Retail Outsourcing: Pros, Cons & What to Outsource (2025)

Running a retail business means knowing a bit about—and doing a lot of—everything. But at some point, “master of all” becomes “master of none.” 

As the owner of a bustling business in the retail industry, it may be time for you to start delegating and outsourcing some of the tasks that are keeping you busy and away from growing your business. That’s where outsourcing, or offloading, some tasks on your to-do list to a third-party expert can be a good idea. 

In this guide, we’ll discuss a handful of tasks and projects that you can (and should) outsource in order to run your business more efficiently—and give yourself a break.

What is retail outsourcing?

Retail outsourcing is the process of hiring an external expert, agency, or business to provide goods or services, as opposed to hiring someone to do the work in-house.

Sure, you can always hire retail positions to handle some of your workload, and delegate more of your tasks to trusted employees. But entrepreneurs who run their business entirely by themselves—or aren’t yet able to afford full-time help—can outsource some of their more tedious or time-consuming jobs to contracted external helpers.

How to decide what to outsource

The first step in outsourcing is to figure out what tasks are the most important use of your time. What parts of your to-do list must be completed by you? As the boss, you’ll know best what tasks need your attention and which ones can be the responsibility of others.

Here’s a helpful framework to help you decide what to outsource in retail:

• Define core vs. non-core tasks. Core tasks should either be handled in-house or outsourced to a professional—whichever way they’ll best be completed. For example, filing your annual tax returns would be considered a core task. Many retailers outsource this to a professional CPA to make sure they’re accurate and identify any cost savings you might otherwise be unaware of.
• Evaluate cost vs. benefit. Outsourcing comes at a cost, especially if you’d otherwise handle the task yourself. Evaluate how much return you’d get from your investment to help justify your decision.
• Consider scalability. You might be able to handle a particular task now, but as your store grows and your attention becomes more scarce, is it still worth handling it yourself? Retail tasks such as order fulfillment tend to get bigger as your business grows. A third-party logistics partner has the infrastructure to cater to higher order volumes when you outgrow your store. 

Whatever you decide to outsource, it’s easy to take for granted how well you know the ins-and-outs of your retail business. Be sure to create handbooks and process documents to help external staff get acclimated to your business and needs.

Retail outsourcing examples

Here are a few outsourcing ideas to help you streamline your to-do list and stay focused on actually running your business.

Marketing

Marketing drives people to your store, but it’s an expensive and time consuming task to handle internally. Glassdoor estimates that the salary for a marketing specialist is just over $73,000 per year. Freelancers, consultants, or agencies can run the same campaigns without the fixed cost of a biweekly paycheck.

Examples of marketing tasks that retailers tend to outsource include:

• Email marketing. Specialist agencies can help segment your subscriber list and send targeted emails that drive them to make a purchase either in-store or online. The returns can prove fruitful: email marketing has an average return on investment (ROI) of $36 to $40 for every dollar spent. That should leave you in the red even after paying to outsource the task.
• Photography. Whether it’s static product images or diverse videos, you’ll need content to showcase your inventory and market on social media. Consider hiring a professional photographer or content creator to take this off your plate. 
• Content marketing. While content marketing can be an effective way to drive traffic, build thought leadership, and turn browsers into buyers, retailers often don’t have the time to dedicate to creating these kinds of assets. A retail outsourcing service, such as a seasoned freelancer or content marketer, can create blogs, infographics, white papers, and other assets quickly and effectively.

IT and web development

It’s doubtful that you got into retail because of your passion for fixing point-of-sale (POS) systems or managing the back end of an ecommerce website. However, IT and ecommerce are an undeniable part of running a successful, omnichannel retail business. 

Retailers often choose to handle IT themselves because it typically involves small upkeep here and there. But what about when something goes wrong, needs to be scaled, or needs a major update?

When something needs repair on your site, with your POS software or with your support center, everything grinds to a halt until it’s fixed. Broken IT equipment (even if you’re leasing the equipment) costs you time, money, and potentially customers. The peace of mind and security of outsourcing your IT and web development needs takes away that stress and means that your business can grow without the fear of running up against the confines of your capabilities.

Because your POS and ecommerce hosting systems are such an important and confidential part of your retail business, look to bring in someone trustworthy to help, such as a Shopify-approved web developer. Alternatively, ask your network for references, look for reviews, and be sure to do your due diligence with background checks, proper contracts, and nondisclosure agreements (if necessary) for anyone you bring in.

Supply chain management

Have you been handling inventory management and order fulfillment, and shipping your own orders? Self-fulfillment can quickly become overwhelming. You might find yourself spending more time packing boxes and printing labels than working on marketing, retail sales, and other important parts of your business. Not to mention all the space in your store or warehouse that you need to allocate for inventory and packing materials.

Outsourcing warehousing and fulfillment is an effective way to grow your ecommerce business without increasing the burden on you and your team. A good fulfillment partner will store your goods, quickly ship out orders as they come in, and even manage returns.

The benefits to your business extend beyond simply taking over the work. For example, Shopify Fulfillment Network, Shopify’s own third-party logistics service, offers two-day delivery across most of the US—a major factor in attracting new customers and getting them to come back. 

As a high-volume shipper, Shopify Fulfillment Network also gets preferred rates from major carriers like USPS and Canada Post. These are savings you can pass on to your customers by offering them cheaper or even free delivery to increase your sales. 

Shopify even manages the distribution of your inventory across our network of warehouses to ensure your goods are always close to your buyers. This further increases shipping speed while reducing costs. 

Administrative tasks

Outsourcing administrative tasks is a quick way for any retail business to free up resources and time. Virtual assistants are a huge help with all of your day-to-day office needs, and finding the right virtual assistant is fairly simple with marketplaces like Upwork or Freelancer.com. 

Depending on your needs, a VA can help with:

• Emails
• Light marketing work (deploying email or social media campaigns)
• Blog or website management
• HR
• Managing payroll

For help with hourly tasks, including handing out product samples as brand ambassadors and setting up and tearing down at conferences and events, check out online neighborhood boards like TaskRabbit.

Accounting

Accounting isn’t the most fun or rewarding aspect of retail operations, but it needs to be done correctly to avoid penalties and cash flow issues that disrupt your store. Freelance mid-tier accountants charge $71 per hour on average—a small price to pay if they wind up saving you more than their fee in tax deductions.

Accountants can spend this time helping you:

• File taxes
• Identify tax savings 
• Run payroll 
• Valuate inventory
• Improve cash flow 

If you have nexus in a particular state and are required to collect sales tax, it helps to find an accountant or bookkeeper that’s familiar with state law. How much you’ll collect, and when you’ll pay sales taxes, varies by state.

Event planning

Some 58% of consumers believe that immersive experiences—such as workshops, photo opportunities, and demonstrations—influence their purchase decisions. But event planning has lots of moving parts, especially if you’re considering a larger scale gathering.

Specialized service providers can help you with every aspect of planning, such as:

• Negotiating with suppliers (such as caterers)
• Sticking to your budget
• Preparing your store or venue
• Assigning responsibilities to your team
• Reporting on the event’s success

Security

Retail shrinkage has long caused problems for retailers. Studies estimate that global merchants lose around $112 billion per year in shrinkage, with reasons ranging from theft to administrative errors.

There are steps you can take to protect inventory in your store, like installing CCTV cameras or placing RFID scanners by the exit. Some retailers prefer to outsource this to a retail security guard or loss prevention specialist for complete peace of mind. They’re there to deal with any suspicion and conflict arising from theft concerns.

Cleaning

Cleanliness likely wasn’t something you realized took so long when opening a retail store. But it’s an important task. Cleanliness doesn’t just help you make a great first impression with customers—it can impact your inventory. Dirty shelving units could damage the products sitting on them, for example. 

If this is a task you’d rather have off your plate, consider hiring a cleaning service. The average hourly rate for a commercial cleaning service is $40, but just a few hours of housekeeping per week can keep your store in top condition—without having to use your salaried staff hours to do so. You’ve also got the freedom to book in a few extra cleaning hours after an in-store event. 

Consulting 

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of running a retail store and forget about the bigger picture. Consultants are specialists who’ve scaled businesses before, often with experience in the specific challenges you’re trying to solve. Asking for their help is a great way to learn from others’ mistakes instead of making your own.

Shopify Partners is an ecosystem of consultants and partners with deep expertise in the platform. Sportswear retailer Elite Eleven, for example, migrated to Shopify with the help of agency partner Arkhi. Its newfound ability to unify commerce into a single platform helped the brand experience 200% year-on-year growth in overall sales revenue, with a 240% boost in sales revenue from POS transactions alone.

Benefits of outsourcing in retail

Many retail businesses outsource tasks such as marketing, accounting, and fulfillment because it offers the following benefits:

• Cost savings. Outsourcing allows retailers to focus on core skills while reducing operational costs. It can help you save money on labor, overhead, and other costs associated with running a business.
• Increased efficiency. Working with external service providers can help you improve efficiency and productivity. An outsourcer can provide specialist skills and resources to complete tasks quickly and accurately.
• Access to expertise. Outsourcing can give you access to experts in their field who can offer specialized services or advice. This can help you make better decisions, increase your competitive advantage, and improve customer service.
• Flexibility. Use outsourcing to adjust their workforce or services according to the needs of your business. This can provide much-needed flexibility when the demand for services or products fluctuates.
• Risk management. Outsourcing can help you reduce their risk associated with changes in the market or technology. By outsourcing certain tasks, you can focus on core activities while avoiding unexpected costs.

Rely on outsourcing services to grow your retail business

Outsourcing is a great way for you to find the time and resources to focus on big-picture issues in your retail business, and hopefully also free up time for a healthy work-life balance. By hiring external experts as your outsourcing partner, you can get back to what you love best: growing your retail business.

What’s unique about Shopify is that all of your business operations are unified in a core operating stack. Whether you’re outsourcing fulfillment to a 3PL or working with an accountant to file taxes, all the data you need is centralized and available in a few clicks—no messy technical infrastructure required.