The 3PL & fulfilment glossary.

A provider that stores your stock and handles order fulfilment — receiving, storage, pick & pack and dispatch — on your behalf.

The core fulfilment task of selecting ordered items from the shelf and packing them ready for dispatch.

A unique code identifying each distinct product variant you sell and store, used to track inventory accurately.

The daily deadline by which orders must be received to ship the same day. At OutBox3PL the cut-off is 12pm AEST.

Delivered In Full, On Time — a key metric for measuring fulfilment and delivery reliability.

Comparing prices across multiple carriers for each parcel to choose the best mix of cost and speed. We compare 6+ Australian carriers on every order.

Moving goods directly from inbound to outbound with little or no storage in between, to speed up flow and cut handling.

Combining multiple SKUs into a single ready-to-ship unit — common for gift sets, bundles and subscription boxes.

The final delivery leg from the local depot to the customer's door. OutBox3PL runs its own fleet across Sydney.

Confirmation that a parcel reached the customer — a signature, photo or scan recorded at the point of delivery.

Full Container Load vs Less-than-Container Load — whether your sea freight fills a whole container or shares one with other shippers.

Fulfilment By Amazon vs Fulfilment By Merchant — the two ways to fulfil Amazon orders. A 3PL supports FBM and FBA prep.

First In, First Out — rotating stock so older inventory ships first; important for dated and perishable goods.

The approval and tracking of a customer return, so each item coming back is inspected, graded and restocked correctly.

A standardised platform for storing and moving stacked goods; bulk warehouse storage is often charged per pallet.

Software that tracks inventory, locations and orders in real time across the warehouse and connects to your store.