In this article, learn about:
What shippers say they want when they choose a 3PL
Why a head start on retailer requirements matters as much as a fast process
How two 3PLs used network data to win customers and keep them
Winning 3PL new customers often depends on how quickly a provider can show it understands the prospect’s retailers. Every retailer sets its own label formats, advance ship notice (ASN) rules, and routing guides, and prospective customers want proof that the 3PL can follow them before the first order ships. A 3PL on a large trading network can often answer that in the first conversation, because the network has already seen those requirements in practice. This article explains how that head start works, why it matters to shippers, and how two 3PLs have used it to win and keep business.
What Are Shippers Looking for When They Choose a 3PL?
Shippers now judge 3PLs on technology and data as well as price and service. The 2027 Third-Party Logistics Study from NTT DATA, Penske Logistics, and the University of Tennessee found that 93% of shippers rate a 3PL’s AI capability as at least important when they pick a provider.
The study also found a gap in how each side sees things. Among 3PLs, 94% believed their customers were satisfied with their technology, but only 70% of shippers said they were. The weak spot is the data underneath. Data quality and availability (61%) and legacy system integration (54%) were the most common barriers to wider AI adoption. An NTT DATA executive said in the release that the technology is ready but the foundation under it lags.
This study measures onboarding rather than AI. Its barriers still match what a prospect wants to see in a sales process: clean data and connections that work. A 3PL that can show how its retailer connections already run gives a buying committee something specific to judge.
Why Is Onboarding Speed Only Half the Story for 3PL New Customers
Much of the published advice for 3PLs treats onboarding speed as the deciding factor: The provider that connects a new customer fastest wins the deal. Speed measures how well a process runs from a standing start, and the larger advantage comes from not having a standing start.
A 3PL that learns each customer’s retailer requirements from scratch can make that learning faster, but it still has to do the learning. A 3PL on a large network begins with much of that knowledge in place, so the sales conversation is about double-checking requirements instead of discovering them.
The difference shows up in what a 3PL can say to a prospect. One provider says it will learn the customer’s requirements and go live as fast as it can. The other says it has worked with those retailers’ requirements through other customers and can describe what the go-live will look like.
How Does 3PL Network Data Change What You Know Before the First Call?
A 3PL network connects shippers, retailers, carriers, and the 3PLs between them. Each connection teaches the network how a retailer’s requirements work in practice, including the rules written in the routing guide and the edge cases that only appear in testing. The SPS Commerce network includes more than 2,000 3PLs and more than 300,000 trading relationships, so a retailer a prospect names is often one the network already knows.
What the Network Already Holds
For retailers already on the network, the requirements a 3PL can carry from one relationship to the next include:
Label specifications, including format, placement, and the data each label must carry
ASN rules, including the fields and timing a retailer expects
Routing guide terms, including appointment rules
Compliance rules and the edge cases that testing tends to surface
When a retailer changes a requirement, the network can apply the update once for every connected customer, so each 3PL does not have to find the change on its own.
Network-Backed vs. Blank-Slate Starts
The two starting points differ in what a 3PL can offer before a contract is signed. A network-backed 3PL typically starts with:
Retailer requirements already known, for retailers on the network
Testing that double-checks details instead of uncovering them
A blank-slate 3PL typically starts with:
Requirements gathered from the customer and from each retailer’s documents
Testing that doubles as discovery, so problems tend to surface late
How Do You Win 3PL Business Against Established Competitors?
Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics is a cold storage 3PL that serves the food industry. It started as a new company competing against providers with long track records. Chris Lafaire, its chief information officer, described that position in an SPS case study: “Our competition has been in the market for many years.” He said those competitors were already set up with electronic data interchange (EDI).
Lafaire said SPS gave Arcadia credibility and helped customers onboard faster. Customers go live two to four weeks after a first conversation, and the case study reports a 60% drop in Arcadia’s onboarding times.
For a newer 3PL, credibility is often the first sales obstacle. A prospect who can see a short path to live trading can compare a newer 3PL with the incumbents on more than track record. The go-live plan becomes part of the offer.
How Does Faster 3PL Trading Partner Onboarding Help You Keep Customers?
Winning a customer is the first test. Keeping that customer depends on whether shipments reach retailers in a form they accept.
Jay Group is a U.S. 3PL that provides order fulfillment, specialty packaging, and warehousing. It expanded from ecommerce into B2B customers and found that manual label printing and shipment preparation were slow and error-prone. After it adopted SPS for 3PLs and integrated it with its warehouse management system, the case study reports:
About 99% labeling accuracy
An estimated 75% reduction in chargebacks
Up to eight hours saved per order
New retailer onboarding cut from months to about six weeks
Nicole Davis, Jay Group’s onboarding project manager, said the integration lets her team spend its time on work that matters more than manual order preparation.
Labeling errors lead to chargebacks, and a customer tends to see those as its 3PL’s mistake. Accuracy is therefore part of whether a new customer stays.
How Can Your Sales Team Put Network Data to Work?
A sales conversation built on network data can follow four steps:
The team learns early which retailers the prospect sells through.
Onboarding staff check which of those retailers’ requirements the network already holds.
The 3PL tells the prospect what the go-live path looks like, using how comparable connections have gone.
A customer reference with similar retailers supports the plan.
This approach depends on the prospect’s retailers being on the network. For a retailer that is new to the network, the 3PL still starts from the retailer’s own documents, so the advantage is largest where network coverage is deepest.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do 3PLs win new customers with network data?
A 3PL shows a prospect that the requirements of its retailers are already known, so the sales conversation covers a specific go-live plan instead of a promise to learn the requirements. The prospect can then compare providers on how quickly orders will ship cleanly.
Does network data help if the retailer is new to the network?
It helps less. The 3PL starts from the retailer’s own documents, as a blank-slate 3PL would, and the benefit grows as more of a prospect’s retailers are already on the network.
How fast can a 3PL get a new customer live?
It varies by customer and retailer. Arcadia Cold Storage & Logistics reports customers going live two to four weeks after a first conversation, and Jay Group cut new retailer onboarding from months to about six weeks.
Ready To See What Your Network Already Knows?
SPS for 3PLs connects customers, retailers, suppliers, and carriers through one network, so a new connection can start from what the network already knows about a retailer’s requirements. Explore SPS for 3PLs to see how it fits your customer base.