Edition 008 | March 2026
You're reading IF/Then by IFGlobal, the monthly newsletter for brands who don't compromise. For every what if, there's a then. If you're building your brand, then we're building with you. If you want scale, then you need strategy. If you're ready to grow, then this is where it starts.
Most ecommerce conversations start with customer acquisition, ROAS and marketing efficiency. Those metrics matter, though they rarely show whether a product is actually profitable once the order has been fulfilled.
Operational costs - product landed cost, pick and pack, shipping, returns, payments, and internal effort - determine the real margin.
Many ecommerce businesses aim for gross margins between 50–70%, with average net margins being 10% once logistics, marketing, and overhead are included. That gap between gross and net is where fulfilment lives, and it’s where many brands quietly lose control of their margins.
A product that appears profitable on a marketing dashboard can look very different once the operational reality is included. Without visibility, growth can turn into volume without profit.
As brands scale, operational costs grow faster than founders expect.
Shipping alone now consumes around 13% of ecommerce revenue on average, before returns are even considered.
Returns add another layer to this, with nearly 17% of online purchases being returned. The cost to process a return can be anywhere from 20%–65% of the item's original value, once shipping, handling, and restocking are factored in.
The true profitability of an order is after the full fulfilment cycle, not at checkout.
Tight per-order margins mean more volume is needed just to stay profitable.
More volume = more picking, packing, returns, exception handling, workflows and customer service interactions. Teams become busy, but not productive.
This is why margin at the SKU level matters. Visibility into landed cost, shipping, returns and handling is crucial for sustainable growth.
Small operational improvements compound quickly.
Reducing unnecessary split shipments
Improving packaging efficiency
Minimising return handling costs
Accurate inventory management
Optimising carrier selection and delivery performance
Each tweak may seem incremental, but together they determine profitability versus operational drag.
"Are the orders we generate actually profitable to fulfil?"
When you answer this, marketing spend becomes intentional, pricing becomes confident, and operational investments become easier to justify.
Fulfilment stops being a background process reacting to demand, and transforms into a strategic lever that protects margin as your brand scale.
Once you start looking at fulfilment through the lens of margin, the operational questions change and it becomes less about getting orders out of the door quickly and more about understanding how every operational decision affects the economics of the order itself.
1. Real visibility into order profitability
Our fulfilment operating system, BladePRO, connects orders, inventory and data in one place, giving you clear SKU-level insights for smarter product, pricing and promotion decisions.
2. Operational efficiency that protects margins
Seconds saved on picking, smarter packaging, and automated workflows add up - keeping fulfilment costs predictable at scale.
Explore our order fulfilment services >
3. Smarter fulfilment across channels
DTC, marketplaces, retail and wholesale. Each channel has unique requirements and compliance. We manage multi-channel fulfilment through one system, keeping costs, inventory and returns aligned.
See how multi‑channel fulfilment works >
None of this replaces the importance of marketing, but it does rebalance the conversation.
Your ads generate demand. Your fulfilment protects your margins.
Wondering how this could work for your brand? Book a discovery call with one of our fulfilment experts.
We had a fantastic time at DTC Live Connect London this month, where Matt Davies, our Senior Strategic Client Manager, joined a panel of ecommerce experts to explore the strategies driving growth and retention in 2026.
Matt focused on how brands can partner more strategically with their fulfilment providers to unlock scalable, sustainable growth. Drawing on our work with Suri, Lick, and Dock & Bay, he shared practical insights into how the right operational foundations can power long-term success.
Join us for the next DTC Live Deep Dive Workshop in London on 4th June. Book your tickets here.
Matt will be taking to the stage again, this time to share practical insights on how fulfilment should be viewed not as a cost centre, but as a powerful growth enabler that can unlock efficiency, improve customer experience, and create the flexibility required to scale with confidence. If you’re a founder looking to grow without growing pains, this is one not to miss.
Get your ticket here.
We’re excited to share two new client wins within our in-house Amazon growth agency, Amplifi, further strengthening our position within the value-added services pillar of IFGlobal.
We’ll soon be working with Time Products (UK) Limited, the business behind iconic watch brands Sekonda and Accurist, which has a heritage dating back to 1938, to support their internal ecommerce and Amazon team.
We're also welcoming PlatypusCo, a fast-scaling brand specialising in patented flossers designed for people with braces. Our focus will be on unlocking further growth potential internationally.
If you're looking to unlock your brand's full potential on Amazon, speak to a member of our team today.
We're excited to announce the official launch of our supply chain support service, offering end-to-end logistics coordination that keeps your stock moving, your costs controlled, and your growth on track. From first mile to final delivery, we handle the day-to-day operational challenges that can slow you down.
➡️ Strengthen your supply chain without added complexity
➡️ Gain visibility and control across operations
➡️ Focus your time on strategic priorities
Learn more about our new supply chain support service.
Supporting inclusive employment through our partnership with Autism Unlimited. At IFGlobal, our fulfilment operations are built on efficiency, precision and process. Though behind every successful operation is something more important - people. Creating an environment where individuals can contribute, develop and thrive is fundamental to how we build our teams. We are proud to partner with Autism Unlimited, a local Dorset-based charity whose mission is to create a world of unlimited possibilities for autistic people.
Learn more about the partnership.
What the end of de minimis in the EU and UK means for cross-border ecommerce. Following the US eliminating its de minimis threshold in 2025, the EU and UK are now moving in the same direction, fundamentally changing the way low-value parcels are treated at the border. Here's what you need to know about the end of de minimis in the EU and UK, and how we can support your business through this change by leveraging our EU fulfilment centre in Bocholt, Germany.
Read the full article.
The real cost of “just getting it done” in ecommerce fulfilment. For many growing ecommerce brands, manual processes aren’t a strategic decision that get made. They’re just ‘how things have always been’. At lower volumes, it’s just about manageable. But as order numbers climb and channels multiply, those same processes quietly become a constraint on growth. In this article, we explore what’s really holding teams back and how to move from manual friction to structured, scalable fulfilment.
Read the full article.