D2C Fulfillment Tips for Back-to-School Logistics: How to Ship Faster and Smarter
Last Updated: July 8, 2025 | ⏱ 7 min
School is officially out for the summer! While families head to the beach and start planning cookouts, it won’t be long before parents and students begin to think about their shopping lists for the upcoming school year. As one of the biggest shopping seasons of the year, back-to-school sales can bring some of the most profitable months for D2C brands, but also the most demanding.
Suddenly, your store is flooded with orders for supplies, electronics, clothing, or textbooks, and you're left stressed over how to meet shipping deadlines before the season ends. Those long summer days are now spent assembling packages, and cookouts become a distant dream as you print your 50th shipping label of the day.
But what if back-to-school fulfillment didn’t have to be so stressful?
As we approach the 2025 back-to-school season, D2C brands need to be ready to compete for customer attention while ensuring their fulfillment operations can keep up. Let’s walk through the common challenges D2C brands face during this season, and how you can overcome them to make the most of it.
Why Back to School Shipping is a Challenge for D2C Brands
The back-to-school season can be particularly complex for D2C brands. You’re not just shipping one type of product to a single audience, you’re fulfilling a wide variety of orders for K–12 students, college students, and even teachers.
Think about the types of shopping carts you might encounter:
Each product category has its own packaging needs, shipping constraints, and fulfillment timelines. If you're a general store offering many of these products, your shipping operation can quickly become a tangle of different box sizes and rate calculations.
And customer expectations? Let’s be honest, they’re high. Shoppers are expecting fast and affordable delivery. Parents are making last-minute purchases just days before school starts, and college students are scheduling dorm deliveries to arrive the moment they move in. One delayed shipment can quickly snowball into frustration, poor reviews, and lost customer loyalty.
To make things even trickier, Amazon Prime Day (July 8–11) lands right in the middle of this surge, pushing demand to its peak. Inventory levels are tested, stockouts become more likely, and even small delays can trigger a cascade of missed delivery windows.
While some disruptions are inevitable, there are several key steps D2C brands can take to keep their back-to-school fulfillment smooth, efficient, and under control.
Shipping Tips for Back to School Success
Start Early
The back-to-school season typically runs from July through mid-September, but most sales peak around mid-July as shoppers take advantage of Prime Day deals. That means orders are coming in earlier rather than later, and you don’t want to be playing catch-up all season.
Get ahead by planning now. If you’ve sold during this season before, use historical data to forecast demand. Stock inventory well before major sales events to stay ahead of the curve.
If this is your first season, lean into market research. For example, in 2024, Amazon reported that average daily revenue during Prime Day was four times higher than a typical day.
Also consider lead times for production and imports. Build in buffers to account for potential delays and have your inventory ready to ship before the rush begins.
Leverage Fulfillment Providers
One of the most effective ways to streamline your back-to-school operations is by partnering with a fulfillment provider. A third-party logistics (3PL) partner handles critical logistics functions like warehousing, order fulfillment, and shipping on your behalf.
With such a wide variety of product types and unpredictable spikes in demand, a 3PL brings the equipment, systems, and experience needed to manage the chaos.
At Coast to Coast Fulfillment, we offer omnichannel support that includes inventory management, real-time visibility, and seamless shipping across platforms. Our goal is to simplify your operations, so you can focus on growth.
The ultimate way you can ensure fulfillment success this season is to allocate the duties to a professional in the field.
Optimize Inventory Management
Maintaining real-time visibility on inventory stock levels across all sales channels is critical to fulfillment success. If you’re still managing inventory with sticky notes and spreadsheets, this season could get bumpy. Try utilizing inventory management tools to monitor stock levels and reorder at the right time.
There’s plenty of inventory management tools available online, but if you’re partnered with a 3PL, they might already have one ready to use. At Coast to Coast Fulfillment, we offer real-time inventory tracking to our clients through our online portal, Data Depot.
With our API integration, we’ll also update your inventory on Shopify, meaning your inventory is always accurate and at less risk of overselling.
Customize Packaging
The back-to-school season has no “one size fits all”. From pencils to dormitory furniture, back-to-school sales come in a variety shapes and sizes. Review your inventory and take time to match each product to the right packaging to protect it during transit and minimize shipping costs.
Larger boxes may feel like a catch-all solution but be weary that larger packages are heavier and cost more to ship. To optimize profits, it’s best to find a package that’s appropriate for each product.
Coast to Coast Fulfillment stocks over 20 box sizes at all times, helping clients ship efficiently and cost-effectively.
Diversify Shipping Options
Don’t limit your store to just one shipping speed. A July shopper may choose a slower, economical option, while someone ordering in late August might need next-day delivery.
We recommend offering at least two options: ground and expedited. This gives your customers the flexibility they need without overwhelming them with choices.
Partnering with multiple carriers can help you offer competitive rates and better coverage, but for small businesses, this takes time and effort. A 3PL like Coast to Coast Fulfillment can rate shop on your behalf, choosing the most cost-effective carrier based on package dimensions and destination.
Prepare for Returns
Returns are inevitable. Class schedules change, preferences shift, and some items just don’t work out. Prepare for how your team will handle return processing, repackaging, and restocking. We recommend D2C brands use Loop to help implement a streamlined, sustainable returns process.
If you’d rather not deal with returns, consider a 3PL for your reverse logistics. At Coast to Coast Fulfillment, we handle your return process from start to finish. Our returns management services are designed to simplify and streamline the returns process, ensuring a seamless experience for both you and your customers. We can handle every aspect of returns management, allowing you to focus on growing your business.
Partner With a 3PL for Back to School Fulfillment
The back-to-school season is short, intense, and full of potential. For D2C brands, it represents a powerful revenue opportunity that can drive some of the year’s highest sales volumes. But with that opportunity also comes tight shipping windows, diverse product types, and high customer expectations.
With the right preparation, smart inventory planning, and a streamlined shipping process, your brand will not only survive the season, but thrive in it.
While managing this surge on your own is possible, it doesn't have to be a solo effort. By partnering with an experienced fulfillment provider, you can focus on growing your brand, engaging with your customers, and creating a memorable shopping experience for the back-to-school season.
Request a consultation with Coast to Coast Fulfillment today to see how we can help your brand scale with confidence and handle seasonal surges any time of the year.