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Handing logistics to a third-party logistics provider (3PL) is easier to undo when you start small. If you are still comparing models, start with the difference between a courier, an aggregator and a 3PL.
With Shadowfax 360 (SF 360), a self-serve shipping platform for SMEs, D2C brands and solo sellers, you can try parcel delivery at low volume. There is no minimum order requirement, so a pilot can begin with your first shipment.You keep your stock and your current courier. Connect your Shopify or WooCommerce store, then send a defined share of orders through a network of 16372+ PIN codes across 2,500 cities. Bookings, order tracking and cash on delivery (COD) remittance sit in one dashboard.
Shipping charges are zone-based flat rates, so you know the cost before dispatch rather than after a weight dispute. COD handling charges are zero. Use the courier rate calculator and check serviceability for your pickup and destination PIN codes, including which delivery speeds apply to your routes, before you send pilot orders.
A parcel pilot on Shadowfax 360 tests pickup, last-mile delivery, RTO, billing and support. Storage and picking and packing (order fulfilment) are a separate scope. If you need them, agree that scope with the Shadowfax team in writing before any stock moves.
A parcel-delivery pilot tests whether a provider collects, delivers and returns the orders you pack. A warehouse-fulfilment pilot also hands over custody of your stock, your stock records and the picking and packing.
On Shadowfax 360 you run the first kind: the stock never leaves your control, so stopping means sending parcels another way. A warehouse pilot needs more groundwork, even if only a few SKUs are involved.
Quick Comparison | Parcel-Delivery Pilot | Warehouse-Fulfillment Pilot |
Who holds the stock? | You (Stock stays in your facility) | The provider (Stock moves to their warehouse) |
What you hand over? | Packed parcels at pickup | Stock, stock records, picking, and packing responsibilities |
What can go wrong? | Late pickups, failed deliveries, slow returns, billing errors | All delivery risks, plus stock shortages, wrong items shipped, and difficulty getting stock back |
How easy it is to stop? | Very Easy: Just send parcels through another carrier | Difficult: Must count, reconcile, and physically move the stock back |
Get confirmation of these five points before the first pickup. Don’t assume any provider will accept a particular pilot size until it says so in writing.
For each provider you try, confirm:
On Shadowfax 360, you can check serviceability for your PIN codes and review the applicable rate for your routes before you create an order, and COD is paid out within two days of delivery.
Keep your current shipping arrangement active during the pilot. Send only a defined share of orders through the new provider, such as one city, one product line or one payment mode, and keep the rest where it is. If the pilot goes badly, you can stop sending orders the same day.
A pilot that only includes nearby prepaid orders will make any provider look good. Include the orders that usually cause trouble:
Run the pilot long enough for returns and RTOs to come back and for at least one billing cycle to close.
Judge the pilot on pickup, delivery, returns, billing and issue resolution, and review each route and order type separately, because one blended average hides the places where a provider struggles.
In Shadowfax 360 you can track every order in real time from one dashboard, so you can log each parcel against the targets you set without chasing updates.
Once your goods sit in someone else's warehouse, delivery rates and tracking don't protect you. Before you move any stock, agree to:
Contract advisers to 3PL clients point out that a generous-sounding shortage allowance means little without a real counting process, and that leaving a provider is hard when the agreement says little about exit.
Increase volume one step at a time once the pilot has met the targets you set in advance, invoices have matched the agreed rates, and the issues you raised were fixed. Add the next route, product line or task and judge it the same way. Keep your fallback until peak periods have been tested or discussed.
When returns are the next task, our Shadowfax ecommerce and returns services cover return pickups, doorstep quality checks, exchanges and reverse tracking. Agree with our team which of these your account includes, and which checks and return destinations apply to your product categories.
Can I pilot a parcel delivery without moving my stock?
Yes. In a parcel pilot on Shadowfax 360 you keep your stock and pack orders yourself, and we collect them from your warehouse or store and deliver them. That makes it the easiest kind of trial to start and to stop.
Will a 3PL accept a small warehouse pilot?
Get the confirmation before you plan around it: ask for the minimum scope, the terms and the exit conditions. Because a warehouse pilot puts your stock in the provider's custody, treat even a few SKUs as needing a full agreement on custody, counts and exit.
Should returns be part of the pilot?
If your category has frequent returns or exchanges, then yes. Returns test doorstep pickup, quality checks and how quickly goods come back to you, none of which a forward delivery shows.
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