Test the setup
Confirm SKU imports, inventory balances, store connections, packing rules, and carrier settings. Require a recorded outcome for each test. Assign an owner to every failure and a date for the retest.
Test the cutover
Reconcile transferred stock and trace live shipments after launch. Define what would trigger a pause or fallback. Close the move only after the agreed checks pass, rather than when the final pallet reaches the building.
Write a controlled handover plan
List the stock count, shipment preparation, receiving confirmation, system tests, and order-routing changes needed for the move. Give each step an owner and an acceptance condition. Identify the decisions that depend on the outgoing provider, the incoming provider, and your own team. Keep the target date separate from the date everyone has confirmed. Review your actual commitments with the appropriate advisers before relying on a transfer assumption.
Define a test before recording a score
Write the expected result, the sample, and the evidence you will accept. Keep a failed requirement separate from an unanswered question. Use the same test across providers where their proposed scopes are comparable. If the test changes, record why; otherwise an improved score may reflect an easier question rather than a better fit.
Use this question in your next meeting:
What must be confirmed before the next handoff can safely happen?
Go deeper: Stress-test a fulfillment quote before scoring price. The companion article includes an editable worksheet and links to provider profiles.
Further reading
Shopify: inventory states. Reference for the distinction between available, committed, and other inventory states.