The Range, wilko and Homebase renew THG fulfilment deal as online ranges grow

CDS Superstores, the business behind The Range, wilko and Homebase, has agreed a multi-year extension of its fulfilment and courier-management partnership with THG Fulfil. The renewal was announced on 27 October and continues a relationship that began in 2024.

In its announcement, THG linked the agreement to CDS's online expansion, including improved product discovery at wilko and development of The Range's marketplace. It said 95% of units sold pass through some form of automation during fulfilment, including goods-to-person robots. That describes exposure to automation somewhere in the journey, not a claim that 95% of the entire operation runs without people.

For suppliers, the wider issue is what happens when a retailer's online assortment grows faster than its physical store range. More listings can mean more opportunity, but each selling route has its own stock and delivery arrangements.

Find out which route your products will take

A listing on a retailer's website can sit behind several different commercial models. The retailer might purchase stock and hold it centrally. A marketplace seller might retain ownership and dispatch independently. Another arrangement might use a fulfilment partner to store and ship seller-owned goods.

The THG announcement does not establish a single route for every supplier or marketplace listing. A prospective supplier should therefore ask who is buying the stock, where it will be held, who will ship each customer order and who will handle returns. Those answers determine the quotation, the paperwork and the operational workload.

For example, supplying full cases to one distribution centre is different from sending individual orders to hundreds of homes. The product may be identical, but packaging, order processing and customer-service costs can be quite different.

Automation starts with what the supplier sends

An automated warehouse still needs to recognise and handle the incoming product. Before the first delivery, a supplier should obtain the relevant receiving specification: product identifiers, case quantities, carton dimensions, labelling, pallet configuration and booking requirements.

This is ordinary account onboarding, not a task to leave until a vehicle is waiting at the gate. The buyer approves the range, the supplier's operations team checks the delivery requirements, and both sides resolve any mismatch before stock is dispatched.

A change of packaging can also matter. A replacement carton that seems harmless at the factory may alter handling or storage. Give the customer advance notice and confirm whether product data or labelling needs updating. Avoid treating an unchanged product name as proof that nothing in the supply process has changed.

Measure the complete order experience

For a business considering its own fulfilment partner, the renewal is a reminder to assess the whole order journey. Picking speed alone is an incomplete measure. Stock must be received correctly, made available for sale, packed appropriately, passed to the right carrier and reconciled if it comes back.

A useful review follows a handful of representative orders through those stages. Include a straightforward parcel, a multi-item order, an awkward product and a return. Ask where information is recorded, who owns exceptions and how the customer is updated when something fails.

That exercise can reveal a gap that a warehouse tour misses. Fast picking is little comfort if inbound stock waits days to become available, or if returned goods sit unresolved while the seller buys replacements.

The CDS agreement is a specific commercial renewal, not evidence that every retailer needs the same technology. Its relevance to wholesalers is more practical: when online ranges expand, the promises made on a product page need receiving capacity, accurate stock records and a workable delivery process behind them. Suppliers that understand those requirements can quote more accurately and begin the relationship with fewer avoidable surprises.

Related guidance: comparing fulfilment quotations.

AI-generated editorial illustration, not the named company's facilities or products.