Fulfilment and Warehousing Services Agreement (3PL)

An agreement with a third-party logistics provider to store your stock and pick, pack and dispatch customer orders – service levels, stock control, inbound and outbound processes, returns handling, liability for lost or damaged stock, insurance, data protection, fees and exit.

Editable Word document
7
10pages
Guidance notes included
aml consultancy solutions

Retail & e-commerce

Fulfilment and Warehousing Services Agreement (3PL)

About this document

What it’s for

Outsourcing fulfilment to a 3PL lets an online retailer grow without its own warehouse, but your customers will blame you for late or wrong deliveries. A clear agreement sets measurable service levels, protects your stock and data, and makes sure you can get your stock back if the relationship ends.

When to use it

  • When appointing a fulfilment house, warehouse or 3PL provider
  • When reviewing a provider’s own terms (use this as a checklist of what to negotiate)
  • When adding services such as returns processing or kitting

What’s inside

The document is laid out in the sections below. Each one comes with a plain-English guidance note explaining what it does and what to change.

  1. Definitions
  2. Services
  3. Inbound and stock control
  4. Outbound
  5. Returns
  6. Ownership, lien and access
  7. Loss and damage
  8. Fees and payment
  9. Insurance
  10. Data protection and security
  11. Liability
  12. Term, termination and exit
  13. General

Also included

  • Schedule 1 – Services
  • Schedule 2 – Service Levels and service credits
  • Schedule 3 – Fees
  • Schedule 4 – Data processing terms

How to complete it

  • Agree the services and service levels in Schedules 1 and 2
  • Agree fees in Schedule 3 and the stock liability basis
  • Check the provider’s insurance and data security before signing

Key points to check

  • Many 3PL contracts use trade association terms with very low liability limits per tonne – negotiate stock liability up to replacement value or insure it yourself
  • Make sure the provider cannot hold your stock hostage over a disputed invoice (limit the lien)

Our templates are professionally structured starting points for UK businesses, not legal advice. For anything complex, unusual or high-value, have your final version checked by a solicitor.

Included in the pack

Retail & e-commerce

From £29

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Editable Microsoft Word files

Guidance notes in every document

Written for UK businesses

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