For many eCommerce businesses, fulfilment starts off manageable. Orders are packed at the kitchen table, labels are printed in the evening, and trips to the post office are squeezed in between everything else. But as sales increase, what once felt achievable can quickly become a bottleneck. Using outsourced fulfilment and pick and pack services can save you a lot of time.
So, when is the right time to outsource your fulfilment? In simple terms, it’s when handling orders yourself begins to slow your business down and limit its growth.
A common tipping point is around 100 orders per month. At this stage, many business owners find themselves picking and packing at weekends, working late into the evenings, and constantly juggling fulfilment alongside marketing, customer service, and product development. While this level of hustle is admirable, it’s rarely sustainable long term.
When fulfilment starts eating into the time you should be spending growing your business, it’s a strong signal that outsourcing should be on your radar.
The Hidden Cost of Doing It All Yourself
Time is the most valuable commodity for any eCommerce entrepreneur. Every hour spent packing boxes is an hour not spent promoting your brand, refining your product range, improving customer experience, or planning for growth.
Many businesses delay outsourcing because they believe keeping fulfilment in-house gives them more control. In reality, the opposite is often true. As order volumes increase, fulfilment becomes reactive, rushed, and stressful. Mistakes creep in, dispatch times slip, and the business owner becomes stretched too thin.
Outsourcing pick and pack services at the right moment helps restore balance.
Gaining Control, Not Losing It
One of the biggest misconceptions about choosing to outsource fulfilment is that it means handing over control of your business. In fact, it usually leads to greater control and clarity.
By removing the operational burden of picking, packing, and shipping, you free up time to focus on what truly drives growth. Instead of firefighting logistics issues, you can concentrate on strategy, marketing, and scaling your brand.
Professional pick and pack services are designed to handle volume efficiently. They have systems, space, and processes in place that would be costly and time-consuming to replicate in-house. This allows your business to grow without fulfilment becoming a constant constraint.
Why Sooner Is Often Better
Waiting too long to outsource fulfilment can slow momentum just when your business should be accelerating. The sooner you offload fulfilment at the right scale, the sooner you can build a business that’s designed for growth rather than survival.
If fulfilment is starting to dominate your evenings, weekends, or mental headspace, it’s worth taking that as a sign. Outsourcing isn’t about giving up control; it’s about reclaiming your time and putting it back where it matters most.
For growing eCommerce brands, that shift can make all the difference.
For more information on what we an offer you, see our video below, or get in touch today.
