Looking for a fulfillment provider, huh? A fulfillment RFP can help you sort through the weeds when you’re looking for just the right company to partner with and meet your requirements. Some providers may have basic information they can give to you, but by getting really specific in your RFP, you can narrow the field to the best before you advance in the process. Here are a few things to include in your fulfillment RFP.

Why are you looking for a fulfillment provider?

It’s a simple question, but it can give your potential partner a good idea of whether or not the relationship will work. At the same time, include some of your evaluation criteria, your timeline, and who within your organization will be doing the selecting.

What do you hope to gain by using a fulfillment provider/selecting a new fulfillment provider?

This answer will help your potential partners understand your exact wants and needs, and see where they fit into the plan.

What’s working now? What isn’t?

List some of your problems. Some partners may be better suited to providing a solution to your problems than others.

Information about your company.

List when you were established, ownership information, at least the last three years of annual sales, your industry and sub-industry, and any strategic goals you have. These can really tailor you to a specific partner.

Complete scope of work.

How much work will this partnership include? Give an in-depth view of what you expect from this partnership. This includes, but isn’t limited to:

• Your average order profile, including number of units, number of SKUs, number of packages, and type of shipments (such as parcel or LTL).

• Percentage of international orders.

• Number of orders and units shipped per day, per month, and per year.

• What the product is, specifically.

• Any types of special handling that might be necessary.

• Inbound volumes, types of shipments, and typical communication forms (like advanced shipping notices, or a BOL and pack-list).

• How are items packaged at receiving? How should they be packaged at shipping? 

What services are you really looking for?

Make it clear the type of fulfillment you’re after, as well as any other services that might be important to you. For example, some potential partners might provide value-added services, reverse logistics, transportation, freight auditing, an e-commerce platform, a customer contact center, shipping software, or any other number of potential solutions to your problems.

An RFP that includes this kind of information will give the fulfillment providers an opportunity to really see how they can provide a great solution for you, and allow you to make sure you’re able to get all of your needs met with the right provider.