Toy Fulfillment Made Simple With Tech-Powered 3PL Expertise For Playtime Brands
Keep up with holiday surges and streamline omnichannel fulfillment while delivering delightful unboxing moments.
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What toy brands need from a fulfillment partner
From trending toys to seasonal bestsellers, playtime brands face unpredictable demand and complex logistics. Here are the top fulfillment challenges to solve when choosing the right 3PL partner.
Scale confidently through holiday demand spikes
Toy demand can spike dramatically in Q4, overwhelming small warehouses and driving up shipping costs. Choose a 3PL with multiple US locations that can distribute inventory across different regions of the country to keep peak season smooth and affordable.
Synchronized inventory across all sales channels
Selling on Shopify, Amazon, Walmart Marketplace, and retail channels can leave each channel pulling from a different inventory number. Look for technology that synchronizes real-time stock across DTC, marketplace, and EDI workflows, utilizing a shared pool of inventory so you never oversell a SKU.
Enhance customer delight with bundling and gifting options
Holiday gift sets, playset bundles, and custom notes create extra steps that can slow the packing process. Find a fulfillment partner that supports virtual bundles and stores custom branded packaging or marketing inserts that you provide as their own SKUs for a seamless unboxing experience.
Flexible SKU management for trending licensed products
When new trends pop up, toy companies need to spin up fresh SKUs and retire old ones without waiting on manual system updates. Look for a 3PL that offers a dashboard that lets you create, edit, or archive SKUs quickly, and provides sales data by location, keeping catalog changes agile.
Separate workflows for DTC and retail orders
Fulfilling ecommerce orders alongside bulk shipments to big-box retailers can require multiple 3PLs and duplicate inventory. Streamline operations with a provider that handles both DTC parcel shipping and US-based EDI retail dropshipping or distribution from the same facilities, utilizing a shared pool of inventory.
Simplified shipping solutions for battery-powered toys
Lithium batteries and other HAZMAT goods often face carrier surcharges and require strict handling protocols that can overwhelm many fulfillment providers. Partner with a 3PL that has expertise handling Dangerous Goods (DG) and hazardous materials (HAZMAT) and utilizes robust technology to ensure products are stored safely and shipped using appropriate carrier services.
ShipBob’s fulfillment solutions that toy brands care about
ShipBob helps toy brands simplify fulfillment across every sales channel — combining scalable storage, automated order routing, and branded unboxing to keep operations smooth year-round.
Effortless peak season scaling
ShipBob’s US fulfillment network and Inventory Placement Program (IPP) automate the distribution of inventory to store it closer to your customers, making it easier to handle dramatic order surges without missing a beat. Using historical data, ShipBob’s proprietary algorithm automatically allocates stock across multiple US locations to help brands reduce their average shipping zone and keep delivery times fast – even during the busiest holiday rushes.
With flexible, scalable fulfillment and real-time inventory visibility, you can focus on growth while ShipBob ensures every order is picked, packed, and shipped on time, no matter how high demand spikes.
Unified inventory management
ShipBob integrates with dozens of ecommerce platforms and tools (including Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and more) to sync inventory and orders in real time. Our technology ensures real-time stock updates, so every channel pulls from the same accurate inventory count.
This eliminates overselling and manual reconciliation, empowering you to scale confidently across multiple platforms.
Branded unboxing made easy
Create memorable unboxing moments with ShipBob’s Customization Suite. Easily include your custom branded packaging and marketing inserts (which are tracked as their own SKUs) and personalized gift notes to orders, providing seamless inventory control over your branded elements.
Whether you want to offer curated gift sets, product bundles, or personalized touches, ShipBob’s technology and fulfillment network make it simple to deliver a premium, cohesive experience at scale, without slowing down your operations.
Agile SKU management
ShipBob’s intuitive Product Catalog empowers you to instantly add, edit, or archive SKUs, either individually or in bulk, so your product lineup can keep pace with the latest trends. Powerful filtering, search, and bulk update tools make it easy to manage catalog changes across all your sales channels. Real-time analytics help you make data-driven decisions and optimize inventory across locations.
Unified omnichannel fulfillment
ShipBob empowers brands to manage both direct-to-consumer and retail distribution from a single, integrated platform. Our technology and fulfillment network handle DTC orders and bulk B2B shipments, including automated EDI retail dropshipping and distribution for major US retailers (e.g., Target), all from the same network of fulfillment centers.
Where eligible, SKUs classified as dangerous goods or containing hazardous materials (DG/HAZMAT) require approval from ShipBob, and handling requirements vary by fulfillment center location.
Dangerous goods (DG/HAZMAT) shipping support
ShipBob supports shipping certain DG/HAZMAT products (including those with batteries) that comply with carrier guidelines, provided merchants classify these DG SKUs and upload the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) in the ShipBob dashboard. Eligible shipments typically move via ground services, and service availability varies by fulfillment center location.
ShipBob utilizes a dedicated approval process and dashboard requirements to help brands ship battery-powered products compliantly, which helps mitigate the risk of delays or improper handling.
Types of toy products that companies fulfill with ShipBob
- Character-based toys
- Action figures, collectibles, and character toys
- Plush toys and stuffed animals
- Interactive and educational play
- Games and puzzles (board games, card games, travel games)
- Building and construction sets
- Educational and STEM toys (science kits, coding toys)
- Creative and imaginative toys
- Arts, crafts, and creative play (slime kits, modeling clay, bead sets)
- Pretend play items (play food, toy tools, costumes)
- Sensory and fidget toys
- Play environments
- Small vehicles and playsets (cars, trains, dollhouses)
- Outdoor and active toys (non-bulky)
Success story: Spikeball scales globally with ShipBob’s WMS and fulfillment network
Spikeball, the brand behind the world’s #1 roundnet game, is a leader in the sports toy space, selling millions of sets worldwide. To keep up with global demand and streamline their operations, Spikeball uses ShipBob’s warehouse management system (WMS) in their US warehouse, while leveraging ShipBob’s fulfillment centers in Canada and Europe for international orders. This hybrid approach has enabled Spikeball to cut shipping costs, improve packing efficiency, and reduce fulfillment errors.
ShipBob’s WMS provides Spikeball with real-time inventory visibility and automated carrier selection, ensuring fast, accurate, and cost-effective shipping. The seamless integration with their ERP and the ability to expand into new markets with ShipBob’s global network has allowed Spikeball to focus on growing the sport and reaching new customers, all while maintaining a lean operations team and delivering a great customer experience.
Success story: Tonies shipped 1M+ Tonieboxes in the US while growing 50% YoY
Tonies, creators of the innovative screen-free audio storytelling toy that combines physical figurines with digital content, centralized both their direct-to-consumer and retail distribution operations with ShipBob. They strategically used multiple growth levers, including distributed inventory across fulfillment centers, synchronized omnichannel order management, and automated EDI compliance. This enabled them to scale operations without the complexity of managing multiple logistics providers.
The partnership has enabled Tonies to ship over 5.7 million boxes worldwide, including more than 1 million Tonieboxes in the US alone, while maintaining efficient operations through a single logistics relationship that scales with their continued growth.
ShipBob services all customers benefit from
- Connectivity & integrations: ShipBob’s 50+ turnkey integrations with all major ecommerce channels and tools – including Shopify, Gorgias, Klaviyo, NetSuite, Loop, AfterShip, and more – enable you to grow your business smarter, faster, and stronger than ever before. In addition to the ShipBob App Store that lets you instantly connect your tech stack, you can also leverage ShipBob’s Develop API for custom builds.
- Transparent, cost-effective pricing: Unlike many 3PLs, ShipBob has easy-to-predict billing that makes it easy to plan for spend, without too many line items. ShipBob also negotiates rates with carriers and passes those savings on to you.
- Real-time visibility: Track shipments, orders, and inventory across locations from one dashboard. Manage one pool of inventory across sales channels and push stock levels back to your store so you don’t oversell.
- Full-stack fulfillment platform: With ShipBob, you get an all-in-one OMS, IMS, WMS, RMS, TMS, and analytics for a consolidated tech stack. ShipBob’s platform acts as a mini-ERP, being a single source of truth for your orders and inventory.
- Easy, comprehensive onboarding: We’ve onboarded thousands of ecommerce merchants and helped some of the fastest-growing brands scale effortlessly. Our implementation team sets you up for success with everything from configuring your ship options, to syncing your online store.
- Support for growth: ShipBob aims to be the last fulfillment partner you’ll need. Whether you’re shipping 1,000 orders per month or 200,000, we have you covered. With a large fulfillment network to scale into, new channels to expand into, and additional capabilities to tap into, you won’t outgrow ShipBob.
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How it works
How ShipBob goes from your online store to your customer’s door
1. Connect
Connect your store, import your products, then send us your inventory.
2. Store
We store your inventory in any combination of our fulfillment centers.
3. Ship
As soon as a customer places an order, we ship it from the nearest fulfillment center.
FAQs about toy fulfillment
Here are answers to some of the most common questions toy brands have about outsourcing fulfillment and optimizing their logistics strategy.
How does ShipBob help toy brands manage inventory during peak seasons like the holidays?
ShipBob’s distributed fulfillment network and real-time inventory tracking make it easy to forecast demand, automatically allocate stock across locations, and avoid stockouts or overselling during high-volume periods.
Can ShipBob handle fragile or collectible toys that require extra care in packing and shipping?
ShipBob uses right-sized boxes and standard dunnage materials for all orders. For fragile or high-value toys, sellers can indicate if an item is fragile, and ShipBob utilizes its box selection algorithm and appropriate standard dunnage to help protect the product during transit.
What technology integrations does ShipBob offer for toy brands selling on multiple channels?
ShipBob integrates with dozens of major ecommerce platforms and marketplaces like Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and more, syncing inventory and orders in real time to streamline multichannel fulfillment.
Can ShipBob support bundling, gift sets, or custom packaging for toys?
Absolutely. ShipBob enables you to create virtual bundles, manage branded packaging and inserts as separate SKUs, and add gift notes for a seamless, branded unboxing experience.
How does ShipBob help toy brands scale and expand into new markets?
With dozens of fulfillment centers across the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, and Australia, ShipBob lets you store inventory closer to customers, reduce shipping costs, and launch into new countries faster.
What shipping options does ShipBob offer for small or lightweight toy products?
ShipBob provides access to a variety of cost-effective shipping options to help you deliver products quickly and affordably; final rates are variable and based on factors such as weight, dimensions, destination, and service.
How does ShipBob’s system help prevent overselling or stock discrepancies across sales channels?
ShipBob’s unified dashboard syncs inventory in real time across all connected channels, so every order pulls from the same accurate stock count. This helps eliminate manual errors and overselling.
Can ShipBob handle both DTC and retail/B2B toy orders from the same inventory?
Yes, ShipBob’s omnichannel fulfillment solution supports DTC orders and bulk B2B shipments, including retail distribution and retail dropshipping orders, all managed from a single platform and shared inventory pool.
What does ShipBob offer to streamline returns for toy brands?
ShipBob provides a tech-enabled returns management process, but note that toys with batteries are typically ineligible for restock or quarantine and will be disposed of upon receipt at the fulfillment center. For other eligible items, merchants can choose to dispose of, quarantine, or restock returned products.
You can also choose to have returns sent directly to a non-ShipBob location of your choosing. ShipBob facilitates a seamless returns experience and offers direct integrations with partners like Loop and AfterShip to make initiating returns and exchanges easier.
Shipping costs are variable in nature, based on weight, dimensions, destination, service, and more. Request your custom quote here: https://www.shipbob.com/quote/.
INTEGRATE ALL OF YOUR TOOLS
Connect to 50+ few-click integrations from our App Store, or build directly with our developer-friendly API
Ship from 60+ global locations
We use our network of fulfillment centers to help you strategically split and manage your inventory to reduce shipping costs and transit times.
FEATURED REPORT
What are toy brands’ top priorities for shipping and fulfillment this year? Find out
There’s no question that the last several years have thrown a multitude of challenges at ecommerce brands. Despite this, brands are navigating the ever-changing landscape with plans to expand this year.
