As direct-to-consumer sales climb and peak season volatility intensifies, companies are retooling fulfillment operations for greater speed, flexibility, and visibility. A new survey by Deposco highlights the strategic moves, from inventory buffers to 3PL integration, defining the next phase of DTC logistics.
Rethinking Inventory Tactics as Buffers Become a Strategic Lever
According to a new survey conducted by Deposco and studioID, 72% of companies reported year-over-year increases in DTC sales, with 82% forecasting another 10–25% rise in the next 12 months. That momentum is reshaping how businesses prepare for peak season, where the margin for error continues to shrink.
Inventory strategies are being rebalanced to hedge against the risks of both under- and over-stocking. While 56% of executives still favor just-in-time (JIT) fulfillment for cost efficiency, 34% are shifting toward just-in-case (JIC) models in response to escalating global disruptions. A further 42% are prioritizing buffer inventory specifically to counter trade instability. The key differentiator, however, isn’t simply the strategy, it’s how effectively companies are deploying visibility tools and scenario-based planning to optimize whichever model they choose.
Recent industry data supports this shift. A McKinsey report finds that companies with digital control towers and end-to-end visibility tools outperform peers in agility and working capital efficiency, especially during demand shocks. As supply chain complexity increases, technology, not inventory volume, is emerging as the defining advantage.
The Rise of Adaptive Infrastructure
To reduce risk and improve service levels ahead of the holiday season, 50% of companies in the survey are actively diversifying their distribution footprints. This includes establishing regional hubs and backup fulfillment sites, all underpinned by real-time visibility across the network. In a peak environment where a single node outage can cascade across the system, redundant capacity and geographic flexibility are becoming mission-critical.
Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) are also gaining ground as enablers of this flexibility. Thirty-six percent of respondents say they’ve increased 3PL engagement to manage macroeconomic volatility, while 34% see these partnerships as an effective lever to reduce DTC fulfillment costs. Notably, 30% are working with 3PLs specifically to expand distribution coverage, an increasingly necessary move as consumer expectations rise and delivery windows shrink.
What separates high-performing operations isn’t just who they partner with, but how they integrate. Many 3PLs now offer embedded tech platforms that link warehouse management, real-time tracking, and automated reporting, bringing outsourced operations closer to in-house visibility standards. This convergence is helping DTC brands scale faster without compromising control.
The Blind Spot: Operational Complexity at the Edge
While most brands are investing heavily in fulfillment tech, 98% according to the Deposco study, few are addressing the operational complexity this creates at the edge. As DTC networks expand, so too do the points of failure: more SKUs, more handoffs, more returns. And with 86% of companies now deriving up to half their revenue from DTC channels, small inefficiencies can ripple into material financial impact.
One overlooked area is reverse logistics. As peak season returns spike, brands with disconnected or underdeveloped returns networks risk clogging warehouse space and damaging margins. Early adopters are integrating returns forecasting into their demand models and pre-allocating refurb or resale capacity to avoid last-mile pileups. As DTC maturity rises, the definition of fulfillment success must extend beyond outbound performance, and into the cost, timing, and disposition of returns.
Look Beyond Scale, Start Calibrating for Variability
As DTC networks grow more sophisticated, the next challenge isn’t about scaling, it’s about calibrating for variability. Seasonal surges, regional demand swings, and SKU proliferation are pushing fulfillment systems to operate across a broader range of scenarios. Industry leaders who treat these variables as constants risk designing brittle operations. The more resilient approach? Architecting supply chains with built-in elasticity, not just in labor or inventory, but in decision logic, automation rules, and partner models that flex as conditions change. Consistency in customer experience will increasingly depend on variability tolerance at the operational core.