How Equip Sustained 40% YoY Growth Without Sacrificing Fulfillment Performance

Equip Foods is a leading real-food supplement brand that makes high-quality, clean ingredient products, designed to provide nutritional support without artificial additives or fillers. As a pioneer and leading brand in their vertical, they are growing quickly and need operational support to serve their omnichannel strategy and give their customers best-in-class service.  

After working with a 3PL who couldn’t keep up with their pace of growth, the Equip team started working with DCL Logistics to help them scale their brand, efficiently and confidently.  

Jake Russell, Head of Supply Chain at Equip Foods says, “DCL doesn’t view us as just another customer. And we don’t view DCL as a vendor, we view them as a partner. With mutual goals and mutual success, working with DCL has been a night-and-day improvement from other 3PLs that I’ve worked with in the past.” 

Ecommerce Case Study

• Problem: Equip was growing faster than their 3PL could handle; delivery times were slipping, and the team worried customers would move to another platform like Amazon to get products fast.  
• Solution: DCL provides flexible, service-driven operations and tech-enabled solutions like SelectShip that are built for high-growth ecommerce brands to scale.
• Result: Equip surpassed their growth goals, reaching 95% of orders getting to customers in five days, on average, simultaneously reducing shipping costs and improving SLA performance while growing 40% year-over-year.  

When Ecommerce Growth Forecast Outpaces Fulfillment Operations  

Equip was growing rapidly, upwards of 40% year-over-year, but it was clear that they were on pace to outgrow their 3PL. No matter what they tried, they couldn’t get 95% of shipments to customers in five days or less. Jake says, “With our previous 3PL we saw delivery timelines in the 6-7 days range. I spent a lot of time tweaking which carriers we were using and trying to get us to that 95% goal. No matter what I did, nothing got us there. I knew the problem would only compound with more orders.”  

Customer expectations in ecommerce are largely shaped by Amazon’s two-day shipping standard, and we were worried we would start to lose our core customers to Amazon, which naturally cuts into our margins.   

Jake says, “At the time when we were exploring moving 3PLs, the biggest risk I saw was if our previous 3PL couldn’t scale with us. Being very confident in our growth trajectory, I wanted to make sure we found a partner who could handle that growth.”  

Equip needed a 3PL that provided more than basic pick and pack services. The team sought out a true partner capable of scaling alongside the business without sacrificing customer experience.

Finding a Right-Fit Partner, with Flexibility and Capacity to Scale 

Some 3PLs can have rigid systems and slow-moving processes but Equip needed a 3PL with the flexibility to ensure they meet their customer’s needs. DCL’s dedication to custom fulfillment support was a perfect fit. Together they worked to build a fulfillment strategy for Equip to grow and scale to meet the market.  

From the initial stages of interviewing them, Jake had a good sense that DCL could follow through with their promises. They provided high-touch communication, clarity of quality processes, and fast problem solving, no matter the request. Jake says, “The DCL team really goes above and beyond. If we have something that just has to get done, the team has been able to accommodate it every single time. Before our contract even started, it already felt like a partnership.”  

A big factor in Equip’s success is DCL’s shipping optimization service, SelectShip. The AI-powered solution evaluates tens of thousands of data points in real time across carrier networks, routing logic, historical performance, weather conditions, delivery trends, and more to determine the optimal shipping service for every parcel. 

One of the most immediate benefits Equip saw from SelectShip was lower shipping costs. Rather than relying on static routing rules, SelectShip evaluates the full landed shipping cost in real time (which includes base transportation rates, fuel surcharges, and other accessorial fees) to determine the optimal carrier and service for every shipment at the exact moment it ships. But holistically, Jake and his team had way more time in their day because they weren’t manually adjusting carrier optimization. Jake says, “SelectShip has been a huge part of our success. We’re saving about 15–20% versus using a single carrier. But the real cost saving is just not having to put a lot of time into it anymore.” 

The overall financial impact was immediate.  

Improved Performance: Faster Delivery, Stronger Retention, Confident Growth 

Equip dramatically improved delivery performance while continuing to exceed growth forecasts. They have met and exceeded that 95% five-day shipping goal, and are now closer to 97% of orders being delivered in five days or less. With the addition of SelectShip they are seeing an average of three days to delivery. 

“We’re beating forecasts each month, and we’re not seeing a drop off in SLAs or performance or order fulfillment. We’re seeing customers choosing to stay subscribed on our website versus going to Amazon because there’s not a huge difference in delivery timelines now.” Jake says. 

Faster shipping and reliable same-day fulfillment improved customer retention by directly competing with the Amazon promise. The team is confident in their growth projections and future of scalability. The growth they’ve seen has been met without seeing a dip in accuracy either. Jake says, “We are super happy with DCL’s performance and partnership, definitely happy we made the move to DCL. Now I know we made the right decision.” 

Equip isn’t stopping. They can see a future ahead with DCL given their commitment to customization and excellence with value-added services that meet brands where they need to grow. Jake says, “As we continue to grow and add new SKUs and new ideas. DCL will be a great partner for us. We’ll be able to offer customized bundles, variety packs, and tons of other value-adds that we haven’t even tapped yet.”  

Equip improved delivery times, backed by DCL’s high-quality fulfillment performance. But the real win is unlocking a true partnership that is built on shared goals and a foundation for scalable, long-term growth. By combining high-touch service, operational flexibility, and technology-driven optimization, DCL helped transform fulfillment from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage.

About Equip Foods 

At Equip, we believe in timeless nutrition from real food, not lab formulas. We’re redefining what it means to supplement with clean, thoughtfully sourced ingredients to fuel your body naturally. No junk. No fillers. Just nutrition as nature intended. Learn more at https://www.equipfoods.com/