Choosing a single warehouse site is a weighting problem: where customers are, which carrier networks serve the site, and what local labour costs. The centre-of-gravity method offers a starting point but can mislead when roads and hubs matter more than distance. Commit once the top two options are close, since further analysis rarely changes the answer.
A brand with customers in every region faces an awkward question: where should the stock live? No site is perfect, only the one that is least bad for the orders you actually receive. The method matters more than the map.
How Do You Weight a Customer Map Against Carrier Networks?
Start with your last twelve months of orders. Group them by postcode area or country, and count orders and revenue for each. That gives you a picture of where demand is, which is often different from where you assume it is.
Then overlay the carriers. A site close to a major carrier hub gets later collection times and faster onward delivery than one the same distance away on a quiet road. Sellers who want a Gonini end-to-end eCommerce fulfilment service or any comparable provider should ask which hubs and collection times apply at each candidate site, because those details set the real delivery promise.
Score each candidate site on three things: average delivery time to your order-weighted customer base, carrier cut-off time, and cost per parcel to your top ten destinations. A simple weighted score, with weights that reflect what your customers value, is enough to rank the options.
Where Does the Centre-of-Gravity Method Mislead?
The method places the site at the average position of your demand, weighted by order volume. It is a good first cut and a quick way to rule out poor regions.
It can be misleading because it assumes straight-line distance matters. In practice, motorways, ports, and sorting hubs decide travel time. A site at the exact centre of demand may sit in a place with poor road links, while one slightly off-centre on a major corridor performs better.
It also ignores unevenness. A few high-volume customers can pull the centre toward them, and a seasonal spike in one region can distort a yearly average. Run the calculation for different periods and check how stable the answer is.
Why Is Labour Availability and Cost Overlooked?
Warehouses run on people. A site with cheap rent but a small labour pool can lead to high turnover, agency premiums, and errors from untrained staff. Peak season makes this worse, since every operator in the area competes for the same temporary workers.
Check local unemployment, wage levels, and the number of other large warehouses nearby. Ask providers how they staff peaks and what their staff retention looks like. A slightly more expensive area with a stable workforce is often cheaper in practice.
When Should You Stop Optimising and Commit?
When the top two options are within a few per cent of each other on your weighted score. Beyond that point, extra analysis costs more than the difference it finds, and the real risk lies in delay.
Test the choice cheaply before locking in: a short pilot with your fastest sellers, or a trial period with a provider, shows how the site performs on real orders. Set a review date at six months, and be willing to add a second site later if one region grows.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a single warehouse location?
Map your orders by area, score candidate sites on delivery time, carrier cut-off, and parcel cost, and pick the best weighted result.
What is the centre-of-gravity method?
It places a site at the demand-weighted average position of your customers, as a first estimate.
Why does road access matter more than distance?
Motorways, ports, and carrier hubs set real travel time, so a well-connected site beats a closer but isolated one.
How important is local labour?
Very. Thin labour pools raise turnover and peak-season costs.
When should I stop comparing sites?
When the top two are within a few per cent on your weighted score.