is greater brand loyalty, so your customers will gladly come back for more.
Ensuring Compliance and Product Safety
Because they’re applied to the body, health and beauty products must comply with many federal and international regulatory requirements. The exact standards governing your beauty products will vary based on your application, location, and shipping destination, but a few factors to consider in your beauty order fulfillment processes are:
- Expiration date tracking, batch control, and lot tracing
- Temperature and humidity controls — both in storage and during shipping
- Careful handling of hazardous or restricted ingredients
Making sure your product is fresh when it reaches the consumer is, of course, important for enhancing customer satisfaction, but it can also be a critical part of product safety. Some health and beauty products may contain compounds that can degrade when the item reaches the end of its shelf life, and delivering an expired product could lead to harmful health risks — and subsequent compliance violations.
Experienced 3PL providers offer First-Expired First-Out (FEFO) to ensure your product’s freshness better than conventional First-In First-Out (FIFO) shipping, which is more suitable for non-perishable items. FEFO shipping means improved product safety, closer compliance with regulatory requirements, and a happier customer, too.
How Relentless Fulfillment Supports Cosmetics Brands
Relentless Fulfillment is an expert in 3PL processes, including warehousing and fulfillment for health and beauty suppliers. We offer a wide range of beauty fulfillment solutions, and our track record demonstrates how we can enhance the fulfillment operations for brands of all sizes.
Our 250,000 square-foot facility has individual climate-controlled capabilities for optimum product storage. Moreover, we offer value-added services such as custom branding, kitting and assembly, and reverse logistics fulfillment, so that your customers will be delighted with your products from start to finish.
Our range of services also includes:
- Customized solutions built for high-volume, high-sensitivity products like those in the beauty industry
- Real-time visibility into orders, inventory, and performance metrics, giving you full control over your operations
- Flexible warehousing options, so you pay only for the fulfillment resources you need
- Hands-on customer support, giving you access to our health and beauty experts at all times
- A scalable pricing model, so your fulfillment infrastructure can grow with your business
- Leading-edge warehousing technology, for greater fulfillment efficiency
- Adherence to industry regulations for stronger brand protection
When assessing any 3PL fulfillment partner, two key metrics are delivery speed and inventory accuracy — and Relentless Fulfillment excels in both. Our location in Reno, Nevada, lets us offer 2-day delivery to customers across the West Coast, for the timely delivery everyone has come to expect. And with less than a 0.1% error rate, our inventory accuracy proves that you can trust us to get the right products to the right customers at the right time.
Relentless Fulfillment: The Healthier Fulfillment Solution
Health and beauty brands need 3PL fulfillment services that understand the complex market demands of this industry and its products, from specific storage requirements to rapidly fluctuating demand.
Relentless Fulfillment has the expertise and experience to handle a wide range of products. To see how our specialized services can result in seamless operations, reach out today for a custom quote that matches your products’ unique requirements.
FAQs
Why do health and cosmetics brands need a specialized fulfillment partner?
Health and beauty brands rely on specialized fulfillment partners for their extensive industry experience and their ability to deliver the value-added services that beauty products need to satisfy their customers as well as regulations.
For example, cosmetics and skincare products often require careful storage, regulatory compliance, and high-touch presentation. 3PL providers offer climate-controlled storage and FEFO shipping to prevent spoilage, and kitting services for beauty products that come as a bundle. Tailored branding and logos also deliver greater personalization, improving the customer experience.
What should I consider when comparing fulfillment providers?
Important factors to consider when comparing 3PL providers are:
- Experience in your product category
- Technology integration
- Customer support
- Transparent pricing
How does a fulfillment partner ensure product safety and compliance?
Your 3PL fulfillment partner should ensure the safety and compliance of your health and beauty products by maintaining proper climate control, attaching tracking systems to your goods during shipping, and adhering to FDA and international regulations, depending on where your product is sold.
What fulfillment services add the most value for health and beauty brands?
Custom packaging, subscription management, and same-day shipping often have the greatest impact on brand perception.
Why choose a 3PL like Relentless Fulfillment?
Relentless Fulfillment is an excellent 3PL partner for beauty fulfillment solutions. We combine specialized industry expertise with technology-driven visibility, helping your brand grow while maintaining quality and compliance.
Our expansive warehousing facility is strategically located in Reno, Nevada, to offer timely delivery to customers across the West Coast, and our order accuracy rate exceeds 99.9%. When it comes to health and beauty solutions, Relentless Fulfillment delivers.
