Behind the scenes, retailers and brands are using AI and smarter shipping networks to fix delivery headaches—and they are counting on their logistics partners to make it happen.
Retailers and brands spent 2025 firefighting one crisis after another: delivery delays, labor shortages, and inventory chaos across channels. Now they’re betting 2026 will be different—and they need 3PL partners who can deliver on four major operational shifts.
These aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re table stakes for keeping contracts and winning new business. Here’s what 3PL customers are demanding:
1. AI that actually does the work
Retailers and brands are moving beyond the AI hype. Now they want results. They’re expecting systems that automatically reorganize inventory, reroute deliveries when weather hits, or switch carriers to avoid delays—all without requiring their partner’s intervention.
Think of it like an autopilot for fulfillment centers. When a snowstorm threatens to delay shipments, a 3PL’s system should instantly reroute orders to a different facility. When a customer’s product starts selling faster than expected, AI should reshuffle where it’s stored to speed up picking and packing.
What brands expect from 3PLs: 2-4% operational savings that get passed through as competitive pricing. Orders that take minutes to process instead of hours, making same-day and next-day delivery actually profitable for both parties.
2. Multi-carrier orchestration, not just relationships
Major carriers raised rates and struggled with capacity in 2025. Brands know this, and they’re done accepting “we ship with whoever we’ve always shipped with” as an answer.
They want 3PLs to compare dozens of options order-by-order—national carriers, regional services, specialized networks—picking the best combination of speed, cost, and reliability for each shipment. Similar to how a GPS automatically reroutes around traffic, 3PLs need to do this for every single package.
What this means for a 3PL’s operations: They need 3PL fulfillment platform that evaluates carriers dynamically, not just at contract renewal time. Clients will notice fewer “your package is delayed” complaints from their customers—and they’ll reward 3PLs who make that happen.
3. Workforce productivity tools that scale
3PLs can’t just “hire more people” to handle volume spikes. Retailers, brands and merchants understand this, but they still expect their logistics partners to scale during peak seasons without quality drops.
The answer: AI-powered tools that guide workers step-by-step, reducing training time from a week to 30 minutes. Wearable devices and smart interfaces that reduce pick errors to near-zero levels.
The customer benefits: Fewer packaging mistakes means fewer customer service nightmares for brands. Faster onboarding means 3PLs can confidently say “yes” to surge volumes without the “we need two weeks to staff up” disclaimer.
You don’t have to absorb every cost increase that gets thrown at you. Only 8% of successful supply chain leaders are still playing that losing game. Stop eating cost increases, start charging what you’re worth.
4. Real-time inventory visibility across all channels
As brands unify their operations—selling on their website, Shopify, Amazon, retail stores, and multiple other platforms simultaneously—they need one source of truth for inventory, and they need their 3PL to be that source.
When their customer sees “in stock” online, it has to be accurate whether that product is sitting in a warehouse, on a store shelf, or already allocated to another order. They want ship-from-store programs where an online order might come from their retail location down the street instead of a warehouse across the country.
What this requires from 3PLs: Real-time inventory synchronization across all customers’ sales channels. The ability to intelligently route orders based on proximity, speed requirements, and efficiency—not just “everything ships from the main warehouse.”
What it means for your business
These aren’t just operational improvements retailers and brands are chasing—they’re survival requirements. Businesses that can fulfill orders faster and cheaper will compete more aggressively on price and offer better perks like free shipping with lower minimums.
As their 3PL partner, you’re either the enabler of that strategy or the bottleneck preventing it.
The opportunity: 3PLs who invest in these capabilities now will be the ones winning new business in 2026. Once some of your competitors can promise next-day delivery and actually hit it consistently, brands will switch. Being early means being ready when RFPs hit your inbox.
The bottom line: Consumers expect the right product, at their door, when promised—without disappointments or guesswork. Your customers expect you to make that happen profitably. The 3PLs who deliver on both expectations are the ones who are scaling in 2026.