Apparel receiving requires more verification steps than hard goods. Our team checks each inbound shipment against the purchase order by style, size, color, and quantity. We inspect for manufacturing defects (loose stitching, stains, wrong labels), verify that hang tags and care labels are attached and correct, and confirm that size runs match what was ordered. For imports, we check that country-of-origin labels, fiber content labels, and any required compliance markings (CPSC for children’s apparel, CA Prop 65 where applicable) are present. Garments that arrive on hangers go directly to our GOH (garment-on-hanger) storage system. Folded goods are sorted by style-size-color and placed in bin or shelf locations. Standard apparel shipments are received and put away within one to two business days.

Apparel SKU counts grow fast. A single t-shirt style in 5 sizes and 4 colors is 20 SKUs. Multiply that across your catalog and picking accuracy becomes a real challenge without proper organization. Our warehouses use a combination of GOH racking for items that need to stay wrinkle-free (dresses, blazers, outerwear, dress shirts) and shelving or bin systems for folded goods (t-shirts, jeans, underwear, socks). Each location is mapped in our WMS by style, then size, then color, so pickers can find the exact variant quickly. Footwear goes on purpose-built shoe racks that keep boxes organized and accessible without stacking damage. This storage approach keeps our apparel pick accuracy rate above 99.7% even during peak season volumes.

Each sales channel has specific packaging and labeling requirements for apparel. Amazon FBA requires FNSKU labels, poly bagging for most garments, and suffocation warnings on poly bags. We handle all of this in-house. For Walmart, we build retail-ready case packs sorted by size, apply GS1-128 shipping labels, and transmit ASNs through EDI. TikTok Shop orders get packed to the platform’s shipping standards, and Shopify D2C orders ship in your branded packaging with tissue paper, stickers, or promotional inserts when requested. B2B wholesale orders to boutiques and department stores are packed per each buyer’s spec sheet with correct carton markings, packing lists, and UCC-128 labels. For garments that ship on hangers, we use garment bags and hanger boxes to prevent transit damage.

Apparel returns run at 20-30% for e-commerce orders, which is two to four times the rate of most other product categories. Your 3PL needs to process returns fast and get sellable units back into inventory before they become dead stock. When a return arrives at our warehouse, we inspect the garment for wear, washing, stains, odors, missing tags, and damage. Items that pass inspection are refolded or re-hung, repackaged in new poly bags if needed, and returned to sellable inventory within 48 hours. Items that fail inspection are separated by reason code (worn, damaged, wrong item) and held for your disposition instructions. We track return rates by SKU, size, and reason code in your monthly reports, so you can spot product issues or sizing problems before they become expensive patterns.