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Convert owned fulfillment capacity into revenue by charging adjacent brands a per-package fee to share your last-mile delivery routes.
$50 million annualized run rate
in Q2 2026
$45 million
in Q1
300,000 packages annually
through last-mile delivery partnerships
300,000-package target
signals the model scales beyond A-Premium's own SKU base
CarParts.com reported its A-Premium private label reached a $50 million annualized run rate in Q2 2026, up from $45 million in Q1, according to Seeking Alpha. The company stated it now targets 300,000 packages annually through last-mile delivery partnerships, converting its own fulfillment infrastructure into a contracted service for other brands.
The play: CarParts.com built warehouse and last-mile capacity to serve its own direct-to-consumer orders, then opened that capacity to competitors and adjacent brands that lack final-mile networks. A-Premium products move through the same trucks and routes that already serve CarParts.com customers, filling unused delivery slots and absorbing fixed logistics costs. The company charges partners for both product and delivery, treating distribution as a standalone margin line.
This works because last-mile logistics in automotive parts is expensive and fragmented. Most small to mid-sized parts brands ship via third-party carriers, paying retail rates and losing control over delivery speed. CarParts.com already negotiated volume rates, owns routing software, and trained drivers on bulky-item handling. By sharing that infrastructure, the company turns a cost center into a revenue asset while partners gain predictable delivery at lower per-unit economics than they could negotiate alone.
The 300,000-package target signals the model scales beyond A-Premium's own SKU base. CarParts.com is not simply shipping more of its own inventory; it is becoming a logistics provider that happens to sell parts. The quarter-over-quarter revenue step—$5 million annualized in three months—indicates the partnership pipeline is active and converting.
A small physical-product brand with its own fulfillment can replicate this in miniature. If you ship 200 orders per month from a shared warehouse or 3PL, approach brands in adjacent categories that serve the same customer but lack your delivery density. Offer to include their SKUs in your outbound shipments for a flat per-package fee that covers marginal handling and one extra stop. Start with a single partner, one SKU, and a $3-5 per package charge. Run the pilot for 90 days, measure incremental revenue against added labor, and expand if margin holds.
For brands without owned logistics, the path is partnership from the buyer side. Identify a larger brand in your category that already ships at volume to your target geography. Propose a test: you supply packaged, labeled units to their warehouse, they add your SKU to existing delivery routes, and you pay a per-package fee plus a small revenue share. You gain last-mile speed without building infrastructure; they gain margin on capacity they already paid for. Document delivery performance and customer feedback, then scale by ZIP code.
The mechanism is not unique to automotive parts. Any category with dense, repeat delivery—pet supplies, grocery staples, industrial consumables—can convert logistics capacity into a revenue line if the brand controls routing and has unfilled truck space. The constraint is trust: partners must believe you will not compete directly on their core SKUs and that you can deliver without damaging their brand. Contracts should specify product categories, delivery SLAs, and customer-facing branding to prevent overlap and reputational risk.
CarParts.com's $5 million quarterly step-up indicates it is signing multiple partners or expanding package volume with existing ones. The model compounds because each new partner increases delivery density, which lowers per-package cost, which makes the offer more attractive to the next partner. The question for a physical-product marketer is whether your current fulfillment operation has enough unused capacity to justify the partnership overhead and whether you can price the service to cover incremental labor without undercutting retail carriers.
The next move is testing adjacency. If you ship consumer electronics, approach brands in smart home accessories. If you ship apparel, approach brands in small leather goods. The delivery vehicle and route are the same; only the SKU changes. Start with one partner, one product, one market, and measure whether the margin justifies the complexity.
Test with one adjacent brand and one SKU—charge $3-5 per package to add their units to your existing delivery route for 90 days.
For the operator
Identify unfilled delivery capacity in your current logistics network and propose partnership terms to three adjacent brands that lack your route density.
For the house
Source from brands that offer contracted last-mile delivery as a service—negotiate volume rates and SLA guarantees before committing to multi-quarter orders.
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200+authorized brands
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1997one house, since
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