Logistics is arguably the most important aspect of a beauty brand’s business. After all, what’s more important than getting your products in the hands of customers? “It’s essential to get delivery right because your customer will remember it if it’s wrong,” stresses Rachel Whittaker, founder of Indie Beauty Delivers. “It defines whether the customer will come back and recommend you.” But shipping and fulfillment aren’t usually the strengths of beauty brands, often forcing them to depend on third-party logistics providers to send their precious goods to stores and shoppers. “People don’t realize that product fulfillment and shipping is a different niche and industry than beauty. If you are trying to do it all yourself, you are taking on two industries,” says Nancy Henger, founder and CEO of Brilliant Fulfillment. For brands not trying to do it themselves, Beauty Independent picked and unpacked the brains of logistics professionals and brand founders for an overview of the process to find the right partners to store and send your merchandise.