Buy vs Build: Why Meds.com chose ShipWise over in-house tech

Background

Meds.com is a fast-growing digital pharmacy platform fulfilling high-volume prescriptions and healthcare products each month. As orders grew, maintaining internal shipping integration development became an engineering burden, diverting focus from patient care.

The Meds.com team needed a partner who could handle logistics at scale while empowering them to stay focused on their mission.

Challenges

1. Their custom-built carrier integrations required constant upkeep.
2. Each API update or routing rule change meant new dev cycles, slower operations, and recurring bottlenecks.
3. The team needed to simplify complexity without sacrificing control.

The Solution

Meds.com adopted ShipWise, an API-first, enterprise-grade shipping platform that automated fulfillment workflows, unified carrier integrations, and restored engineering focus to product innovation.

Together, Meds.com and ShipWise implemented a high-volume logistics stack designed for reliability, visibility, and speed - all without adding internal technical debt.

Results at a Glance

• ~44% increase in monthly shipments
• 50%+ reduction in carrier maintenance hours
• 50% faster onboarding for new carriers and rules
• Fewer support tickets related to shipping
• Scalable to 1M+ shipments per month

“ShipWise delivers both operational efficiency and peace of mind. It’s become a core part of our logistics infrastructure, enabling us to scale confidently while ensuring a seamless experience for our customers.”
— Jeremy, Meds.com

Why Buying Won

By choosing ShipWise over building in-house, Meds.com transformed shipping from a maintenance-heavy burden into a scalable advantage, freeing their team to focus on innovation and patient experience.