A Guide to European Ecommerce Fulfilment Basics

Outsourcing order processing to a third party logistics provider allows an online retail brand to store stock, assemble packages, and ship parcels without operating a physical warehouse. Setting up fulfilment in Europe requires understanding how inventory moves from manufacturing facilities into regional warehouse networks and onto local delivery routes. This guide outlines the core building blocks of outsourced logistics, from receiving goods to managing last mile delivery across multiple borders.

What outsourced fulfilment involves

A third party logistics provider, commonly abbreviated as a 3PL, takes over the physical handling of your merchandise. Instead of storing inventory in your own premises, you ship your products to a dedicated facility. The provider receives the stock, logs it into a warehouse management system, stores it, and picks and packs individual orders as customers place them on your online storefront.

Outsourcing also changes how your costs behave. During quiet periods you pay mainly for the space your goods occupy and the orders shipped, and during demand spikes, such as product launches or holiday sales, the facility absorbs the extra volume without you hiring temporary staff or renting extra space. Fixed overheads become largely variable costs, although many providers set a monthly minimum charge.

Receiving and inbound inventory processing

Inbound processing is the first physical step in third party logistics. When a supplier ships inventory to a logistics centre, the facility must unload, inspect, and register the incoming products before they become available for customer purchase.

The process begins before the truck arrives. Brands submit an advance shipping notice to the warehouse system. This notification details the contents, expected arrival date, container number, and item quantities of the shipment. Having an advance notice allows warehouse managers to schedule labour and allocate floor space for receiving.

Upon arrival, warehouse staff inspect the external condition of pallets and cartons. Boxes are counted to verify that the physical shipment matches the shipping manifest. Damaged cartons are set aside for manual inspection to assess whether internal products remain salable.

Each product line is verified using its stock keeping unit barcode. Staff scan barcode labels to update the warehouse management system in real time. Once logged, the stock status changes from incoming to available inventory, making the products purchasable on connected ecommerce storefronts. Efficient receiving reduces the gap between stock delivery and order availability, and accuracy matters: mistakes made at intake carry through into inventory counts and cause stockouts or wrong deliveries later.

Preparing your inventory before it arrives

Handing warehouse operations to an external partner goes more smoothly when the stock arrives ready to process.

Every product unit should carry a readable barcode, such as an EAN or UPC code. Warehouse staff scan it to confirm the correct item is selected during picking, and goods that arrive without readable barcodes have to be labelled by hand, which is billed as extra labour.

Products should also be packed sturdily enough to survive sorting equipment and transport. Outer master cartons should show clear product labels and accurate unit counts, so the receiving team can check the delivery against your advance shipping notice quickly.

Storage configurations and warehouse space

After receiving, inventory is assigned to specific storage locations based on size, order velocity, and handling requirements. Logistics facilities divide space into distinct zones to maximise operational efficiency.

Pallet racking holds bulk inventory in high density storage areas. These spaces store reserve stock that is moved into picking locations when primary stock levels run low. Bins and shelf units hold individual items within easy reach of warehouse operators. Fast moving products are positioned near central packing stations to minimise the distance workers must walk during order assembly. High-value goods are often kept in secure, access-controlled areas.

Logistics providers charge for storage based on the volume or footprint occupied by stock. Billing units usually include standard pallet spaces, shelf bins, or cubic metres, calculated on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Efficient packaging designs reduce physical volume, directly lowering ongoing storage costs.

Certain product categories require specialized storage conditions. Cosmetics and food products often demand temperature monitored environments to prevent degradation. Items with shelf lives rely on batch tracking and first in, first out inventory rotation, ensuring older stock is picked before newer inventory.

Choosing between one warehouse and several

Where you store your products depends on where your customers are and how fast you want to deliver.

A single central warehouse, often in Germany, the Netherlands or Poland, is the most common starting point. From there, road networks reach many neighbouring countries in around two to three business days, and keeping one inventory pool keeps operations simple and limits the capital tied up in stock.

As order volume grows, splitting stock across two or more regional facilities can lower delivery costs and shorten transit times, because goods stored inside a major sales market skip the cross-border transport leg. The trade-off is more total stock to hold, more administration, and tax obligations: holding stock in another EU country generally requires a VAT registration there.

Pick, pack, and order assembly

When an online customer completes a purchase, order details transfer automatically from the ecommerce platform to the warehouse management system. This triggers the picking and packing workflow.

Warehouse software groups orders to create efficient picking routes for staff. In single-order picking, a worker collects the items for one customer at a time; in batch picking, a worker collects items for several orders in one walk through the aisles and sorts them into individual orders at the packing station. Workers use handheld digital scanners to locate items in the storage bays. Scanning the barcode on the shelf location and the item itself prevents picking errors, ensuring the correct size, colour, or variant is selected.

Picked items move to packing stations. Packing staff confirm the order contents against the digital invoice, select suitable shipping packaging, and secure the items. Packaging options range from poly mailers for soft goods to corrugated cardboard boxes for fragile items. Void fill, such as paper wrapping or air pillows, is added to cushion items during transport. Box size matters because carriers usually charge on the higher of a parcel's actual weight and its volumetric weight, which reflects the space it takes up in a vehicle.

Custom packaging, branded tape, and printed marketing inserts can be included during order assembly if specified in standard operating procedures. Once packed, the shipping container is sealed, weighed, and prepared for labeling.

Carrier networks and last mile delivery

A delivery label is generated automatically based on the customer address, chosen service speed, and parcel dimensions. The label contains carrier routing barcodes and tracking numbers that allow both the merchant and customer to follow transit progress.

Logistics centres organize outbound parcels into dedicated shipping containers or sorting cages for specific carrier networks. National postal services, express parcel couriers, and regional parcel networks collect shipments directly from warehouse loading docks at scheduled times each day. Postal operators usually offer the widest address coverage and the lowest prices for light parcels, while commercial couriers offer faster, fully integrated tracking and timed deliveries. Many warehouses work with several carriers and assign each parcel to the best option for its destination, weight, service level and cost.

Last mile delivery refers to the final movement of the parcel from a regional distribution hub to the recipient. Delivery preferences vary country by country rather than neatly by region. Parcel lockers are the default choice in Poland and mainstream across the Nordic countries, pickup points in local shops are deeply rooted in France, and close to half of European online shoppers now say they prefer an out-of-home option over doorstep delivery. Lockers and pickup points are growing fast even in markets where doorstep delivery has traditionally led, such as Germany. Offering familiar local delivery choices at checkout improves conversion and first-time delivery success.

Shipping outside the EU customs union

Within the EU customs union, parcels move between member states without customs declarations. The United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway sit outside it (Norway is part of the single market through the EEA, but not of the customs union), so parcels to them need customs declarations and commercial invoices. Paperwork alone does not stop charges reaching the customer: unless the seller uses that country's own VAT scheme for low-value goods or ships duties paid, the buyer can face import VAT, duty and carrier handling fees on delivery.

Cash on delivery and regional payment habits

Payment habits across Europe are not uniform. Card payments, digital wallets such as PayPal, and local bank payment methods such as iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium and BLIK in Poland dominate in many markets, while cash on delivery remains a widely used payment method in parts of central, eastern and southern Europe, including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy.

Under a cash on delivery arrangement, the consumer pays for their order upon receiving the physical package. Delivery drivers or pickup point operators collect payment in cash or via local card terminals before releasing the parcel to the customer.

Operating a cash on delivery model requires close integration between the logistics provider and parcel carriers. The carrier collects the money, holds it in account, and remits the collected funds back to the logistics provider on a scheduled basis. The provider then transfers the balance to the merchant after deducting transaction and handling fees, so the money reaches you later than a card payment taken at checkout. Because refusal rates at the door can be higher for cash on delivery shipments, brands must factor return processing costs into their pricing structure.

Returns and reverse logistics

Returns are an inevitable part of online retail, particularly in categories such as fashion and footwear where fit varies. When a buyer sends an item back, the parcel returns to the logistics facility, where staff open it, inspect the product for wear or damage, and scan the item code. Resalable items are repackaged, relabelled and returned to available stock; damaged or used items are handled according to your instructions, such as moving them to a discount channel, returning them to you in bulk, or disposing of them responsibly. Cross-border returns also raise VAT and customs questions, covered in our guide to handling VAT and customs on EU returns.

Understanding logistics pricing structures

Third party logistics pricing is calculated through activity based fee structures rather than a single flat subscription rate. Each step in the handling process incurs a distinct fee based on labour, materials, or space.

Inbound fees cover receiving, unloading, barcode scanning, and put away labour. These are typically billed per pallet, per carton, or per unit.

Storage fees cover warehouse space usage, billed periodically based on pallet count, bin usage, or cubic metres. Many warehouses charge more for slow-moving stock to encourage healthy turnover.

Pick and pack fees are charged per processed order. Structures usually include a base picking fee for the first item in an order, followed by a smaller incremental fee for each additional item packed into the same parcel.

Packaging material fees cover the cost of boxes, mailers, tape, and protective fill, unless the brand supplies custom materials directly.

Shipping fees reflect the courier postage cost, dictated by destination, parcel weight, volumetric size, and delivery speed.

Return handling fees cover receiving returned parcels, inspecting returned items for damage, repackaging salable goods, and updating stock records.

Understanding these fee categories allows ecommerce merchants to model operational unit economics accurately and select logistics partners that align with their product profile and order volume. Our guide to 3PL pricing structures in Europe goes through each fee in more detail.