Seasonality Is More Than a Q4 Problem
Faith Artieda • September 11, 2026
When people talk about seasonality in ecommerce, the conversation almost always gravitates toward the holidays. Black Friday arrives, orders climb, warehouses get busier, and brands prepare for what is often considered the most demanding stretch of the year.
But not every brand follows the holiday calendar.
For a swimwear company, summer might be the busiest period of the year. An apparel brand could experience significant demand around a product launch or seasonal collection. Other businesses may see sharp increases tied to promotions, retailer orders, or events that have very little to do with November and December.
For Harrison Smith, Director of Commercial Revenue at Barrett Distribution Centers, understanding those patterns is an important part of understanding the business itself.
“When I work with brands, I wanna understand everything about the business,” Harrison explained.
Every Brand Has Its Own Rhythm
Harrison has spent about 20 years in the 3PL industry and has been with Barrett for roughly four and a half years. His role touches pricing, transportation, new business, and existing customer relationships, which means much of his work begins with understanding how a company actually operates.
That includes looking beyond annual order totals.
“I wanna understand everything about the business,” Harrison said. “It’s looking at yearly trends, looking at within the year, what does that look like? Do you have those peaks?”
Those peaks tell a story. A brand might look relatively consistent when viewed across an entire year, but a closer look could reveal several weeks when order volume changes dramatically. Understanding when those moments occur can influence when inventory needs to arrive and what the fulfillment operation needs to be prepared to handle.
As Harrison puts it, “When do you need to bring your inventory in to service that holiday peak, or is it a summer peak because you sell swimsuits or whatever it might be?”
The important part is not whether your peak happens during the holidays. It is whether you and your fulfillment partner understand when it happens and what it means for your business.
Better Data Creates a Clearer Picture
Seasonality is also one of the reasons Barrett asks brands for detailed information during the pricing and solutions process.
Order history, inventory patterns, volume changes, and previous peaks help paint a much clearer picture than an annual average ever could. The more complete that picture becomes, the easier it is to understand what supporting the brand will actually require.
“The better the data, the better our pricing,” Harrison explained.
When information is incomplete, assumptions have to fill the gaps. Harrison notes that those assumptions naturally tend to be conservative because a 3PL has to prepare for what the operation might require. Better information allows the conversation to become much more specific to the business in front of you.
That is why understanding your own seasonality matters before you ever reach the busiest week of your year.
Plan Around Your Peak, Not Everyone Else’s
Peak season should not be defined by the calendar. It should be defined by your customers.
For some brands, that means preparing for the holidays. For others, the most important months could arrive much earlier. What matters is recognizing those patterns early enough to prepare inventory and have meaningful conversations with the people responsible for fulfilling your orders.
At Barrett, that starts with curiosity about the individual business rather than assuming every customer behaves the same way.
Because your busiest season does not have to be Q4 to deserve a plan.
Whenever your customers are ready to buy, your fulfillment operation should be ready for them.
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Before joining Barrett Distribution Centers, Bryan spent years as an entrepreneur running businesses that managed their own warehousing and fulfillment. He remembers unloading trucks with pallet jacks, operating his own warehouse, managing picking, and building fulfillment processes firsthand. After roughly 15 years as an entrepreneur, he moved into contract logistics, eventually joining Barrett, where he now works across sales and marketing. At the time of the conversation, Bryan had been with Barrett for about four and a half years. That operating background influences the way he approaches sales today. He knows that the person presenting the solution is only one piece of a much larger relationship. “You want to meet a good set of experts from every team because this is your supply chain. This is your company,” Bryan explained. And when you think about what a brand is actually handing over to a 3PL, that point becomes difficult to ignore. Get Beyond the Sales Conversation There is nothing wrong with having a great salesperson. That person can become an important advocate for your business and a valuable part of the relationship. But the salesperson will not be the only person responsible for delivering what was promised. Bryan is a salesperson himself, and he is remarkably straightforward about that reality. “I’m a salesperson,” he said. “So I need to know I can’t just say because I know operations.” His approach is to bring other Barrett experts into the conversation so prospective customers can hear directly from the people who understand different parts of the business. When asked about potential red flags brands should watch for when selecting a fulfillment provider, one of the first things Bryan mentioned was “not being encouraged to broadly meet larger teams besides the sales guy.” That is an important distinction because a polished sales presentation can tell you what a company is capable of doing. 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Find out who will answer the phone when something unexpected happens and whether the people in the building understand what your products represent to your business. Because once the sales process is over, those are the people who will help turn the promises in the proposal into your customer's everyday experience.
FRANKLIN, Mass., July 29, 2026 — Barrett Distribution Centers, a trusted third-party logistics (3PL) provider specializing in omnichannel fulfillment, announced a new partnership with Kindthread , a leading healthcare apparel company known for its portfolio of trusted medical scrub and workwear brands. "Finding the right fulfillment partner was one of the most important decisions we had to make," said Jamie Bailey , senior director of logistics at Kindthread. "From our first conversations, Barrett showed they understood our business and the complexity of supporting both wholesale and direct-to-consumer fulfillment. Their team was responsive, easy to work with and focused on finding solutions every step of the way. That gave us confidence we had the right partner for this transition." Kindthread selected Barrett to rapidly transition its B2B, retail, and direct-to-consumer fulfillment operations from Mexico to the U.S. following changes to Section 321 de minimis regulations. Leveraging its Olive Branch, Tennessee campus and a fast-track implementation approach, Barrett onboarded more than 100 truckloads of inventory and launched custom embroidery services to support personalized orders. "Kindthread has an aggressive growth strategy that aligns extremely well with Barrett's capabilities and long-term vision," said Scott Wilkins , vice president of customer solutions. "Given the short implementation window, establishing trust and maintaining clear communication from the very beginning was critical. Both organizations worked tirelessly to meet key milestones while minimizing disruption to Kindthread's customers. We sincerely appreciate the confidence Kindthread placed in Barrett and look forward to building a successful partnership for many years to come." The partnership positions Kindthread for continued growth while providing the operational flexibility needed to support evolving customer demand across multiple sales channels. About Kindthread At Kindthread, we don’t just make scrubs; we make your new favorite uniform. Every stitch, seam, and pocket has a job to do, and they take it seriously. From fabrics that move with you to thoughtful features that make those long shifts feel a little lighter, we’ve got your back (and front). Carefully crafted for the folks who give their all to care for others, blending innovative design, durability, and comfort into pieces that won't let you down. About Barrett Distribution Centers Since 1941, Barrett has provided customized third-party logistics (3PL), direct-to-consumer (DTC) eCommerce fulfillment, omnichannel distribution, managed transportation solutions and retail compliance for clients across all industries, with a focus on apparel & footwear, health & beauty, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and education. Barrett continues to be a leading 3rd party logistics provider in North America, known for superior execution, customer engagement and direct access to senior leadership decision makers. As a member of Inc's fastest growing companies list 15+ times, Barrett is big enough to do the job and still small enough to deeply care about your business. Brands interested in a new 3PL partnership may contact Barrett directly here . Media Contact: Faith Artieda Marketing Content Specialist faith.artieda@barrettdistribution.com
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Will they take the time to understand how you want your products handled and presented? Can they adapt when an unexpected retailer order, promotion, or surge in demand changes the plan? Will you have experienced people to turn to when something unfamiliar happens? Are they thinking about the customer receiving the order, not simply the package leaving the building? These questions shift the conversation away from what a 3PL owns and toward what it can actually contribute to the business. What Happens When the Business Changes? The fulfillment arrangement that works today may not be the one your brand needs several years from now. Perhaps you are primarily selling through your own website today, but retail is becoming part of the conversation. Maybe marketplaces are growing quickly. A product could take off unexpectedly, or a retailer could place an order much larger than anything your team has handled before. 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