With the new year on the horizon, we’re finalizing 2025 supply chain strategies for our most important customers. While no two customers will have quite the same game plan, we’re building off the same foundation of retail logistics expertise we’ve accumulated over 15+ years of service to the CPG community.
And as our gift to you this holiday season, we want to share that foundation with you! We’ve compiled a list of the most popular big box retailers and everything CPG shippers need to know about delivering into them, working with retail buyers, and dominating the shelf in 2025.
The Cheat Code for Shipping to ‘Big Box’ Retailers
A recent survey revealed that 66% of retail buyers have ended relationships with suppliers over delivery issues. With retail compliance requirements always changing, it’s hard to keep track of what each retailer expects. So, we made it easy.
Know exactly what retail buyers expect from you and how to avoid damaging your relationships by reading our Retail Buyer Report.
Shipping to Aldi
You might be enticed to shop at Aldi if you don’t mind cheaper prices, non-name brand products, and a smaller selection of goods. In order to offer savings to their customers, Aldi uses strategy and innovation to control costs. This approach also applies to their transportation and supply chain network.
Whereas most retailers leave it up to suppliers to coordinate transportation with carriers, Aldi is completely different.
Shipping to Amazon
It is almost a “must” for any business to sell on Amazon these days. In a world where consumers log on to Amazon to buy items that were out-of-stock at the store, selling on Amazon helps companies stay competitive and win market share.
We’ve broken down what working with Amazon looks like for both first-party and third-party sellers and how sellers can most effectively optimize their Amazon supply chain, and in turn, profitability with Amazon overall.
Shipping to Costco
As one of the leading retailers in the world in both volume and customer satisfaction, Costco shelf space is premium realty for any CPG brand looking to grow its market share. Costco also happens to adhere to some of the most stringent delivery requirements among major retailers. Failing to meet Costco transportation benchmarks can mean rejected loads, delayed deliveries, out-of-stock issues, and ultimately lead to hefty profit losses.
So, what can you do to ensure that your deliveries meet requirements and make it to the shelf? Click the button below for some insight into Costco’s delivery metrics and tips on how to most efficiently comply with protocols.
For even more in-depth details, download our Complete Guide to Costco Shipping.
 | Complete Guide to Costco Shipping This free guide will arm you with everything you need to know to ace your Costco vendor relationship and avoid costly chargebacks. |
Shipping to CVS
CVS, named one of the largest companies in the world by Fortune Magazine, is a wonderful place for CPG brands to land shelf space. With over 9,000 locations across every state in the U.S., a deal with CVS can bring a lot of exposure and revenue that an emerging CPG brand needs to continue its growth.
If your brand has recently secured a deal with CVS, there are many important steps to sort out behind the scenes before your product appears on store shelves. A crucial part of the process is the logistics of delivering your freight to CVS distribution centers. Every large retailer has its own set of delivery requirements, scheduling processes, and chargeback systems — and CVS is no different.
Shipping to HEB
If you’re a Texas native or spend much time in the Lone Star State, you’ve likely shopped at HEB.
Founded in 1905, HEB is an American supermarket chain based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 400 stores throughout Texas and Mexico. It brings in over $26 billion in annual sales and serves more than 1 million Texas households.
HEB is a strict appointment facility accepting appointments Monday – Friday. Saturday and Sunday delivery availability varies by location. Appointments vary across distribution centers ranging from standard to after-hours.
Shipping to KeHE
KeHE is a wholesale food distributor. This means that they purchase products from CPG brands up-front, bring them into their network, and resell to retailers all over the nation, acting as a third-party middleman between your brand and store shelves.
A relationship like this can be hugely beneficial, but the nuances of delivering your product into their warehouses can present massive challenges for inexperienced brands.
In this article, we’ll run through some common issues that arise for brands entering a relationship with KeHE and provide some tips to maximize your success.
Shipping to Sam’s Club
Part of Sam’s compliance program includes an extensive scorecarding component. These are report cards that grade suppliers on quality and performance, looking at common metrics like on-time delivery, inventory management, missed shipments, lead time, costs, etc.
When a vendor is unable to deliver on time or in full, the retailer incurs a loss because there is no product available to sell. Retailers then issue a chargeback to offset the incurred cost and discourage future failures.
Shipping to Target
Coming in at #32 on the Fortune 500 list, Target Corporation is a big player in the retail space. With over 1,900 locations in the United States alone, the store is a household name and its shelf space represents a big opportunity for any up-and-coming CPG brand.
If your brand has recently secured shelf space at Target, there are some important behind-the-scenes steps to take before getting your product in front of shoppers. Transporting your freight to its destination is a crucial part of this process.
Shipping to UNFI
Food distributors are third-party entities that act as middlemen between your brand and a retailer. Food distributors, like UNFI, purchase products from vendors to disperse them among their established retail connections.
Who they sell to varies by the distributor as some have strong, singular connections with retailers as reflected in the UNFI and Whole Foods relationship. Whole Foods almost solely relies on its distributor, UNFI, to introduce new brands into its product network.
Before a distributor can transport your product to a retailer, they must first get your product into their network. Simple enough. But how you choose to get your order from your supply chain into theirs can make a world of difference.
Shipping to Walgreens
Walgreens is the 8th largest worldwide retailer with 12 distribution centers across the United States and 9000+ stores serviced worldwide.
Shipping to Walmart
Walmart, often known for being the first mover in the world of retail compliance, announced a change to its supplier OTIF (on-time, in-full) requirements via its Retail Link platform in January 2024. Starting in 2020, 98% was the OTIF requirement. On February 1st, 2024, these requirements changed to90% for on-time and 95% for in-full metrics.
The consequences of not meeting OTIF standards go beyond fumbled revenue for not having product on the shelf. Walmart employs a minimum three percent fine of the cost of goods sold for all orders that arrive outside their OTIF program’s confines, and this adds up quick if a brand continually fails to deliver on time or in full.
About Zipline Logistics
Zipline Logistics is the only third-party logistics solutions provider in North America exclusively servicing the consumer-packaged goods sector. Our uniquely qualified carrier network, world-class team of retail transportation experts, and state-of-the-art shipper intelligence tools maximize client revenue and gross margin by eliminating out-of-stocks through optimized, on-time in-full performance. By focusing on retail-specialization, we have maintained a customer satisfaction score ranking 5 times the industry average throughout consecutive years of award-winning growth.
Zipline processes were built specifically to resolve the most critical logistics challenges faced by consumer goods brands shipping into retail. We tailor strategies to reduce overall transportation spend, optimize retail performance, and beat out the competition for shelf space. 97% of our orders end up on retailer’s shelves such as Walmart, Costco, UNFI and KeHE, and Sam’s Club.
Need help acing your retail deliveries?
Give us a call at 888-GOZIPLINE or click the button below to send us a message.
