For most brands, finding the right 3PL (Third-Party Logistics) provider is a lot harder than it seems, according to Jadah Westdorp, who created the company 3PeeL to match brands with pre-vetted 3PL partners.
“I saw a need for ecommerce brands to have a better connection to logistics providers, like 3PLs, which are essentially warehouses that operate the storage, packing, and shipping side of a brand’s business,” she said.
3PeeL, headquartered in Miami, was founded in 2023 with only a small network in the US. “Now, we match several thousand brands per year with 3PLs worldwide,” said Westdorp {pictured above].
Westdorp’s history of entrepreneurship started in elementary school, selling handmade keychains to her first-grade classmates. When she was in her twenties, she co-founded a daycare. “I knew I wanted to go out on my own again but was waiting for the right time and idea to make it possible,” she said.
Then she worked in ecommerce and soon realized the importance of logistics: whether customers got their orders on time, in what condition the products arrived and if the orders were correct. “It can really make or break a company, despite what marketing and other operational excellence they may have,” she said.
Once she moved to enterprise software sales, she worked with hundreds of brands who struggled with finding good 3PLs. “I saw this as an opening to address a gap in the market,” she said of how 3PeeL was born.
“I understand what it’s like to be in their shoes – not knowing where to start or necessarily having the fullest understanding of what a 3PL can do, or how to find a ‘good’ one. I saw this idea as the opportunity to branch out and create a business of my own, while being able to remain in a space I loved by helping other ecommerce (and non-ecommerce) brands and digging into the supply chain side of retail,” she continued, adding that she wanted to address a real problem “that the majority of the world is not even aware of.”
Westdorp’s team consists of three people; she plans to scale up this year. As far as future goals, she said she plans to continue expanding services to further optimize fulfillment and shipping for retailers. “I’d like 3PeeL to become a trusted resource around all things a 3PL is involved in: having the best 3PL network, free brand-to-3PL matchmaking and optimization tools,” she said.
Logistics is still an antiquated industry but AI is helping to create greater efficiencies between brands and 3PLs. “We look for 3PLs who embrace technology like better WMS (Warehouse Management System) and operating systems, as well as robotics,” Westdorp said, adding that 3PeeL uses AI internally to help with calculations and to create stronger matches with partners.
About 10,000 3PLs are in the US and many of them are difficult to find and most scaled brands spend six to nine figures a year on warehousing and fulfillment, she said.
“It seems like a relatively easy space to navigate, but unfortunately there are many complexities and brands can spend months, even years, searching for the right 3PL for their business,” she added. “3PeeL changes that, takes out the guesswork of “which 3PL is the right fit for me, as a brand?” and connects sellers to providers in a matter of minutes,” she said.
Today, 3PeeL partners with several hundred 3PLs, including DoorDash and Jaguar Health. “We’ve worked with thousands of brands across every vertical – health, beauty, food, CPG, automotive, household and industrial – to find them homes for the fulfillment side of their business,” she said.
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