The Advantages and Disadvantages of Setting Up Your Own Warehouse

Should you have your own warehouse in 2025? No matter if you’re a budding entrepreneur or a rapidly expanding business, this resource offers valuable insights to help you make an informed choice for your brand.

When scaling up your e-commerce business, whether you’re selling food and drink products or the latest fashion, every brand must consider its journey from your company to your customer’s front door.

In 2025, the big question is:

Should we get our own warehouse?

Owning an ecommerce fulfilment warehouse or choosing an external fulfilment partner has its benefits and drawbacks, which is why we are exploring them in this resource.

So, should you set up your own warehouse or outsource your ecommerce order fulfilment?

Let’s get into the logistics (of course!):

Owning an Ecommerce Warehouse

Control Over Your Operations

One of the most attractive qualities of having a new warehouse to grow your e-commerce brand is the control you gain over the process. From idea to delivery, you stay informed about what’s happening and where it’s happening. You also get to use the entire space for your products, packaging and anything else you need for your business.

However, this can be a negative for some businesses. This means you would need the space required to handle seasonal peaks all year round. Having complete control over your operations can be an overwhelming task; it can become a distraction from your company’s goals.

Customisable Experience to Fulfilment

On the topic of packaging, the customisable aspect of fulfilling your own orders allows you to build a consistent brand image and give your brand a professional look. Some 3PLs would also be unable to process the level of customisation you want to make your brand name stand out.

This customisation can be daunting to add to your business duties, though, as your team will need to manage more tasks, such as ordering supplies, which more advanced fulfilment warehouses can automate.

Great Communication with Clients

As you are aware of precisely what is happening next door to customer services, you can easily inform your customers or B2C clients about their next order and its status regarding delivery times.

However, despite the excitement of a new warehouse site and having more control over your brand fulfilment, having your own warehouse comes with many disadvantages, with running a warehouse being an unwelcome distraction from working on your business.

 

Let’s look at the 3 reasons why some brands choose to outsource their fulfilment.

 

3 Reasons Why Brands Choose to Outsource Their Fulfilment Operations

1) No Additional Overhead Costs

One of the most significant drawbacks of owning a warehouse is the overhead costs. Some costs include purchasing new land in an ideal location, storage options, and materials such as freezers, shelving, and other order management necessities, including labelling and delivery boxes. All these costs are in addition to the packaging you would already have to pay for and would be handled by a fulfilment company.

Owning your warehouse means you’ll incur costs for space and equipment, regardless of whether it’s a busy period or a slow one. Outsourcing to a warehouse fulfilment partner means you only pay for what you use throughout the year.

Beyond the physical costs of warehouse equipment, such as forklifts and scanners, you also need to consider the licensing and management systems in the digital space. A successful warehouse operates on data, and your system and processes must reflect this.

Human resources will also require a significant budget to evaluate, as you need to select the right employees.Each person will need safety gear and training, in addition to more PAYE, to integrate into your existing team.

2) Experienced Warehouses Are Built for One Purpose

Existing 3PLs will already have everything from experienced packers and account management teams as a given when you collaborate to grow your ecommerce brand.

Fulfilment partners have years of experience and massive networks to help you with tasks beyond fulfilment, such as marketing or company development, which frees you up to work on your brand instead of chasing DPD for a missing parcel.

Having an expert in inventory management, carrier pickups and returns means you don’t have to worry about massive warehouse costs or the hidden costs in fulfilment that 3PLs can take on for you. They will also have the processes in place to allow you to scale your business quickly.

3) Access to Advanced Systems

At Vdepot, we are one of the few fulfilment companies that not only have our own inventory management system for our clients, but also a platform that goes beyond most 3PLs.

Since we have a development team in-house, we offer complete control, overseeing your packaging journey from start to finish, including full customisation of your packaging and delivery of your product.

Our platform offers live updates on your orders and returns. By consolidating data from various channels, warehouse systems, and couriers, we bring all information together into a single, user-friendly platform.

The Takeaway

With all the additional costs that go into managing your own warehouse, it is no wonder that 60% of online retailers in the US will outsource their fulfilment in 2025.

Many brands also look to outsource in the UK in 2025 to gain better inventory management, faster shipping, and reduced labour and HR management.

To learn more about us and determine if outsourcing your fulfilment is the best option for your e-commerce brand, please reach out to hello@vdepot.co.uk.

Get Dependable Fulfilment Support

If you would like further information on how we can support your operations, please don’t hesitate to contact us and review our business support, listed below. 

Warehousing & Storage Contact Us Order & inventory management for small businesses Questions to ask before choosing a fulfilment company How to use fulfilment to build brand loyalty
BACK TO RESOURCES

Share: