For collectibles retailer Funko, order fulfillment depends on what consumers buy — and where they buy it from, said Josh Smiley, vice president and head of technology.

Funko handles fulfillment for many orders from funko.com through its warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona, Smiley told Digital Commerce 360 at the Salesforce Connections 2024 conference in Chicago. But when consumers buy a “Pop! Yourself” figure — a customizable figure made to look like an individual — fulfillment goes through a third-party logistics (3PL) provider’s warehouse in Mexico. Additionally, Funko orders made via Amazon.com go through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

And it doesn’t stop there. Funko is exploring more fulfillment options to prepare for holiday sales.

Funko prepares for holiday sales with fulfillment expansion

The retailer plans “to continue to lean into the Pop! Yourself” figures because they’re the retailer’s most giftable offering, Smiley told Digital Commerce 360.

“When you want to gift something to somebody, you want it to be personalized,” Smiley said.

Funko promotes its Pop! Yourself figures, which go through a third-party logistics provider for fulfillment, ahead of the holiday season.

And at the moment, Funko only ships with one carrier, UPS. But it plans to expand to ship with multiple carriers for the 2024 holiday shopping season, Smiley told Digital Commerce 360.

“That’s going to enable us to bump up our last-ship date,” he said. “Our cutoff date will be closer to the holidays, and we’ll offer expedited and things like that.”

Smiley declined to specify which additional carriers Funko will use for holiday fulfillment, but he said they are some of the largest carriers in the nation.

Funko saw “massive growth” in its direct-to-consumer sales last holiday season, Smiley stated. And he expects more growth this year. He estimates a quarter of Funko sales today are DTC.

“We were not necessarily a Q4 brand like many other retailers were because of our conventions,” Smiley explained. “Summer was always our biggest season. The holidays started to — maybe by and large because of Pop! Yourself — become a competitive time of the year compared to the conventions as well.”

Why does Funko use different fulfillment warehouses?

In the case of its Pop! Yourself figures, the main reason Funko doesn’t ship them from its Arizona factory is because the 3PL provider also handles the building component. Funko has to build each customized figure to order. On the other hand, Funko figures shipped out of the retailer’s warehouse in Arizona come assembled.

Smiley said the Funko’s Arizona warehouse is “just not set up” to handle the building in addition to the fulfillment.

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