When can you call yourself a professional fulfillment company?

The Dutch e-commerce market has become much more professional in recent years. Online stores are constantly investing in technology, customer experience, and service. Consumers expect fast deliveries, reliable information, and a smooth returns process.

Fulfillment companies are behind a significant portion of these services. These are businesses that are responsible on a daily basis for the storage, processing, and shipping of goods owned by other businesses.

But as expectations in e-commerce continue to rise, a fundamental question arises:

When can a company actually call itself a professional fulfillment company?

Fulfillment is more than just shipping boxes

The opportunities for offering fulfillment services have become more accessible in recent years. With storage space, available software, and access to shipping services, a company can enter the market relatively quickly.

This creates opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship. However, it does not automatically mean that every provider offers the same professional guarantees.

After all, an online store outsources much more than just packing and shipping orders.

It often entrusts a significant portion of its inventory, customer data, and day-to-day operations to its fulfillment partner.

If that partner unexpectedly drops out, the consequences can be far-reaching.

That is why we should expect more from a professional fulfillment company than just an attractive rate, a good software system, or a promise of fast shipping.

Anyone who is responsible for the goods and business continuity of other business owners must be able to demonstrate their own professionalism.

What happens when things go wrong?

I've seen firsthand how vulnerable online stores can be when they lose their fulfillment partner.

Following the bankruptcy of a fulfillment company in Brabant, we took over several customers through the bankruptcy trustee.

These business owners did not have immediate access to their own inventory. They first had to wait for the trustee to complete the process and pay additional fees before their goods were released.

It took about three to four weeks before they were able to resume their logistics operations with us.

Their own company wasn't bankrupt. Yet a key part of their operations had been at a standstill for weeks.

That experience shows just how great the dependence on a fulfillment partner can be.

What assurances can online stores actually expect from a company that manages their inventory and logistics processes?

And more importantly: What responsibilities should we, as an industry, be willing to collectively establish?

Trust alone is not enough

There are already various certifications, safety regulations, and legal requirements within the logistics sector.

However, individual certifications do not automatically provide a complete picture of a fulfillment company’s reliability and continuity.

An online store must be able to trust that its logistics partner not only operates effectively today, but also conducts business in a financially responsible manner, handles customer inventory with care, and is prepared for unexpected circumstances.

That trust has to be based on something.

That is why I believe the Dutch fulfillment industry is ready for an independent quality standard for professional fulfillment.

Not as an additional logo that appears on a website for a fee.

But as a certification mark for which companies must demonstrably meet established requirements.

A quality seal is something you earn—not something you buy.

What requirements can we set?

As far as I'm concerned, an independent certification program should focus on the key responsibilities of a fulfillment company.

Consider financial reliability, inventory management, information security, insurance, fire safety, and business continuity.

But also to operational independence and transparency.

Who actually performs the work? Which services are outsourced? What dependencies exist with other logistics companies or shipping platforms?

Cooperation with carriers also deserves attention.

Online stores need to know whether their fulfillment partner works directly with carriers, uses a shipping platform, or purchases services through another fulfillment company.

In addition, carriers can, as part of their own responsibilities, contribute to establishing professional standards and identifying risks in the logistics chain in a timely manner.

The same applies to insurers, online retailers, and independent experts.

These are issues that require careful, collaborative consideration.

No single fulfillment company should be the one to determine what constitutes professionalism. The industry as a whole must work together to establish what level of quality can reasonably be expected.

Admission should not be taken for granted

A quality certification is only valuable if not every company is automatically allowed to use it.

This requires clear admission requirements, independent audits, and periodic reassessments.

A company that does not meet the standards will not receive certification. And any company that no longer meets the standards after being certified must be subject to having its certification revoked.

In this regard, every company must be evaluated fairly.

A young fulfillment company can be professionally organized. An established company may have significant shortcomings.

It is not age, size, or commercial standing that should be the determining factor, but rather the quality that a company can actually demonstrate.

Precisely because not everyone automatically receives the quality seal, it can become meaningful for online stores.

Taking Responsibility Together

The ambition should go beyond simply monitoring individual fulfillment companies.

We also need to explore how we can work together to help ensure the continuity of the businesses that depend on our services.

What happens when a warehouse is completely shut down due to a fire? When systems are unavailable for an extended period? Or when a fulfillment company suddenly has to cease operations?

As an industry, can we make agreements in advance regarding support, available capacity, and a potential resumption of operations at other fulfillment companies?

And what role can carriers and insurers play in this?

Not every risk can be ruled out. But that shouldn't be a reason to wait until a disaster strikes before considering solutions.

Running a business professionally also means being prepared for when things go wrong.

Independence is not a minor issue

A certification mark can only be credible if the organization and the assessment are independent.

The standards must be objective, transparent, and verifiable. Authorization must not be contingent on commercial interests or the preferences of existing market participants.

Fulfillment companies, online retailers, carriers, insurers, industry organizations, and independent experts must be given the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and experience.

In this regard, there is one guiding principle that applies to everyone:

Anyone who participates in developing the standard must also be willing to be evaluated against it.

Of course, that also applies to Cenfil.

Time to take the next step

I am convinced that the Dutch fulfillment industry is ready for the next phase of professionalization.

That is why I am willing to take the initiative on behalf of Cenfil to work with other stakeholders to explore how we can establish a widely supported, independent quality certification program.

Not as a Cenfil certification mark. Not to exclude new companies. And certainly not as a commercial marketing tool.

But to clarify what professional responsibilities are involved in managing the goods, data, and logistics processes of other businesses.

Policymakers, too, can make a valuable contribution to the discussion on the protection of entrepreneurs and the responsibilities within our logistics chain.

This article is not a detailed set of quality certification regulations. It is an invitation to the industry to take the next step together.

What level of quality can online stores expect from us? What standards are required to achieve that? And are we willing to have ourselves independently evaluated on that basis?

I invite fulfillment companies, online retailers, carriers, insurers, industry organizations, and other stakeholders to share their thoughts on this matter.

After all, you can recognize a mature industry not only by its growth, but above all by the responsibility it is willing to shoulder.