May 10, 2021 | Blog, Case Study
eCommerce companies must forge very unique paths to succeed in the highly competitive space of online sales. Individualized strategies are developed, custom skill sets are built, or in the case of Big Sky Fulfillment, you can take the blanket approach.
Patrick Claytor is the CEO of Big Sky Fulfillment, a third-party logistics (3PL) company located in the most scenic corner of Missoula, Montana (pictured above) and Charlotte, North Carolina, specializing in eCommerce fulfillment and subscription boxes of all types.
Well, that’s not a blanket approach. Explain your clickbait title now or I’m reporting you to Reddit.
Before BSF, Patrick Claytor mastered the ins-and-outs of subscription box fulfillment through the success of his own DTC subscription box service, Quilty Box — the monthly kit that offers everything to inspire the quilter and educate the beginner… so I guess you could call it the “quilt approach”, instead. (And Claytor warns us to never call a quilt a blanket… and we trust him.)
>>”Since switching to ShipHero, it has been night and day in terms of keeping track of orders and inventory. The picking system is streamlined and has saved us time in both processing orders and also decreasing our error rate significantly.” — Patrick Claytor, CEO of Big Sky Fulfillment.
Without the right software, picking, packing and shipping subscription boxes at scale is no easy task. Once Claytor and Quilty Box mastered the art of bundling, it wasn’t long before Big Sky Fulfillment came to offer expert subscription box fulfillment services for more and more e-commerce brands. As their orders grew, that’s when BSF partnered with ShipHero to provide warehouse management software that could keep them covered.
Since Big Sky Fulfillment is a significant customer of ShipHero WMS, we had to get all bundled up with Patrick Claytor and hear his story.
Patrick Claytor, thanks for speaking with us! We’re huge fans of Quilty Box.
Patrick Claytor: “Oh, great! You’re a quilter?”
Oh, quite often I quietly query Quilty kits for quite the quality quilts. Please introduce yourself and describe your businesses!
“I’m Patrick Claytor, the founder of Big Sky Fulfillment. Big Sky Fulfillment grew out of my ownership in Quilty Box, a subscription box for quilters. I had been packing subscription orders in my house as a night and weekends thing. Then outsourced fulfillment when our order volume increased.
The fulfillment company made a lot of mistakes so, naturally, I quit my day job-
Naturally…
“-rented a warehouse and started fulfilling our orders again. That led to fulfilling orders for others and thus Big Sky Fulfillment was born. We specialize in food and beverage companies, subscription box companies, and companies which require kitting, wholesale, or other added services.
Quilty Box was sold in 2019 to another company in the quilting industry, and now we focus on Big Sky Fulfillment and helping other brands scale.”
What was your fulfillment model before switching to ShipHero?
“Before ShipHero, we utilized a few different shipping platforms. We had no client portal, so our clients had no visibility into their inventory or orders. We also didn’t have an inventory management system. We had a basic bin nomenclature and all employees had to be knowledgeable of all our client’s products.”
Why did you choose ShipHero?
“As we grew and brought on more clients, it became very apparent we needed a more robust system which could handle inventory, automations, client portals, and billing. We chose ShipHero because of their ability to meet all of our pain points.
We had looked at ShipHero about a year before actually needing a system. When we did a second demo, it was apparent how far along the software had come. Since then they have continued to add and improve features. We’ve been very pleased with the growth and depth of the system.”
What was the experience like integrating with ShipHero?
“ShipHero took time to walk us through all aspects of their software. Since the initial set up, we have grown and added pack stations and our second location.
Through this growth, ShipHero has been easy to modify to meet our needs. Not to mention, most of our clients have been pleased with the onboarding process. When we onboard a new client, the integration is very quick. It takes about 15-30 minutes to set up a new client portal and connect their shopping carts..
What advantages have you seen since switching to ShipHero?
“Since switching to ShipHero it has been night and day in terms of keeping track of orders and inventory. The picking system is streamlined and has saved us time in both processing orders but also decreasing our error rate significantly.”
How was your business and specifically your business’s fulfillment logistics impacted by COVID-19?
“Our business has had positive and negative impacts from COVID-19. Orders and client counts are much higher and we opened a second facility to better serve our clients. We have also experienced the need to split shifts of employees, distance the pack stations from each other, and implement a more detailed cleaning routine. At the end of the day all of these changes have served to create a more robust and resilient company.”
Follow Patrick Claytor and Big Sky Fulfillment social media and check out their websites below.
https://bigskyfulfillment.com/
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If you would like to share with us stories about your ecommerce experiences, whether it’s how you started your business, what opinions you have on the stories we share, or if you just feel like venting… we’re here for you.
Shoot us an email and you could be featured on an upcoming Case Study, our critically-acclaimed weekly news segment The Packet, or if you’re lucky, you could be invited to join one of our many Podcast episodes!
May 11, 2021 | Blog
It’s official, Harry and Megan have left– what? Oh, the other Brexit? Okay, take 2.
It’s official, as of January 1, 2021, e-commerce businesses that ship products to and from the United Kingdom must comply with a slew of new regulations, customs requirements and duties.
Failure to comply could land you with royal consequences like products blocked at customs, surprise fees and fines, and frustrated customers that never got their product or paid unexpected customs fees.
If you can wait until July 1, 2021, they’re changing the trade rules to make it easier for e-commerce businesses to comply with the customs rules.
In this article, we’ll dive into Brexit’s overall effect on your business operations, and the 4 things you need to know when shipping to and from the UK. Also, be sure to check out the Brexit Checker for a personalized checklist.
The Brexit Effect on eCommerce
Want the good news or the bad news? Let’s start with the good news:
Increase in UK Exports
Experts predict that, like Boris Johnson on a diet, the British £ will drop, causing products from the UK to become more affordable for international consumers, and thereby increase exports of British goods. Okay, to the bad news…
Slower Delivery Times
Supply chains are expected to struggle during the transition period, as all relevant parties adjust to new protocols and custom clearances. This is expected to cause significantly slower delivery times and increased product loss/damage in transit, because the more hands involved, the more likelihood for human error. And finally, le pièce de résistance…
Increased Shipping Costs
When shipping into or out of the UK, additional tariffs on goods will either eat into your margins, cost your customers, or a bit of both. Not to mention, because the customs landscape is complex and varies by state, giving your customers clear custom fees is hardly possible, until July 1, 2021. As a silver lining, customs duties could encourage more local consumerism in the UK.
Complying with Post-Brexit Trade Rules
Here are the four logistics-related tasks to consider on your journey towards compliance with UK’s new trade rules:
- Register VAT / manage inventory
- Prepare for customs
- Handle shipping costs
- Update policies
Register VAT / Manage Inventory
A VAT number is a value-added tax identification number, and you need one to conduct business in the EU and the UK. The only way to get a VAT number is to register with a country’s tax authority.
UK sellers need to register with each country in which they sell. On July 1, 2021, this requirement goes away with the one-stop-shop rules. Due to the added complexity and increased tariffs, some UK sellers are finding it financially beneficial to move a portion of their inventory to EU warehouses.
EU, US and other country sellers that ship orders to the UK below ￡135 need to register their business for a VAT with HM Revenue and Customs. Similarly to UK sellers storing inventory abroad, international sellers that conduct a large portion of business in the UK should consider moving inventory to UK warehouses to avoid tariffs and fees.w
Be sure to contact your country’s tax authority or a local tax professional to understand how VAT rules impact your business.
Prepare for Customs
Regardless of where your company is based, clearing customs in the EU requires an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, which uniquely identifies an exporter for customs.
Now, you need an additional UK EORI — register for your UK EORI with HM Revenue and Customs. Customs declarations could include the following information:
- EORI number.
- VAT amount
- VAT registration ID
- Harmonized code, country of origin, description of contents, and total value of products/parcel
Handle Shipping Costs
Additional tariffs will be implemented between the UK and EU, and there are two choices when deciding who pays the bill.
Delivered at Place (DAP): The customer pays any import costs, the seller is only responsible for shipping the product.
Delivered Duty Paid (DDP): The seller pays any and all import costs.
When making this decision, consider your margins and what your competition offers. You can consider building it into the product price, or even discounting the import cost on orders above a certain threshold (e.g., free shipping/import fees on orders over $50!)
In the case of product returns, customs and taxes can be refunded but asking for a refund from custom agencies is complex, so consider that when moving to the final step below.
Update Policies
When you have made your shipping decisions, be sure to update your shipping policy and your returns policy to set customer expectations.
Shipping Policy
Make it very transparent whether your business or the customer is responsible for paying applicable customs fees and import taxes. If you pay (DDP), you can advertise the coverage as a competitive advantage; conversely if the customer pays (DAP), the customer will not be upset when unexpected fees are assessed after checkout.
Return Policy
If your customer pays the cost of any duties and taxes, clarify whether the collected import taxes and duties can be refunded in the case of a product return. While it is possible to get a refund, you’ll have to go through shipping carriers who paid the custom agencies directly. Headaches ensue.
Wrap It Up
Navigating global e-commerce is tough, and Brexit has thrown yet another wrench into the machine. But as an entrepreneur, you’re used to solving problems by now, either on your own or leveraging your network. That’s where a trusted partner in global logistics and order fulfillment should come into play. Find someone with experience in navigating the increasingly complex global logistics landscape to get set up for success.
May 13, 2021 | Best Practices, Blog, Warehouse Management Software
A dollar now is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. That’s the underlying principle behind some of our greatest financial instruments, such as interest rates, credit, loans, and even insurance.
Today, we see companies that allow customers to “buy now, pay later” are experiencing increased online sales and reduced cat abandonments by offering more flexible payment options. Customers are also more likely to purchase high priced items when they can split up the payments and pay them off over time.
You may have seen it through Amazon checkout, Paypal or Apple Pay, where you can select to pay an amount over the course of 4 payments (i.e., the Pay in 4) with no interest payment. This allows you to work solely with your trusted payment provider instead of opening a line of credit with a company.
But what is the Buy Now, Pay Later payment method? Should your business offer this? Let’s dive in.
What is Buy Now, Pay Later?
Finance technology has reimagined the concept of layaway — putting something on layaway means a retailer would let a customer pay in installments, and finally take home the item when the debt was paid in full. Now, customers can receive the product while they pay off their interest-free loan using the “Buy Now, Pay Later” payment method.
Yes it is still a loan, but consider it a micro-loan where companies like PayPal vouch for you to pay the installments in exchange for a small transaction fee to the merchant. The two types of Buy Now, Pay Later loans are:
Merchant Transaction Fee Loan
This point-of-sale loan charges the merchant a transaction fee, and offers the customer a loan at no interest. Examples include payment methods offered by Klarna, Splitit or AfterPay.
Is this for my business? This type of loan is typically offered by larger merchants whose margins can absorb the transaction fee for the sake of vastly decreasing cart abandonments and increasing order volumes.
Shopper Interest Loan
Conversely, this point-of-sale loan is offered to a customer by a third-party with a contractual down payment and interest rate, whereas the merchant pays no fee. The customer can receive the item immediately, but must pay installments plus interest.
Is this for my business? This type of loan is typically offered by retailers with higher value items. Because potential loss is more detrimental to a business with high value items, loan companies charge customers an interest rate for the increased risk.
Customer Benefits of Buy Now, Pay Later
The customer benefits for offering Pay Later services include:
Increased Sales and Order Volume With Buy Now, Pay Later
Customers are more likely to purchase items when the payments are spread out over time. With tight budgets, customers would still be able to purchase an item even if they don’t have the money at the time of purchase, as long as they are confident that they will be able to pay the bill over the course of the month.
Given some countries reliance on credit (e.g., United States), a customer would be especially more likely to purchase higher priced items when the payments are split into reduced sums.
Not to mention, if you are the first of your competition to offer Buy Now, Pay Later services, this could become a competitive advantage and attract more customers to your brand.
Decrease Cart Abandonments by 6%
According to recent studies, 6% of cart abandonments are caused by a lack of payment options. If your website has high traffic volume, this could spell thousands of dollars in lost revenue. In today’s realm of e-commerce, your shopper journey must have every consideration in mind. Offering more flexible payment options allows you to stay competitive.
This also simplifies the checkout process, because customers don’t have to enter their card details or billing information; instead, they just need to log in with their payment provider (e.g., PayPal, Klarna, etc.). By logging into a payment provider, customers may also feel more secure about not having to share their personal data with the company.
Improve Return Experience and Build Trust
Buy Now Pay Later fits seamlessly into your product return experience. While many customers are not able to sample or try products, they can now take your products for a test drive without committing financially. This simplifies back-end accounting and budgeting.
How to offer Buy Now, Pay Later
You can affiliate with an app that offers “buy now, pay later” services, like the free Klarna application that offers Pay in 4 options, partners with global retailers, and offers reward programs for users.
You can also integrate your checkout process with a Buy Now, Pay Later service. According to G2, the top Buy Now, Pay Later services are:
- FuturePay: FuturePay is a payment option that lets your customers buy now and pay later – without a credit card.
- PayPal: With PayPal credit card processing (Payments Standard, Payments Pro, or PayFlow) you can accept all major payment types from your customers right on your site. Simple checkout buttons or fully customized online checkouts enable scalable solutions for businesses of any size.
- GoCardless: GoCardless is an online payment tool that makes collecting by Direct Debit easy for everyone from individuals to large corporations at 1% fee per transaction.
Wrap It Up
The Buy Now, Pay Later payment method gives customers flexibility, and allows merchants to offset risks and protect themselves from loss in the process. The Buy Now, Pay Later method increases customers’ likelihood of purchasing items, especially those of higher value. If your competition is already using this option, it may be a good time to look into it for your business.
May 14, 2021 | Blog, Case Study
Like they teach in all MBA programs, sales and marketing is a lot like a beer bong. You need to have a large funnel to catch the liquid wherever it’s poured, you need to have a strong and sturdy pipeline that guides the beer to the final destination, and you need a way to properly and safely consume the beer.
No, this isn’t a frat guy’s dissertation; this is the story of how our customer Kong Beer Bong developed a strong product, sales pipeline and supply chain to grow a successful company using ShipHero WMS.
“We were able to save about $60-70k a year by being able to shop carriers other than USPS.”
— Chase Snowden, Head of Marketing and Sales, Kong Beer Bong.
Kong Beer Bong was invented in 2017 by its two founders, Tristan McIntire and Hunter Souders, two college students at The Ohio State University. The pair spent a year of their collegiate journey developing, designing and testing a prototype for the prodigal beer bong, a device so perfect for drinking beer that Sam Adams himself would blush. Not long after, Chase Snowden joined the team in 2019.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the website and first shipment of Kong Beer Bong launched in late 2020, and the incredible team landed $3M in sales in under one year. Like all great businesses, they knew it was time to scale their logistics to keep up with the growing demand, and that’s when they turned to ShipHero.
We sat down with Chase Snowden to hear more about their journey, and learn how they used ShipHero WMS to drastically reduce their shipping costs.
Chase, please provide a brief description of yourself and your business
Chase Snowden: “The Kong was invented back in 2017 by the two founders, Tristan and Hunter, while they were in college. The two of them spent the next year designing and prototyping the idea, and were finally able to bring it to life in 2019.
“I met Tristan in 2019, when we were both discovering the drop shipping business model, figuring out how to sell things online, and building an eCommerce business. We had some luck early on, building a website in the “baby” niche that sold a beanbag chair designed to help babies learn to sit up and gain core strength.
“During this time, Tristan found an investor that wanted to put some money behind Kong, which gave us the foundation to pursue growing that product and brand. We launched a Kickstarter in late 2019 so that we could raise some additional capital for the first production run of 3000 units.
“After this successful KS, the first shipment of Kong Beer Bongs landed in February of 2020, and we subsequently launched kongbeerbong.com. Immediately, the results from our FB ads and Instagram shoutouts were amazing, which all lead to us achieving $3M in sales in the first 12 months.”
Sheeeeeeeeeesh. So, what was your fulfillment model before switching to ShipHero?
“Before switching to ShipHero, we used a website called Pirateship.com to process all of the orders. Being a brand with a core hero product and some accessories allowed us to process orders relatively fast because we could buy labels in Bulk and process thousands of orders at once.”
And what was the moment you knew it was time for a switch?
“We wanted to transition to DHL eCommerce and away from USPS. Pirateship only supports purchasing USPS rates, and it also won’t integrate with Amazon, one of our most recent sales channels.
“We also absolutely needed a bulk processing feature. Almost every platform only allows shippers to process orders First In First Out, and it will only let the user try to group orders together by writing different filters based on SKU and quantity of SKU.
“Grouping orders together was something that Pirateship did automatically, so that was the main feature we were looking for when transitioning.”
Why did you choose ShipHero?
“Bulk Ship – period. Not to mention, integration was super easy and painless. A few calls with Mike and the onboarding team and we were set up to start printing labels.”
What advantages have you seen since switching to ShipHero?
“We were able to save about $60-70k a year by being able to shop carriers other than USPS.”
Follow Chase, Tristan, Hunter, and Kong Beer Bong on social media and check out their websites below.
https://kongbeerbong.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KongBeerBong/
Want to be featured in our case study?
If you would like to share with us stories about your eCommerce experiences, whether it’s how you started your business, what opinions you have on the stories we share, or if you just feel like venting… we’re here for you.
Shoot us an email and you could be featured on an upcoming Case Study, our critically-acclaimed weekly news segment The Packet, or if you’re lucky, you could be invited to join one of our many Podcast episodes!
May 17, 2021 | Blog, The Packet
Front and Center
Gasoline Pipeline Hack
Good news, gasoline is once again flowing through the Colonial Pipeline. The most recent victim of a ransomware cyber-attack that locked their systems and caused gasoline to stop flowing, Colonial Pipeline Co. was pressured to cough up nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency to hacker group, DarkSide (believed to be based in Eastern Europe, tho it could’ve been Al Gore).
Although at first publicly declaring that they would not pay, the company caved after a few hours, when faced with potential mass shortages of gasoline and jet fuel for major cities along the East Coast of the United States.
What do gasoline pipelines do anyway?
Pipelines transfer crude oil to refineries, so that they can turn them into gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, propane, and more types of oil-based products. Pipelines are also used to transfer gasoline from refineries to major cities. The Colonial Pipeline, in particular, transports gasoline directly to dozens of giant tanks across the Southeast. From there, smaller fuel trucks haul up to 8,000 gallons to individual gas stations.
What’s the damage?
At the time of writing, 74 percent of North Carolina gas stations do not have a fuel supply, and there are shortages in southern Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee. There is not a shortage of gasoline; rather, refineries are unable to get gasoline to North Carolina and these areas. Due to this, the average gas prices have topped $3 for the first time since October 2014. This has also caused mass panic-buying, long lines, shortages, and worst of all, so many dad jokes about “their gas pipelines being wide open????”.
Back of the Packet
Supply Chain Outages
CNN has put together a list of product shortages that are plaguing the global economy. From ketchup packets to chlorine, you can find the list here
FedEx E-Commerce Learning Lab
On Thursday, FedEx announced the launch of their new learning program designed to help diverse small business owners develop their e-commerce operations. The program includes free resources for entreprenuers, in addition to providing access to capital, networks and coaching.
Colt 45, I CHOOSE YOU!
Apparently the trading card industry has experienced an immense boon as of late, where trading cards like Sports, Magic: The Gathering, and Pokémon cards have become so sought after that stores can’t keep up with demand. Not to mention, companies that estimate the worth of trading cards have received and graded “avalanches of cards” over the past year.
Despite the long lines of customers waiting hours to buy, Target has recently announced that they will no longer be selling the trading cards, due to a fight that broke out at a Target in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Police were called when a witness saw one man pull a gun. The other man pulled a Charizard card. It was highly effective. Nobody was hurt.
Cool Online Brand of the Week
Call Winnie the Pooh. Since launching only a couple months ago in February 2021, OC Luxury Picnics has disrupted the picnic space, with more than 60 gatherings ranging from a romantic dinner for 2, to an outdoor boba-themed picnic of 20. The founder has since become excited at the idea of starting a fully-fledged business that does not need a brick-and-mortar location. At this time, they only service the lucky folks in Orange County, CA, but this business illustrates the ingenuity of entrepreneurs that turn a side-hustle into a $30,000 venture.
ShipHero News
Brexit… not the Harry/Megan saga, the real one.
In this article, we dive into Brexit’s overall effect on your ecommerce business operations, and the 4 things you need to know when shipping to and from the UK.
Shipping Dumbbells
Shipping heavy items shouldn’t cost you its weight in gold. For tips and tricks on how to make shipping heavy items cheaper, check out our recent blog post here.
Big news: ShipHero is hiring!
We’re looking for exceptional people to join our exceptional team. Like who you work with, enjoy what you do, and find your path to success in the skyrocketing field of ecommerce.
Check out our available roles and apply today!
May 19, 2021 | Best Practices, Blog, Fulfillment, Warehouse Management Software
Effective supply chain management is vital for any business, big or small. Without the help of proven, efficient supply chain management strategies and practices, your company may suffer from poor workflows, high costs, unreliable order fulfillment, and major losses.
One of the most vital parts of the order fulfillment process is the pick and pack stage. If the pick and pack stage is not optimized, then a number of issues may arise. This includes order delays, order inaccuracies, delivery of damaged goods, and more.
So, to guarantee the success of your business operations, optimizing the pick and pack process is vital. This is easier said than done, and there is no single ‘right’ way to do it. Business owners must consider different strategies and methods, and determine which one suits their needs best.
What is pick and pack?
Pick and pack is a three-stage part of the supply chain management process. The process is pretty much exactly what the name suggests. Pick and pack involves the following:
- Receiving an order: Your warehouse system is connected to your online store sales page. So when a customer places an order, the warehouse system is notified and generates a packing slip.
- Picking the order: This part is done manually. A warehouse worker will take the generated slip and find the items listed from the warehouse. Different warehouses employ various inventory strategies to help ease this process by making it easier to find the items
- Packing the order: The order is now sent to a packing station, where it is packed using necessary equipment and the required documentation is placed alongside it. It is now ready for the delivery stage.
How does pick and pack work?
Pick and pack fulfillment can be done in many ways, depending on the warehouse. Here are the different methods of picking and packing.
Piece picking
This pick and pack strategy is most commonly employed by small businesses. It involves taking the packing slip of one individual order at a time as they come in for the pick and pack process.
Batch picking
In batch picking, different items from various orders are grouped together because of a common similarity. For example, if they are located close to each other in the warehouse. This method is used when there are many small orders to fulfill at one time and to do so, a pick and pack software is required. By grouping items together in this way, you save time for your order pickers. This is because they now only have to go to a designated place in the warehouse once to pick up an item that is required for several orders. Pack workers can then redistribute said items to the specific order during the packing process.
What are the Challenges to the Pick and Pack Process?
As with any part of the supply chain, the pick and pack process may face certain challenges. Below are some challenges that may come up.
Inaccurate inventory counts
An inaccurate inventory count can make it difficult to manage the pick and pack process. This is because an inaccurate count can lead to further problems such as scheduling errors. With an incorrect count, the inventory stock is incorrectly recorded, and shortages may occur when the orders are meant to be picked, causing order delays.
Inefficient warehouse layouts
An inefficient storage layout may negatively affect your turn-around time (TAT). TAT is the overall time it takes to pick orders and pack a customer’s order. If you have an unorganized warehouse, it is difficult to efficiently find the desired items as orders start to come in. This inevitably leads to delays.
Missing Product Information (or lack of integrations)
Inventory data is an essential factor when it comes to the pick and pack process. For example, in the picking process, inaccurate recording of the average number of lines per order or improper listings of complementary goods may cause problems to arise. This leads to order inaccuracies or order delays. Similarly, in the packing process, if factors such as the weight or fragility of the items are not recorded, then problems in the delivery process arise – such as customers receiving damaged goods.
How to Optimize the Pick and Pack Process
Here are some methods to help increase the efficiency of your pick and pack process:
Design Your Warehouse for Efficiency
There are ways to organize your warehouse facility that minimize your turnaround time. By performing an ABC analysis, which categorizes your inventory into 3 parts, based on factors such as sales, the most popular items can be made easier to access, quickly. Also, you can place items that are usually ordered together in the same place. This will be beneficial for your warehouse in long term, as it will not only increase the efficiency of the pick and pack process, but reduces operational costs too.
Keep Your Warehouse Well-Organized
A tidy work environment can make all the difference. This is especially true for warehouses. Make sure your warehouse is free of as much clutter as possible to avoid accidents or problems in maneuvering around the premises. Also, keep the packing station organized, with any and all supplies needed to pack different items for shipping.
Program Your WMS for Easy Picking
Your Warehouse Management System, or WHS, makes for easy picking, by listing the items of an order in terms of where they are located. This will reduce the time it takes to find a complete order, and is less manual work for a picker.
Double Check Each Order
Although technology is becoming increasingly efficient, you should still have a person assigned to double-check orders after they are picked, packed, and made ready for shipment. This will reduce the chances of mistakes occurring and corresponding needs for reshipment. Reshipment is pricey and decreases revenue, so the likelihood of it should be minimized.
Keep an Accurate Inventory Count
Having a detailed inventory organization system can make all the difference to your pick and pack process. For large companies especially, spreadsheets are not the best choice. They can get messy and complicated.
For accuracy, opt for barcodes and RFIDs. A perpetual inventory management system will also help – as it’s technology-enabled. A perpetual system keeps a record of stocked and sold items as they change, and continuously updates your accounting system when sales are made or new stocks are bought.
Start using ShipHero pick and pack warehouse fulfillment services
Warehouse fulfillment can be tricky to optimize. The goal for any business is to minimize labor costs, optimize quality control and order accuracy, and maximize customer satisfaction. E-commerce fulfillment can be difficult though, especially if you lack the right resources. This is where warehouse fulfillment companies can really help retailers grow their businesses.
ShipHero is a data-driven warehouse management system that optimizes workflows and even handles order fulfillment for you. Here’s how ShipHero helps optimize your business operations and logistics.
Distributed inventory
ShipHero provides users with a distributed inventory, which means that your inventory is divided up and stored at different storage facilities. This means that when a customer places an order in a specific area, the order is fulfilled and shipped from the nearest location, reducing delivery times and costs simultaneously.
Order management
ShipHero’s warehouse management platform optimizes order management through technology. The advanced software integrates effortlessly with your business systems and provides you with multiple customization options. Users can create custom workflows to cater to their business’s specific needs, and set automation rules to make the processes more efficient. When an order is placed, ShipHero’s system automatically assigns them to the nearest warehouse.
Done for you fulfillment
ShipHero has evolved into more than just a warehouse management system – we also offer efficient order fulfillment, just for you. For as little as $5.58, ShipHero will pick, pack and ship your orders. ShipHero’s order fulfillment is also especially reliable, thanks to our distributed inventory and network of fulfillment centers across the country. When orders are placed, the WMS has them routed to the nearest location, minimizing transit times, costs, and the possibility of order delays.
Bulk shipping discounts
ShipHero’s warehouse management solution comes with built-in shipping multicarrier shipping options and automated label generation and shipping quoting. The advanced software determines the cheapest shipping option for individual orders, making sure you always have the most cost-effective option.
Conclusion
Getting your pick and pack processes right can be tricky, but it’s well worth the time and effort. After all, the success of any ecommerce business comes down to happy customers, and efficient picking and packing are necessary to achieve this. Late orders, high shipping fees, and order inaccuracies won’t keep your customers coming back for more.
Effective warehouse management and the best pick and pack strategies can help improve your workflow and optimize the order fulfillment process, but this isn’t always enough. Sometimes, you need a third-party with a team of experts to handle the logistics while you focus on growing your business. This is where a warehouse management solution like ShipHero can help you out.
May 21, 2021 | Blog, The Packet
Front and Center
Google I/O
On Tuesday, Google held their first developer conference in over two years since the beginning of the pandemic. The otherwise annual event, named Google I/O, is a way for Google to engage and excite its developer network, with landmark updates for their “moonshots” — their seemingly impossible undertakings — for software, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and most importantly, shopping!
Google-Shopify Partnership
One major takeaway from the conference has to be the deepening of Google’s partnership with e-commerce platform Shopify. The search giant announced that Shopify’s 1.7 million merchants will now be easier to reach through Google Search, Maps, Lens, Images, and Youtube with “just a few clicks”. And in a blog post, Google said this will make Shopify merchants’ products more discoverable across its various properties.
Never Amazon
The Google-Shopify partnership is aligned with the companies’ joint effort to compete against Amazon in the e-commerce space, while Amazon is also increasingly competing with Google on search ads for commercial queries — this means that a consumer is actively shopping and is expected to buy. Currently, Amazon earns 19% of all search ad revenue this year, while Google hauls in a whopping 57%.
ECOM 30 for 30: The History of the Dream Team
Way back in the pre-pandemic era, Google previously waived fees for its “Buy” program, which allowed consumers to search and purchase retailers’ products directly on its platform without being directed to retailers’ sites. Google also opened its platform to third-party providers, including PayPal and Shopify, to allow retailers more buying options.
“We believe you deserve the most choice available and we’ll continue to innovate on shopping every step of the way,” says Bill Ready, Google’s President of Commerce and Payments, during the presentation at I/O.
Google’s eCommerce Push
Google also announced enhancements to its e-commerce functionality. Notably, Google Chrome has a new feature that will persistently display shopping carts across tabs so you can easily return to shopping at any time. Thanks Google ????
Back of the Packet
Oracle? No, Google
Welcome to Quantum Supremacy, a future Jason Bourne movie title and also what Google achieved last year. Now on Tuesday during Google I/O, the search company announced a massive milestone in quantum computing, being able to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken 10,000 years or more on a SUPERcomputer… This extra processing power could be useful to simulate molecules, and hence nature, accurately, Google says… then whispered “gesundheit” a second before an audience member sneezed.
Big Twin (not Danny Devito)
Move over Winklevoss’s, there’s a new Big Twin in town. The e-commerce boom has propelled Amazon to create the world’s largest twin-enginge cargo plane, being dubbed “Big Twin”. While the move may seem like a step backwards in terms of sustainability, it remains unclear whether using one massive cargo plane will be more energy efficient than multiple smaller cargo planes.
Internet Explorer Takes its Final Expedition
Microsoft is taking Internet Explorer out to the “family farm”, where it will be able to run free alongside Netsuite and AOL. Effective June 15, 2022, Microsoft will no longer provide support for the antiquated yet nostalgic web browser. We salute you IE.
Cool Online Brand of the Week
For the fiscally responsible. Her First $100K began as a personal chronicle for Tori Dunlap’s journey to saving $100,000 by the age of 25. It now serves as a blog to share advice on spending, saving, and negotiating for more at work, and further grew it into a personal finance education platform for women, especially for millennials and Generation Z. The platform brought in half a million in revenue last year.
ShipHero News
Case Study: How to BURST onto the scene, with ShipHero
Masks are coming off and that means one thing… time to take care of your teeth again. Thankfully, the folks at BURST, a long-time ShipHero customer, are here with the affordable subscription service for oral care, championed by thousands of dental professionals across the USA.
“Since switching to ShipHero, we’ve reduced our fully-loaded costs by 35%. At the volumes we move, that’s huge.” Brittany Stewart, President and COO, BURST
Continue reading at our blog here.
PostHero — The Free Shipping Evaluation Tool
PostHero was built as a response to the growing need from ShipHero’s community of business owners to bring transparency into their supply chain. Because traditional shipping carriers make more money off of business owners who hardly understand their supply chain, PostHero has been dubbed “the app that shipping carriers don’t want you to see”.
Pick and Pack Guide for Warehouses
Effective supply chain management is vital for any business, big or small. Without the help of proven, efficient supply chain management strategies and practices, your company may suffer from poor workflows, high costs, unreliable order fulfillment, and major losses. Check out ShipHero’s Pick and Pack Guide for Warehouses including the tips and tricks you need to run an efficient warehouse.
May 24, 2021 | Blog, Case Study
Introduction
Finding high-quality, well-tailored men’s clothing online can be a tall order—especially for men who are 6’3” or taller. So demand was really high when American Tall, a men’s apparel brand for tall men, launched their direct-to-consumer ecommerce site. American Tall is a direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand for tall (and extra tall) men. They create quality, tailored clothing and accessories for men between 6’3”–7’1” with a Medium to XXL tall build.
When the company first began operations, the not-so-small family business relished picking and packing each order by hand. They even enclosed personalized ‘thank you’ cards with each order to make the unboxing experience feel as personal as possible. But as their business grew, keeping up with order fulfillment became a challenge.
Manually keeping tabs on inventory levels, order information, and shipping information all on an Excel spreadsheet became impossible tasks to manage.
Challenges
Scaling fulfillment with rapid business growth
- American Tall needed a warehouse management solution
- Free software solutions weren’t scalable with rapid growth
- Too many SKUs made outsourcing shipping to a 3PL unfeasible
“It got to the point where we were spending hours writing thank-you cards each night. It also became more and more challenging to pick the orders,” explains Jake Rajsky, Vice President at American Tall.
“We’d have items in stock and people were buying them, but there were none on the shelves for our pickers. Our warehouse manager was spending her entire day pulling down skid after skid to replenish the shelves and we couldn’t get ahead of it.”
To ease the workload, they decided to adopt free batch picking software. But they soon realized that the solution wasn’t scalable with the volume of orders they were receiving.
“The software wasn’t scalable with our business’s growth. It only allowed us to queue up a hundred orders at a time. And there was no way we could do it by hand anymore,” Jake says.
They considered outsourcing shipping to a 3PL, but realized that wasn’t feasible either.
“We couldn’t outsource shipping to a 3PL. We have way too many SKUs— 3x or 4x what most retailers have. It would have been impossible for us to pay the crazy-high rates,” Jake says.
With order fulfillment falling further and further behind, American Tall needed a solution that was scalable and affordable. That’s what led them to ShipHero.
Solution
ShipHero for fulfillment & shipping
American Tall demoed a number of different warehouse management software solutions, but ShipHero stood out when Jake began using ShipHero to implement more efficient pick and pack workflows.
“Out of all the different solutions we tried and tested, ShipHero was the most intuitive,” Jake says. “Picking and packing works well with ShipHero. It’s way more efficient than we were used to, and it forced us to start thinking bigger,” he explains.
American Tall used to only have barcodes on cartons, not individual hang tags. Having ShipHero pushed them to request barcodes on individual items, create a detailed map of their warehouse, and add barcodes to each bay location. With these changes, American Tall started using ShipHero’s Multi-Item Batch, which made it easy to pick multiple orders with different quantities of products into unique tote bags.
“Multi-Item Batch picking and packing was huge. Now, each picker could walk through the warehouse once and get what they needed. I can’t imagine doing it one at a time,” Jake says. “Sending out the wrong item is a waste of money and it damages your brand identity. Now, if a picker pulls the wrong item, scanning the barcode gives them an error message. With Multi-Item Batch, everything’s more accurate.”
It was Shopify-approved with numerous positive reviews. It offered plenty of different features that would help American Tall streamline warehouse management. Its user interface was clean, simple, and intuitive.
“Before, we might have had 1,000 units of size ‘medium’ somewhere in the warehouse, but we had no way of knowing how many were available to pickers. Maybe only 20 of those were on the shelf and the other 980 were packed away on skids in overstock,” Jake explains.
“As of two months ago, we can finally track everything. With Dynamic Slotting, we can see our pick-face—anything up to six feet—and the three rows of racking above are for overstock. It’s very easy to see what’s stored on each skid, pull it down, and transfer it from that location to an active one so our pickers can access it,” he adds.
“Picking and packing works well with ShipHero. It’s way more efficient than we were used to, and it forced us to start thinking bigger.”
Results
Software that scaled with 4x growth
- Streamlined inventory management for efficient pick & pack workflows
- Multi-Item Batch to simplify picking multiple orders with different item quantities
- Dynamic slotting to track how much inventory is in stock in each location
- Warehouse management software scalable with 400% business growth
- 275% increase in picking efficiency
- Mis-shipments reduced by half
In less than two years, American Tall’s orders increased by over 400%. They now receive thousands of orders every month and they’re even busier during holiday seasons. ShipHero helped them keep up with order fulfillment while their business grew—and it continues scaling with them. Even better, Jake says that ShipHero has helped them improve picking efficiency by over 275% and reduce picking errors and misshipments in the process.
“We realized there was no way we’d be able to continue filling orders one year down the road at the rate we were growing. We were excited by the growth, but we needed a software solution like ShipHero,” he says.
Having a barcode on each product results in fewer mispicks, improved order accuracy, and more satisfied customers. More recently, American Tall has also been using ShipHero to improve inventory management. ShipHero’s support team helped them implement Dynamic Slotting to track how many units of stock they have in each location in their warehouse.
“Speaking of efficiency, there’s no contest. Manually, two people used to pick around 80 orders per day. With ShipHero, two people can pick over 300. We also reduced misshipments by half, if not more,” Jake says.
More efficient warehouse management has helped them deliver a better experience to their end users. Next, American Tall is planning to expand its use of ShipHero to receive Purchase Orders. This extra functionality will allow them to navigate Purchase Orders on their devices, print barcodes, create flexible location flows, and more.
“Our inventory system used to be Shopify. There was no editing orders or customization. Now, our customer service agents can edit orders, add items, and provide our customers with an overall better ecommerce experience,” he says.
“If you’re planning to scale up your business, you need a solution like this. ShipHero’s customer service is great and they’ve helped make us incredibly efficient,” Jake says.
Your fulfillment solution should scale with your growing business. Let’s talk.
May 25, 2021 | Best Practices, Blog, Warehouse Management Software
With the buzz around cryptocurrency, Web 3.0, NFT and the blockchain, you may have considered taking Bitcoin as payment for your eCommerce business. Even if you don’t, it pays to familiarize yourself with how crypto changed the eCommerce landscape.
While cryptocurrency prices have been relatively volatile, many companies support crypto payments. Major eCommerce service providers like WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Shopify accept crypto payments through digital wallets like BitPay and Coinbase Wallet.
In this article, we cover the advantages and disadvantages of implementing cryptocurrency payments in your eCommerce business. We also provide a guide to accepting cryptocurrency on your eCommerce website.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency (i.e. lines of computer code) not issued by a bank or government, allowing users to spend money anonymously. Bitcoin is one of the most prominent cryptocurrencies, which can be traded on crypto exchanges like Coinbase. Some businesses also accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment.
Bitcoins are stored in a digital wallet, available online through cryptocurrency exchanges or offline in a flash drive-like device. You use this wallet in crypto transactions by transferring funds from your digital wallet to the vendor.
Top 4 Cryptocurrencies to Know
According to the major cryptocurrency exchanges, these are the four most popular cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin: The most well-known modern cryptocurrency
- Ethereum: An energy-efficient alternative to Bitcoin and the second-most valuable cryptocurrency
- XRP (Ripple): Boasts lower transaction fees and often used for international fund transfers
- Bitcoin Cash: Offers an unlimited supply unlike Bitcoin, which makes it a better choice for transactions
Stores That Accept Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general has been widely adopted these past few years. Here are some businesses that accept crypto:
- Magento
- Overstock.com
- eGifter
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- BigCommerce
Is Cryptocurrency a Viable Option for eCommerce Stores?
Many large eCommerce companies accept cryptocurrency as payment, but is it a good idea? Let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages.
Why Should Your eCommerce Brand Adopt Crypto Payments?
Adopting crypto payments for your eCommerce brand helps you reach more clients and finish transactions faster. Here are four reasons to start taking cryptocurrency payments:
Reach a Broader Market
Taking digital currency payments means reaching a new market of tech-savvy clients. Moreover, accepting crypto means you don’t have to go through the hassle of converting currencies when doing business with international clients.
However, expanding your client base to other countries means you may need to make international deliveries, so make sure your shipping and last mile delivery solutions can handle them.
Process Transactions Faster
Credit cards and bank transfers take hours, sometimes even days to process. Cryptocurrency transactions only take minutes to arrive in your digital wallet, letting you access the money faster.
Get Lower Transaction Fees
Credit card companies and most payment processors can charge up to 5% in transaction fees. Crypto transaction fees tend to fluctuate, but they generally don’t go higher than 1.5% per transaction. This number may seem small, but it stacks – giving you considerable savings in the long run.
Reduce Risk of Fraud
Cryptocurrency transactions are transparent because they’re recorded on a publicly viewable digital ledger called the blockchain. Additionally, crypto transactions are very hard to reverse, so clients can’t ask to withdraw money from your account without your consent, preventing fraud.
Online Merchants That Accept Bitcoin
Many major brands accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Here are several examples of online retailers and stores that take bitcoin as payment:
- Microsoft Store
- Overstock
- Namecheap
- NewEgg
- ExpressVPN
- AMC Theatres
- Shopify
- Rakuten
Benefits of Cryptocurrency in eCommerce
Lower Transactions Fees
Credit card companies and payment apps like Stripe or Square charge transaction fees anywhere from 3-5% on each transaction. Many eCommerce companies build these fees into their online store prices. Cryptocurrency transactions often don’t have fees or are as low as 1%. However, there are cryptocurrency conversion fees when transferring cryptocurrencies to national fiat currencies like USD.
For Anonymous Transactions and the Bank-Averse
Cryptocurrency allows for anonymous online purchases by using encrypted wallet addresses — it’s basically like using unmarked cash. This allows your clients to purchase items without compromising their personal information and allows you to do business without worrying about any privacy regulations.
Reduce Fraud and Chargebacks
Contrary to popular belief, developers built cryptocurrency’s blockchain technology specifically to reduce fraudulent activity. By accepting cryptocurrency, money is exchanged immediately, it cannot be rescinded and it cannot be forged; therefore, the ability for fraudulent chargebacks or returns is drastically reduced.
Disadvantages of Cryptocurrency in eCommerce
Price Volatility
The value of cryptocurrencies tend to fluctuate wildly, compared to the relatively stable movements of fiat currencies. If crypto values drop, you may experience cash flow issues and difficulty in daily operations.
Lack of Buyer Protection
Credit card companies and banks usually have strong client protection measures to safeguard you from unauthorized spending. However, cryptocurrencies have no buyer protection, so you may need to build trust with clients before they warm up to crypto payments.
Environmental Concerns
Bitcoin is produced through mining, an energy-intensive task that consumes more electricity annually than the entire country of Argentina and has a large carbon footprint that equals New Zealand. These issues can hurt crypto prices, like the bitcoin price drop that happened after Elon Musk and Tesla refused to accept bitcoin as a form of payment because of its environmental impact.
Cryptocurrency Taxes
Although Bitcoin isn’t subject to regulations, the government requires you to report your Bitcoin transactions and the revenue/loss from holding the “property” – as declared by the IRS.
According to the IRS, “a taxpayer who receives virtual currency as payment for goods or services must, in computing gross income, include the fair market value of the virtual currency, measured in U.S. dollars, as of the date that the virtual currency was received.”
Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments on Your Website
If you’re planning to take cryptocurrency as a payment method on your website, you need to prepare these things first:
Digital Wallet
You need a digital wallet to receive, send and store many cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum. For eCommerce users, we recommend cryptocurrency exchange wallets like Coinbase because they let you make transactions faster.
Shipping
Adopting cryptocurrency means you’re opening yourself to international clients. Review your shipping capabilities to prevent any delivery issues and ensure you can handle orders from abroad. If not, upgrade your 3PL software, and don’t promise two-day shipping unless you can guarantee it.
Payment Processor
Many eCommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce already offer cryptocurrency payment integrations. If your platform doesn’t offer it, look for a crypto payment gateway that suits your needs.
Marketing
You need to announce that you’re accepting cryptocurrency payments. Do this through your eCommerce website, social media and other marketing tools at your disposal.
How to Accept Bitcoin on Your Site
To start accepting Bitcoin on your eCommerce site, simply integrate a BTC payment processor into your store. Many major eCommerce providers like Shopify and WooCommerce already have BTC payment processor integrations, so you can implement them immediately.
Different BTC payment gateway solutions offer different features, so examine the following when making your pick:
- Cryptocurrency transaction fees
- Batch payout frequency
- Supported cryptocurrencies
- Supported regions and countries
- Client Support
Once you accept BTC as payment, market your progressiveness and tech-savviness to your consumer base. You can display signs on your site that say, “Bitcoin accepted here.”
What If Direct Integration Isn’t Possible?
If a direct integration isn’t possible, consider alternative options such as the following:
- Payment buttons: Add a payment button to your website; consider using the Coinbase API to create your Bitcoin buttons.
- Custom cryptocurrency payment integration: Create a custom-made Bitcoin API that integrates with your eCommerce platform’s shopping cart
- Invoices: Invoice your clients instead of using shopping carts. Coinbase even has an invoice generator tool.
Wrap it Up
If you decide to accept Bitcoin and cryptocurrency on your online store, you’ll want to ensure that your system, transaction and funds are all as secure as possible. So, use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your crypto exchanges and wallets. Also, regularly update, backup and encrypt your systems and crypto wallet.
To keep your cryptocurrencies safe, buy an offline Bitcoin wallet and put your funds into it regularly. This way, you won’t lose a lot of money if something happens to your crypto exchange account.
While new technologies can be confusing and a bit scary, cryptocurrency has the opportunity to transform eCommerce and international trade as we know it. So while you may not be comfortable with this, at least you’ll have a deeper understanding as the internet and eCommerce landscape continues to evolve.
Cryptocurrency and eCommerce FAQs
How to accept cryptocurrency payments on your eCommerce website?
You must integrate a payment gateway on your eCommerce website to accept cryptocurrency payments. Some eCommerce platforms have built-in integrations, but, in some cases, you may need to make custom buttons or build your own integrations.
Where did cryptocurrency come from?
The first modern cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, created in 2009 by a pseudonymous programmer, Satoshi Nakamoto. As the cryptocurrency space developed, more digital assets like Ethereum and Cardano started appearing.
How is crypto changing eCommerce?
Crypto is changing eCommerce by enabling fast transactions with low fees and improving fraud protection. Additionally, adopting cryptocurrency lets businesses reach a larger market of tech-savvy clients.
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About ShipHero: We make it simple for you to deliver your eCommerce. Our software helps you run your warehouse, and our outsourced shipping solutions eliminate the hassle of getting your products to your customers. With over 5,000 brands and 3PLs relying on us daily, we’re here to help with all your logistics needs.
May 27, 2021 | Blog, Case Study
Introduction
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited has been operating an efficient retail logistics and supply chain since its founding in 1922, making it one of Canada’s most trusted and iconic Canadian retail brands. Canadian Tire manages a network of 1,700 retail locations across a large family of brands such as Canadian Tire, Mark’s, FGL Sports, PartSource, and the Canadian operations of Party City, ranging in the automotive, sports, hardware, leisure and home goods industries.
“We set a service level of 99% shipped next-day, and I’m happy to say not only did we hit that, we constantly hit that. And on the cost side, I would say the rate shopping component has actually saved us about 25% on the freight expense…” — Carmine Bosco, AVP Supply Chain at Canadian Tire.
Canadian Tire had been operating under a traditional ecommerce fulfillment model for nearly a century. With their executive team offering full support, this organization’s supply chain team decided to challenge their old way of doing things in order to find a better balance between service and cost. a better service with
The Experiment
Customers across the world are demanding better service. The true challenge, as noted by Canadian Tire AVP of Supply, Carmine Bosco, is to find the perfect balance between offering a good service while maintaining costs. One way companies have found this balance is through optimizations in the logistics and supply chain. With the full support of their executive team, Canadian Tire decided to launch an experiment.
The Hypothesis: Applying an agile approach to ecommerce fulfillment, the team would be able to stand up a new solution quickly with incremental and tangible benefits, without any impact to costs or service quality.
Setting up the Experiment: Canadian Tire decided that there were four crucial factors that would dictate the success of the experiment. These four success factors were:
- Executive Sponsorship – Fortunately, the Canadian Tire executive team was ready and willing to challenge the status quo for their logistics and supply chain organization
- Controlled Environment – Canadian Tire already had warehouses. All they had to do was clear out space in these warehouses , then designate them specifically for ecommerce fulfillment.
- A Test Subject (aka guinea pig) – One of the brands under the Canadian Tire family banner, Pro Hockey Life, had been operating a traditional ecommerce fulfillment model for a few years. Due to its success and growth, the Pro Hockey Life team was struggling to keep up with demands. Consequently, their service was suffering and their costs were getting higher. Carmine mentioned that during influxes of shopping like Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping, it would take several weeks to fill orders. Due to this, the Pro Hockey Life team happily volunteered to participate in the pilot.
- “Slick” Technology – In order to influence the larger organization on how to build out ecommerce fulfillment operations, the logistics and supply chain team needed to implement a brand new technology not in a couple years or even months, rather in a couple weeks. This technology needed to be flexible, innovative, scalable, AND agile – or as Carmine put it, “slick.”
So Canadian Tire already had the executive sponsorship, the controlled environment, the guinea pig; and after scouring the web, they finally settled on the slickest technology on the market: ShipHero.
Why ShipHero
Canadian Tire had several key considerations for this experiment in order to declare it a success, and ShipHero checked all the boxes. These considerations were:
- Quick Connection to the Website and to Couriers – With ShipHero’s easily integrated platform and dedicated team of experts, connection to Canadian Tire’s website was a matter of hours, not months or weeks. Also Canadian Tire uses various courier companies for printing labels, and again, ShipHero was able to integrate with these couriers within a few hours.
- Easy Training and Implementation – ShipHero doesn’t require any special tools or gadgets to work. An iPad and bluetooth scanners; those are the only two devices that ShipHero employs and are two devices that everyone is comfortable with and uses regularly. So, Carmine and the Canadian Tire employees found the training to be fast and easy, meaning the system could launch even quicker.
- Immediate Cost Savings – With ShipHero’s rate shopping capabilities, each and every shipment is rate shopped across your courier connections and the cheapest option is automatically selected. Due to its highly configurable order management rules, there’s no need to get IT folks involved to make these changes.
In addition to the above, the ShipHero website offers a plethora of useful information to maximize your ecommerce fulfillment experience, complete with explanatory how-to videos along with in-depth descriptions of the ShipHero processes. For all the above reasons, Canadian Tire chose ShipHero to launch their ecommerce fulfillment experiment. So, the teams got to work, rapidly standing up a warehouse and setting up ecommerce fulfillment operations, from racking to packing stations, networking / systems setup and team training.
The Launch
In just 4 months, the service launched and began shipping ecommerce orders for the first brand to come online, Pro Hockey Life. This was accomplished by working closely with the logistics and supply chain team, and by ShipHero’s agile, flexible, and scalable roll-out strategy that consisted of:
- Defining an MVP – Using a phased rollout approach, a Minimum Viable Product (also known as MVP) was quickly developed for the warehouse launch.
- Speed with SaaS – Without the constraints of a complicated software solution, ShipHero was configured within days.
- Team Collaboration – Canadian Tire and ShipHero teams worked in unison to gather and satisfy the MVP requirements needed for launch.
- Training & Launch – Through onsite workshops and meetings, ShipHero personnel conducted train-the-trainers sessions, as well as role-based training for the larger Canadian Tire team.
Now with the experiment underway, Canadian Tire just had to sit back and watch the results.
The Advantages of Scale
The ShipHero service also successfully started shipping ecommerce orders and because of the team’s due diligence with setting up the shipping rate shopping features of ShipHero, the Canadian Tire team saw an immediate ROI realized through the rate shopping tool.
So with the initial experiment a success, Canadian Tire wanted to go beyond the experiment. Another part of the Canadian Tire family with no ecommerce presence, Family National Sports, was able to simply move their inventory to the specified warehouse. Due to the SAAS model and flexible cloud capabilities, in a matter of weeks, National Sports launched their logistics and supply chain operations. Capacity for scale was proven, and Canadian Tire added more a few more of their retail banners.
With the successful launch of the D2C fulfillment warehouse now serving multiple brands, the next step in the experiment was unlocking retail in-store inventory, increasing available to sell inventory as well as new product offerings.
Unlocking Retail
Through ShipHero’s highly configurable order management rules, Canadian Tire was able to use their existing brick-and-mortar locations to fulfill ecommerce orders, instead of building new facilities. Through leveraging curbside pickup, buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS) capabilities, and other omni-channel logistics, Canadian Tire made smart fulfillment decisions, whether the order would come through the store or the DC.
“So what we did is we started thinking about: how could we unlock retail inventory? I mean, it’s sitting there. Why not? Could we put it on the web while we have the warehouse doing fulfillment. So we found with ShipHero it had order management rules that were robust enough to make decisions on where we should fulfill orders; whether it would be the store or the DC. And this is actually quite a powerful feature because it allows our supply chain to use as a lever, if one or the other: store or DC, and we’ve had several stores actually up and running get over capacity, so we could turn the lever and change and switch the nodes on where to fulfill orders.” — Carmine Bosco, AVP of Supply Chain
Canadian Tire held all the levers to success in terms of logistics and supply chain, with a consistent goal of 99% of orders shipped next-day and a 25% reduction in freight expense. Life was good. And then, a pandemic hit.
Handling a Crisis
Canadian Tire was able to leverage their newfound capabilities from ShipHero to accommodate the ‘new normal’ of post-COVID retail shopping. In-store D2C fulfillment such as curbside pickup and contactless checkout has proven to be an extremely viable solution to the challenges presented by the COVID crisis.
Retail stores are not open for retail, but those that were able to adapt quickly are meeting the increased fulfillment demand of customers who are now buying at home. Our mission at ShipHero is to use agile problem-solving to make the most out of a challenging situation and keep our hard-working clients in business, no matter what.
