Case study: cutting Manifest fulfillment costs and fixing a $53K split-shipment problem
What we found
Looking at warehouse fulfillment and freight costs at Manifest, one thing stood out. Split shipments, multiple shipments going out against a single customer order, were quietly eating into profitability. By March, that had added up to roughly $53K in impact.
We went at this two ways. Negotiate better fulfillment rates directly with Manifest, and separately, fix how carriers and shipments were being allocated in the first place.
The rate negotiation
After going back and forth with Manifest, we landed on real reductions, effective May 1, 2026.
Order plus first pick dropped from $1.25 to $1.10, an 18% cut. Additional pick went from $0.20 to $0.15, down 25%. Storage dropped from $0.65 to $0.52 per cubic foot, a 20% reduction.
Those numbers hit every single fulfilled order going forward, not just a one-time credit.
Carrier optimization
Alongside the rate work, we reviewed how Manifest's ShipHero Rate Shop was actually selecting carriers.
ShipX and Veho had already been flagged as the more cost-efficient options, but the system wasn't leaning toward them. So Manifest added ShipX as a standard shipping option and reconfigured the carrier weighting: UPS, FedEx, and DHL at 1, ShipX and Veho at 0.5.
That weighting pushes the system toward ShipX and Veho by default, but Rate Shop logic still kicks in and picks a different carrier when it's genuinely cheaper based on weight and destination. Nothing forced, just a better starting point.
The split-shipment problem
The bigger issue underneath all of this was partial fulfillment. When products became available at different times, one customer order could turn into two or three separate shipments. More shipments means more carrier charges, and that adds up fast across volume.
We started identifying where these splits were happening unnecessarily and working to cut them down, since this was the main driver behind the $53K impact in the first place.
What came out of it
An 18% cut on order and first pick fees. A 25% cut on additional pick fees. A 20% cut on storage costs. ShipX added as a standard carrier option, with ShipX and Veho now prioritized through weighting. The split-shipment cost driver was identified and is actively being addressed. Freight cost analysis improved by looking at actual carrier charges instead of relying on bucketed cost estimates.
The real lesson
Fulfillment costs aren't just about the rate on the invoice. The full picture runs from warehouse rates through fulfillment rules, split shipments, carrier selection, and what actually gets charged per shipment. Fix only one piece and the rest of the cost stays hidden.
Bottom line
None of these costs were fixed. Better Manifest rates, smarter carrier allocation, fewer unnecessary split shipments, and real visibility into what's actually being charged, that's what turned a $53K problem into a fulfillment structure that's actually being managed instead of accepted.